What We Do

Visioning

Hundreds of family doctors from across BC shared their ideas about the future of primary care as part of the FPSC’s visioning engagement process between July and September 30, 2015. This was a province-wide opportunity for every family doctor to contribute their thoughts about how they want to practice and care for their patients in the future.

Consultations with family doctors were the foundation of this process. All interested BC family physicians had the opportunity to identify important topics related to family practice, listen to the views of other family doctors, express their views, and have open discussions. Family physicians were invited to participate in any of the 26 in-person meetings co-hosted by local divisions of family practice and the Visioning Steering Committee and/or by joining online conversations.

The FPSC contracted a company called Thoughtexchange to provide and manage the online tool that was used in the initial stage of the online engagement process.

In addition to the Thought exchange conversations and in-person meetings, the members of the VSC initiated Digital Dialogue discussions on the important topics that they identified. These included:

  • Recruitment and Retention: How can each of us help?
  • After hours care: What is it and who should provide it?
  • Must we be self-employed?
  • Is family practice maternity care sustainable?
  • Administrative overload: What Is the Answer?
  • Is how we practice a barrier to full service FP?
  • High functioning primary care needs team based care: Why are we holding back?
  • Is the care we provide influenced by how we’re paid: What’s the right funding model?
  • Can a walk-in clinic be your family doctor?
  • What is the family physician’s role in hospital care?
  • Primary care in urban and rural settings

All the feedback from family physicians has been captured in the Visioning Engagement Report, which is posted in the password-protected section of the Doctors of BC website. The report summarizes family doctors’ comments about the realities they face in practice, including what works well, what does not, and what changes they would like to see.  Topic areas include the vision of primary care in the future, scope of primary care services, practice and payment models, the role of the family doctor in team-based care, and physician health and wellness.

What’s next?  The FPSC is in the final stages of an extensive strategic development process based on what family doctors said, the work of divisions on the ground in their communities, and the strategic priorities of the FPSC’s partners and other Joint Clinical Committees.

This process will result in a family doctor-led vision of the future of primary care in BC that will drive the work of the FPSC for the foreseeable future.  When the FPSC’s vision and strategic direction are complete they will be shared with physicians and local divisions of family practice. Together, we can then discuss how this will impact the way doctors practice in the future, any issues, and work collaboratively on building the future of primary care in BC.

Divisions of Family Practice

The Divisions of Family Practice initiative helps family physicians in BC communities to work together to enhance their practice and address gaps in patient care.

Divisions of Family Practice are affiliations of family physicians with common health care goals and/or in the same geographic area of BC.

This initiative was designed to increase family physicians’ influence on health care delivery or policy and provide personal and professional support for physicians. It gives physicians a stronger collective voice and more impact in their community while helping them work together to improve their clinical practices, offer comprehensive patient services, and influence health service decision-making in their community.

To achieve their goals, Divisions of Family Practice work in partnership with their health authority, the FPSC, and the Ministry of Health Services (MOHS). Together they are responsible for identifying the gaps that exist in patient care in a Division’s community and for developing solutions to their own particular issues.
 
For more information, email divisions@doctorsofbc.ca.

Maternity Network Initiative

Maternity Care Network

The maternity care network incentives support family doctors providing obstetrical and full-scope maternity care to patients in their community through links primarily with other GPs. GPSC obstetrical delivery incentives are intended to encourage family practitioners to continue to provide intra-partum obstetrical care as part of their practice.

Click here for details in GPSC's related billing guide.

 

Leadership and Management Development Program

The FPSC Leadership and Management Development Program is a foundational program grounded in core concepts that are central to building or enhancing leadership and management capacity. The program complements other supports as a foundational learning resource for those involved in, or aspiring to, a leadership role within the primary care redesign.

 

The next LMDP cohort runs:

November 22, 2024
to May 24, 2025
in Vancouver

Application Deadline: Sept 9, 2024

Read the program brochure and apply by clicking the link below.

Please note: a) the application form can be found on the last page of the brochure, and b) applicants must contact their division of family practice to have their applications endorsed by the division board.

