PHC Quality and Practice Support Newsletter | |
Exciting News:
New and Improved Practice Support website is now live!
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The Primary Health Care and Chronic Disease Management Network’s practice support website, PHCQuality.ca, has served us well over the years, but it was time for an upgrade!
We are excited to be launching our new and improved practice support website, with an updated look and feel, expanded suite of resources, and enhanced search functionality.
It still offers a range of practice support tools, resources and initiatives to support you in practice, fostering a culture of shared learning, quality and safety, and ultimately enabling quality care for patients and families, plus you can still access this site through PHCQuality.ca.
Please check it out by clicking on the website image to the right. Be sure to book mark this page for all your practice support needs.
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As always, if you have questions, suggestions for new supports, or would like to speak with the team about your needs please reach out to PHCPracticeSupport@nshealth.ca.
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Behaviour Change Counselling Development Program | The Behaviour Change Counselling Program focuses on supports and strategies to build provider knowledge, skills and confidence to work collaboratively with patients to elicit behaviour change to improve health. | |
Key Updates
We now have two streams for training.
Stream 1: Self-directed e-learning modules for all Primary Health Care staff
- Register on LMS. Search "PHC" in the learning catalogue.
Stream 2: (New!): A blended program of self-directed e-modules and virtual group workshops developed by, and for, Physicians and Nurse Practitioners
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Running September 6th - November 29, 2022 (42 Mainpro credits)
Do you want to share behaviour change skills with your patients? Two e-modules for patients on goal setting can be found here:
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What's Next
Stream 1 All PHC staff:
- Now open to all NSH staff on LMS
Stream 2: Physicians/NPs
- Third cohort running Spring 2023. Stay tuned.
Staff/Team Development Support
Are you or your team having challenges implementing Behaviour Change Skills into your work? Opportunity for support is available for leadership, staff and teams who have started on their behaviour change counselling journey to help support integration of skills into practice. Fill out this new intake form to get started.
A comprehensive evaluation will be underway this fall with the following planned activities:
- Leadership interviews (September/October)
- All PHC Staff Survey (late October) consider filling out the survey even if you haven't attended any of the training so we can hear about the barriers.
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The BETTER ProgramTM includes strategies, resources and tools to improve efficient screening and prevention activities focused on cancer, diabetes, heart disease and associated lifestyle factors in Primary Health Care practice settings. To date we have trained NPs, RNs, LPNs, and allied health professionals in Primary Health Care. | |
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Key Updates
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The BETTER ProgramTM has been implemented with 24 practice teams across Nova Scotia.
- We are ready to train another cohort of prevention practitioners.
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What's Next
Who can register?
- Any Health Professional working in Primary Health Care
Upcoming Prevention Practitioner Virtual Training:
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September 21 and 22, 9:30am – 4:30pm (FULL)
- October 19 and 20, 9:30am – 4:30pm
(space still available)
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Role of the Prevention Practitioner in your practice
- Complete 2-day training
- Time dedicated to the BETTER program (minimum of half day per week)
- Prepare and complete the Environmental Scan (identifying resources that exist in our community linking back to patients’ goals)
- Support implementation of BETTER program in your practice (i.e: implement EMR changes, promotions/marketing to patients)
- Complete the data collection processes – (i.e: patient experience survey)
- Strongly recommended to complete the Behaviour Change Counseling Development program (LMS) - Foundations (e-module 1-4)
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Fountain of HealthTM
Thrive Learning Centre
| The Fountain of HealthTM is a national non-profit association to put wellbeing science into action. The Thrive Learning Centre offers training and resources to help you apply the science of wellbeing to your life and practice. They offer resources for individuals, organizations and clinicians. | |
Key Updates
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Launch of the Thrive MD, a special wellness program for physicians.
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Patients and clinicians can also check out the The Wellness App for goal tracking and to receive encouragement between visits.
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What's Next
THRIVE MD Enrichment Courses - specifically developed by physicians for physician wellbeing
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Radical Self-Compassion for Women in Medicine (2 Mainpro+ Credits) - Instructor: Dr. Keri-Leigh Cassidy
- September 22 (Thursday 5-7 pm)
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5-Minute CBT: A 5-week Online Course (18 Main Pro+ Credits) - Instructors: Dr. Michael Vallis & Keri-Leigh Cassidy
- Series: November 7, 14, 21, 28, and December 5 (Mondays, 4 - 5:30pm)
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Cost $168/person
Register here
*Please note the Foundation Program is recommended before Enrichment Courses
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For more information: Visit the Fountain of HealthTM website | |
Physical Activity Counselling Practice Support Program | |
The Physical Activity Counselling Practice Support Program will support primary health care providers and teams to build the knowledge, skills and confidence required to identify a patient’s level of physical activity and provide people-centred interventions. These supports will include a suite of resources and educational opportunities adapted to meet the unique needs of physicians and primary health care providers in Nova Scotia. | |
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Key Updates
The health benefits of regular moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity and reduction of sedentary behavior are well established in the literature. The Physical Activity Counselling Practice Supports Program (PAC PSP) will provide resources for Primary Health Care providers to help establish a patient’s level of physical activity and provide patient-centred interventions. The supports will include a suite of resources and educational opportunities. More information will be provided as the project progresses.
