My Health Teams - Key Elements
What Manitobans Can Expect As My Health Teams Evolve
Manitoba’s My Health Teams are being developed one step at a time. The service aspects described below describe long-term goals for My Health Teams. They aim to achieve a future model of primary care delivery that emphasizes accessible, coordinated, comprehensive, and ultimately, consistent quality of care.
At the start, not all teams will be able to offer each of the key services and other elements described below. Each team may focus on a different key element for the first few years as they work to achieve the full vision. Teams will set program and service priorities and goals based on the needs of their local communities. For example, a team might decide to focus on communication between doctors and home care nurses. Another team may decide to work together to provide mental health services in a different way.
What You Can Expect From My Health Teams
Interprofessional My Health Teams
Your My Health Team will:
- Provide you with access to a team of health care providers;
- Use teams to provide after-hours service; QuickCare; mobile and outreach services; health promotion and wellness; chronic disease management; group sessions and mental health services;
- Work with you to prevent the onset of chronic diseases. You will have access to coaching to modify your lifestyle, and assistance in connecting to other resources in the community to help you to reach your health goals.
Accessible Primary Care
Your My Health Team will:
- Be your first stop when you experience an illness or injury;
- Provide access to a primary care provider;
- Make care available outside of regular business hours, when and where you need it;
- Understand that your time is important, and will strive to limit your time spent in waiting areas;
- Provide access to culturally appropriate services.
Comprehensive Person-Centered Care
Your My Health Team will:
- Recognize you as the expert of your own experience, and involve you (and your family, if you choose) to improve or maintain your health and/or treat illnesses and manage ongoing health concerns;
- Support and assist you to access accurate health care information to help you make informed choices about self-care across the lifespan;
- Focus on prevention and your overall wellness, not just treatment and illness.
Coordinated Care
Your My Health Team will:
- Help you get to the right provider at the right time, the first time. We will quarterback all aspects of your journey within the health care system, such as maternal/newborn services, specialty care, hospital stay, home care services and/or social services;
- Coordinate patient referrals and linkages to community health resources and programs;
- Contact you for follow-up when appropriate;
- Keep your health information private, and;
- Maintain your health information in a centralized area, but have it available with your authorization to other health care professionals providing your health care;
- Ensure your health information follows you wherever you go.
How My Health Teams will make it happen
By Everyone Having A "Home" Clinic
A Home Clinic is a patient's health care "hub." It is not a physical home, but rather a home base for a patient/consumer's health care needs. Home clinics are associated with improved care and reduced system costs. They are marked by long-term patient/provider attachments1, and will include a patient enrolment process through My Health Teams.
By Planning And Building Services Around The Needs Of Your Community
My Health Team services will be designed to address the unique health needs of the team's base population. Teams will be particularly encouraged to target their services and programming to under-served and hard-to-reach populations. Examples are patients who experience barriers to care due to language (ex: newcomers), ability (ex: visually-impaired), geography (ex: northern Manitobans), or social circumstances (ex: homeless populations).
Through Closer Regional Health Authority and Private Practice Provider Collaboration
My Health Teams developed or expanded through provincial support will be collaborative partnerships between a regional health authority (RHA), the community, and some or all of the private practice primary care practices operating within the health region. Some My Health Teams may span more than one health region, where appropriate. Other formal or informal partners might include local government, First Nations, specialist providers, auxiliary services, and/or private enterprise such as retail pharmacies. The composition of teams will reflect the characteristics and needs of the area and population.
By Delivering More Integrated and Coordinated Care
Teams coordinate seamless transitions in care, particular for patients with complex health needs and multiple providers. Regional health authorities will play the lead role in developing transition protocols to support care coordination, within and across health regions, as well as across levels of care.
Through Better Use of Information, Technology, and Quality Measurement
Providers participating in teams will leverage their qualified electronic medical records (EMRs) to track patients' care needs. This will also enable the extraction of meaningful data to for quality and performance measurement to make informed decisions about patient care.
By Engaging and Working Closely with their Community
Teams will engage and be responsive to the needs of their community. Teams will tap into the expertise of community partners and involve them in determining the priorities, strategies and programming of the network. Teams will also partner with community-led organizations in order reach underserved, marginalized populations and ensure network services reflect the unique needs of their communities.
1 College of Family Physicians of Canada, Patient-Centred Primary Care in Canada: Bring it on Home. Discussion Paper. October, 2009.
For more information about primary health care services in Manitoba, contact your regional health authority office:Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority Prairie Mountain Health Winnipeg Regional Health Authority Northern Regional Health Authority Southern Health-Santé Sud For any other inquiries about primary health care in Manitoba, please contact us. |
