President’s Letter:Â New Affiliation Agreement for Family Physicians who wish to partner with Family Care Teams
Dear Colleagues:
As you know, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and NL Health Services (NLHS) are in the process of rolling out Family Care Teams (FCTs) to meet the recommendations of Health Accord NL. Twenty-three Family Care Teams have been approved at sites across the province and are in various stages of development. These teams will primarily be staffed by NLHS employees that can include physicians, NPs, RNs, LPNs, clinical and social navigators and administrative staff, among others.Â
Private community-based family physicians can now formally partner with these Family Care Teams by signing the Affiliated Practice Letter of Offer and Agreement with NLHS. This will enable interprofessional collaboration and enhanced communication with other members of the Family Care Team in their community. To formalize this partnership, the NLMA, the Department of Health and Community Services and NLHS have developed the Affiliating with Family Care Teams NL: Governance and Policies Guide for affiliating community practices. The guide ensures strategies are in place to support effective collaboration, co-governance, and best practices for team-based care. These documents will be sent to you later today.
Physician leaders within the Family Practice Networks (FPNs) have also been working with NLHS over the past several months to prepare for the affiliation process. The FPNs will be an instrumental liaison between practices, the health authority and the developing FCTs, by working with affiliating family physicians to support their transition to this model.
While the rollout of Family Care Teams is ongoing, with many teams in the early stages of development, affiliating with a FCT now offers early adopters an opportunity to have meaningful input and influence into primary health care reform in their community. Family practices that choose to affiliate will share in the governance, planning and implementation of FCTs, and will work collaboratively to design clinical pathways to care. NLHS will provide honoraria to affiliated physicians for their time spent on FCT planning activities, consistent with the Family Practice Renewal Program’s honoraria policy.
Affiliation with FCTs is completely voluntary. Community-based family physicians who choose to affiliate their practices with a FCT will continue to maintain their autonomy in their own operations and will serve as the most responsible provider for their patients. Practices that choose not to affiliate can still work with FCTs informally and will continue to have access to the services of FCT members through established referral processes.
Family physicians interested in affiliating their practice with a Family Care Team are encouraged to read the documents that will be sent to you later today. As always, we appreciate your feedback on these matters.
Sincerely,
Steve Major
President