The PAC PSP development is funded by the Nova Scotia Department of Communities, Culture and Heritage as part the Let’s Get Moving Strategy.
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What's Next
A provincial multi-disciplinary working group has been identified to guide this work and will launch the program soon.
Stay tuned and check for updates on our website.
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HealthyNS.ca
Online Health and Wellness Resources and Virtual Programs to Support Your Patients
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The HealthyNS.ca website is comprehensive information about staying well, prevention, and living a healthy life with chronic conditions for your patients, including virtual wellness programs offered by Primary Health Care. Watch this video for more information or show your patients.
The new Fall program schedule is now available at HealthyNS.ca.
Feature Program: Beyond Weight. Shifting Focus to Health — 11 Week Program
In this series we shift focus away from the scale towards improvements to health and quality of life. Participants take part in group-based learning to help make sustainable lifestyle changes. We discuss nutrition, physical activity, emotions, genetics, and how our environment influences health and weight.
The program begins on Wednesday evening September 28th from 6:30-8:00pm. This is an online group program and is open to all residents of Nova Scotia ages 18+. If you have any clients/contacts that may be interested, please pass along this info.
Clients can call 902-460-4560 or toll free at 1-844-460-4555 to register or ask questions about the 11-week Beyond Weight program. Space is limited and participants will need to complete a screening form for this program.
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DiabetesNS.ca
Type 2 Diabetes: Virtual Tools for your Patients
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Nova Scotia Health has launched a new website, www.DiabetesNS.ca, to help people living with Type 2 diabetes.
We would encourage you to refer your patients to this website or to the nearest Nova Scotia Health Diabetes Centre if they cannot access the modules online.
The goal of these modules is to provide Nova Scotians living with Type 2 Diabetes with trusted health information. This ranges from self-management skills to knowing when to seek the assistance of a health care professional or a Diabetes Centre.
There are five modules to help patients learn about Type 2 Diabetes:
- Diabetes Essentials
- Setting Goals
- Moving Well
- Eating Well
- Staying Well
- Coping Well
A key benefit of these modules is allowing patients to self-manage their condition at their own pace. This reinforces lifestyle or behaviour changes.
If a patient needs more than a self-managed plan, please conduct an initial assessment to determine the correct level of support needed, as per the diabetes care path, and if appropriate, refer them to a Diabetes Centre.
For more information, please contact your nearest Diabetes Centre.
Pregnancy and Diabetes
The Diabetes Care Program of Nova Scotia (DCPNS) is pleased to announce the electronic release of the revised Pregnancy and Diabetes: Approaches to Practice (2021) manual on the DCPNS website.
In collaboration with the revision medical advisors, we are offering a Q & A Education Session profiling the revised manual and accompanying patient pamphlets. This will be provided by Zoom on Sept. 20 from 3 to 4 p.m. It will be recorded and made available for viewing. To register and submit your practice questions, please email: info@DCPNS.nshealth.ca.
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Adult Mental Health
Practice Support Program
| Interactive modules for family physicians and nurse practitioners to develop the skills and confidence in diagnosing and treating patients with mild to moderate depression and anxiety. | |
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Key Updates
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72 primary care providers and allied health professionals have completed the program since its launch in NS
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Program continued to be delivered virtually allowing physicians, NP’s, allied health professionals and medical office assistants to have access to support during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Recently completed a research project with faculty and medical residents at Dalhousie in partnership with the Mental Health Commission of Canada with 31 medical residents and 14 faculty taking part
- Fall cohort running Sept-Nov 2022
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What's Next
Registration is now open for Winter cohort (January - April, 2023). This Group Learning Program has been certified by the College of Family Physicians of Canada for up to (31.5 Mainpro+ credits). All sessions are mandatory and will be held virtually on the following dates:
Learning Sessions Winter 2023
- January 18th - 1 – 4:30 pm
- March 1st - 1 – 4:30 pm
- April 12th - 1 – 4:30 pm
To Register Click Here.
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Atlantic Mentorship Network - Pain and Addiction
(In partnership with NSH Mental Health and Addictions Program)
| Enhancing the capacity of primary care providers to manage chronic pain and substance use disorders in primary care through collaborative education and mentorship. | |
Key Updates
The Atlantic Mentorship Network - Pain and Addiction [AMN-P&A] in collaboration with PainBC and the Centre for Effective Practice continues to run the network. The Health Canada contribution agreement provides funding in the amount of $2.8 million over 4 years to develop Adaptive Mentoring networks in Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and British Columbia. The AMN-P&A will be providing its many years of experience in building and implementing mentorship networks to inform the models to be established in other parts of the country. Through this four-year contribution agreement, primary care providers will receive support to provide compassionate and effective care for Canadians living with chronic pain, substance use and/or mental illness.
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What's Next
Alcohol Use Disorder and Benzodiazepine Workshop: November 25, 2022, this accredited workshop will aim to assist physicians, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, other allied health professionals, medical residents and students in office-based management of alcohol use disorder and benzodiazepine use.
