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Background: Many countries, including Canada, have introduced primary care reforms to improve health system functioning and value. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between receiving care from interprofessional primary care teams and after-hours access to care, patient-reported walk-in clinic visits and emergency department use., Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study linking population-based administrative databases to Ontario's Health Care Experience Survey (HCES) between 2012 and 2018. We adjusted for physician group characteristics as well as individual physician and patient characteristics while assessing the relationship between receiving care from interprofessional teams and the outcomes of interest., Results: As of March 31st, 2015, there were 465 physician groups with HCES respondents of which 177 (38.0%) were interprofessional teams and 288 (62.0%) were non-interprofessional teams in the same blended capitation reimbursement model. In this period, there were 4518 physicians with HCES respondents, of whom 2131 (47.2%) were in interprofessional teams and 2387 (52.8%) were in non-interprofessional teams. There were 10,102 HCES respondents included in this study, of whom 42.4% were in interprofessional teams and 42.3% were in non-interprofessional teams. After adjustment, we found that being in an interprofessional team was associated with an increase in the odds of patients reporting same/next day access to care by 12.0% (OR = 1.12 CI = 1.00 to 1.24 p-value 0.0436) and a decrease in the odds of patients reporting walk-in clinic use by 16% (OR = 0.84 CI = 0.75 to 0.94 p-value 0.0019). After adjustment, there were no significant differences in patient-reported after-hours access to care and emergency department use., Conclusions: Ontario has invested heavily in interprofessional primary care teams. As compared to patients in non-interprofessional teams, patients in interprofessional teams self-reported more timely access to care and less walk-in clinic use but no significant difference in self-reported access to after-hours care or in emergency department use. For jurisdictions aiming to expand physician voluntary participation in interprofessional teams, our study results inform expectations around access to care and health services utilization., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Background: Improving health system value and efficiency are considered major policy priorities internationally. Ontario has undergone a primary care reform that included introduction of interprofessional teams. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between receiving care from interprofessional versus non-interprofessional primary care teams and ambulatory care sensitive condition (ACSC) hospitalizations and hospital readmissions., Methods: Population-based administrative databases were linked to form data extractions of interest between the years of 2003-2005 and 2015-2017 in Ontario, Canada. The data sources were available through ICES. The study design was a retrospective longitudinal cohort. We used a "difference-in-differences" approach for evaluating changes in ACSC hospitalizations and hospital readmissions before and after the introduction of interprofessional team-based primary care while adjusting for physician group, physician and patient characteristics., Results: As of March 31st, 2017, there were a total of 778 physician groups, of which 465 were blended capitation Family Health Organization (FHOs); 177 FHOs (22.8%) were also interprofessional teams and 288 (37%) were more conventional group practices ("non-interprofessional teams"). In this period, there were a total of 13,480 primary care physicians in Ontario of whom 4848 (36%) were affiliated with FHOs-2311 (17.1%) practicing in interprofessional teams and 2537 (18.8%) practicing in non-interprofessional teams. During that same period, there were 475,611 and 618,363 multi-morbid patients in interprofessional teams and non-interprofessional teams respectively out of a total of 2,920,990 multi-morbid adult patients in Ontario. There was no difference in change over time in ACSC admissions between interprofessional and non-interprofessional teams between the pre- and post intervention periods. There were no statistically significant changes in all cause hospital readmission s between the post- and pre-intervention periods for interprofessional and non-interprofessional teams., Conclusions: Our study findings indicate that the introduction of interprofessional team-based primary care was not associated with changes in ACSC hospitalization or hospital readmissions. The findings point for the need to couple interprofessional team-based care with other enablers of a strong primary care system to improve health services utilization efficiency.

In the fall of 2014, Health Quality Ontario released A Primary Care Performance Measurement Framework for Ontario. Recognizing the large number of recommended measures and the limited availability of data related to those measures, the Steering Committee for the Primary Care Performance Measurement (PCPM) initiative established a prioritization process to select two subsets of high-value performance measures - one at the system level and one at the practice level. This article describes the prioritization process and its results and outlines the initiatives that have been undertaken to date to implement the PCPM framework and to advance primary care performance measurement and reporting in Ontario. Establishing a framework for primary care measurement and prioritizing system- and practice-level measures are essential steps toward system improvement. Our experience suggests that the process of implementing a performance measurement system is inevitably non-linear and incremental., (Copyright © 2020 Longwoods Publishing.)

Purpose: Countries throughout the world have been experimenting with new models to deliver primary care. We investigated physician group, physician and patient characteristics associated with voluntarily joining team-based primary care in Ontario., Methods: This cross-sectional study linked provincial administrative datasets to form data extractions of interest over time with the earliest in 2005 and the latest in 2013. We generated mixed, generalized chi-square and multivariate models to compare the characteristics of teams and non-teams, both with blended capitation reimbursement, and to examine characteristics associated with joining a team., Results: Having more physicians per group, being a female physician, having more years under the blended capitation model, having more patients in the lowest income quintile and more patients residing in rural areas were positively associated with joining a team. Being a female physician and having more patients who are males, recent immigrants and living in rural areas were positively associated with the outcome of joining teams in the late phase., Conclusions: Our study findings indicate that there are differences in physician group, physician and patient characteristics when comparing teams to non-teams. Other jurisdictions aiming to expand physician participation in interprofessional care should note those factors. Researchers looking to understand the impact of team-based care should be aware of pre-existing differences and the need to address selection bias associated with participation in team-based care., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest As authors of this paper, we declare that there are no financial or other relationships that might lead to a conflict, or perceived conflict, of interest., (Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A systematic approach to Primary Care Performance Measurement is needed to provide useful information on a regular basis to inform planning, management and quality improvement at both the practice and system levels. Based on an environmental scan, a summit of primary care stakeholders and a stakeholder survey and supported by Measures and Technical Working Groups, the Ontario Primary Care Performance Measurement Steering Committee, representing 20 stakeholder organizations, identified system- and practice-level measurement priorities and related specific performance measures across nine domains of primary care performance. This initiative addressed measures' selection and technical specification. It did not include data collection. Lessons learned in Ontario can assist other jurisdictions developing frameworks for monitoring and reporting on primary care performance. Cross-country alignment could lead to a coordinated approach to measure and target areas for primary care performance improvement in Canada., (Copyright © 2017 Longwoods Publishing.)