- November 25 - 9:00am - 4:00pm
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(8 Mainpro+ credits)
- Registration costs are: $150 Physicians, $100 Allied Health, $25 Medical Residents and Students
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Click here for information and registration details.
Motivational Interview Workshop: This accredited two day in-person workshop taking place will look at how healthcare providers can work with patients to elicit and strengthen motivation to change.
- February 17 & 18, 2023 - 9:00am - 4:00pm
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(11 Mainpro+ credits)
- Participant costs to attend both days are:
- $50 Physicians & Allied Health
- $25 Medical Residents and Students
For more information and registration click here.
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Opioid Use Disorder Practice Support Program
Training and support for primary care providers and teams to build competencies for the care of patients with opioid use disorder (OUD), including the safe prescribing of buprenorphine/naloxone.
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Key Updates
- 8 providers have completed the program
- Evaluation results indicating each session was meeting the intended learning outcomes as well as increasing knowledge, skill, and confidence in implementing OUD treatment strategies in the primary care practice setting.
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The program will be closely monitored and reviewed for continual improvement and applicability to primary care.
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What's Next
- Registration is now open for the winter 2023 cohort (January - March, 2023).
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If you would like to register please email PHCpracticesupport@nshealth.ca.
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This group learning program is certified by the College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Nova Scotia Chapter for up to (15 Mainpro+ credits).
- Program is free
- Over the program duration, participants will attend three half-day virtual learning sessions and three one-hour webinars:
Virtual Learning Sessions (12:30 pm – 4:00 pm)
- Learning Session 1: January 10
- Learning Session 2: February 14
- Learning Session 3: March 21
Webinars (12:00 pm – 1:00 pm)
- Webinar 1: TBA
- Webinar 2: TBA
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Webinar 3: TBA
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Addictions Medicine Consult Service: Rapid addictions medicine consultant advice is available to Nova Scotia Primary Health Care providers by calling 1-855-970-0234. Consultants are available between 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, Mon-Fri. | |
Enhancing Access to Primary Health Care | Supporting providers and teams to implement strategies to reduce delays for services, increase capacity for same day scheduled appointments, and improve clinic workflows and efficiencies, while enhancing patient experience and improving work-life balance. | |
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Key Updates
Self-directed resources, tools, and session recordings are available for interested providers and teams to access. Opportunities for tailored coaching are also available for providers and teams that have started on their access journey to work through practice-specific challenges.
New Enhanced Access Pilot Project about to launch:
The primary health care leadership team has been asked to identify opportunities for providing same day/next day access in primary health care with a specific focus on Primary Care Clinics [PCCs].
A new project is being initiated to deploy an enhanced practice support team to practices to identify opportunities to enable more same-day/next-day access for patients and improve satisfaction and work life balance for providers and teams.
The pilot project is being initiated with Primary Care Clinics in each Zone, with intention to spread and scale the newly designed support model to additional practices in 2023.
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Attachment and Panel Identification in Primary Health Care | Attachment and Panel Identification in Primary Health Care is an initiative launched in 2021 to support Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioners and teams to identify, monitor and maintain patient panels and support quality improvement. The approach has been co-designed with Nova Scotia Nurse Practitioners and takes into consideration both Med Access and Accuro EMR systems. | |
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Key Updates
Since launching this initiative in Fall 2021, approx. 114 PHC nurse practitioners and additional team members have been supported to implement the attachment and panel identification process. Based on feedback, we have heard teams have used the learnings from the process to:
- Improve scheduling processes
- Work more efficiently as a clinical team
- Inform discussions about panel sizes using relevant data
- Identify additional capacity to attach patients from the Need a Family Practice Registry
If you or your team is looking to clean up your patient panel data and learn more about your patients, check out the many resources to support you on our website.
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Call to Action
In order to better meet the needs of PHC Nurse Practitioners and teams, we need your feedback on how to improve! If you or members of your team have used any of our resources/supports to complete the attachment and panel identification process; please let us know about your experience by completing our Feedback Survey.
In addition to your feedback, if you participated in this initiative and have a success story you would like to share, we want to hear from you too! Please complete this Experience Story Template to share your experience with your peers... Who knows, you may find your story highlighted in the next issue of our Practice Support Program newsletter!
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Quality Improvement Resources & Supports
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Quality improvement [QI] is a core attribute of all high-performing teams and is critical to realize the full vision for primary health care in Nova Scotia.
Nova Scotia Health staff can access core Quality Improvement (QI) resources and at the Nova Scotia Health Quality Improvement website (accessible on the NSH intranet for NSH staff) . These resources and tools will help you and your team to start testing changes to improve care experiences and outcomes.
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Curated Quality Improvement Resources and Tools
In addition to the core NSH QI resources, we also share a collection of resources and tools from trusted organizations on our website. These resources have been selected by Primary Health Care [PHC] to support you and your team in participating in and/or leading QI initiatives.- If you have questions or need support to apply these tools, visit the website or email us at PHCPracticeSupport@nshealth.ca.
Nova Scotia Quality Improvement Approach
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