Read more

 

"Every module was unique and special and gave me so much to think about. I was excited before each one and felt even more inspired at the end of each module. I’m ready to apply my newfound knowledge as I make my next career steps.” 

The program is open to physicians who are already in a leadership role within their division of family practice or are planning to be in a leadership role in the near future. 

The FPSC LMDP gives participants the tools to build common skills and language in initiatives related to primary care redesign. It provides opportunities for stakeholders from around the province to build relationships, learn together, support each other, solve problems and ultimately, through face‐to‐face action learning activities, set the foundation for new and innovative ideas to enhance primary care.

Cohort 15 will be delivered face-to-face at the SFU Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue in downtown Vancouver. Applicants are committing to the 10 full days as outlined in the brochure. Program participants can expect up to 1.5 hours of reading or video viewing prior to each module (prep time dependent on face-to-face versus remote delivery).

“One of the most important highlights of this program is not only the teaching, but the teaching about humanity and humility. This is the area of my character I experienced the greatest amount of growth. For that I am truly grateful.” 

For more information, contact divisions@doctorsofbc.ca.

"To say this course has been life changing seems like an understatement. I am incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to learn and grow with my cohort. I look forward to every opportunity I get to use the skills that I have learned." 

Steering Committee

Meet the Visioning Steering Committee

The GPSC is pleased to introduce the 12 members on its Visioning Steering Committee, which is working to help the GPSC identify its priorities and plans for the next three to five years and to influence the future of primary care in BC.

The selection team chose the six physician representatives from 25 nominees submitted by the divisions. The methodology employed for candidate selection ensured equitable representation from the health authority regions and rural/suburban/urban geographies, and gave consideration to the physicians’ length of time in practice, their skills, and their competencies.

Here are the 12 members of the Visioning Steering Committee:

  • Mark Armitage, Ministry of Health
  • Dr Shelley Ross, Doctors of BC
  • Dr Peter Barnsdale, Doctors of BC
  • Dr Jean Clarke, BC Family Doctors (formerly, Society of General Practitioners of BC)
  • Dr William Clifford, Prince George Division of Family Practice
  • Dr Renee Fernandez, Vancouver Division of Family Practice
  • Dr Lee Mackay, Kootenay Boundary Division of Family Practice
  • Dr Scott Markey, Chilliwack Division of Family Practice
  • Dr Annette McCall, North Shore Division of Family Practice
  • Shana Ooms, Ministry of Health
  • Petra Pardy, Fraser Health Authority
  • Dr Trudy Woudstra, Cowichan Division of Family Practice

System Change

Updated April 11, 2024

Let's create a clear path to care.

Building on its focus to promote physician leadership and inspire health care change, FPSC is on a collaborative, multi-year journey to transform primary care. The committee works with long-standing partners including Doctors of BC, the Ministry of Health, family doctors, community-based divisions of family practice, the five regional health authorities, the First Nations Health Authority, and other health care groups and First Nations partners.

Together, these provincial partners are working to enable access to quality primary health care that effectively meets the needs of patients and populations in BC.

Learn more about changes to PCN governance, or download a PDF about the changes.

FPSC goals:

  • Increase access to appropriate, comprehensive, quality primary health care.
  • Improve support for patients, particularly vulnerable patients, through enhanced and simplified linkages between providers.
  • Contribute to building a more effective, efficient, and sustainable health care system in order to increase access to primary care, and to ensure patients can have a long-term relationship with a primary care provider, usually a family doctor.
  • Retain and attract family doctors and teams to work together in healthy and vibrant work environments.

Team-based care is the overarching principle of this work, with patient medical homes (PMH) as the foundation, and primary care networks (PCNs) knitting together services and organizations to better coordinate care for patients.

Panel management is foundational work for family doctors and their primary care teams to prepare for system changes. Accurate patient panels enable doctors to make informed decisions about the clinical and team supports they need in a practice to best care for their patients.

Clinical networks are a key element to affect change in the primary care system, enabling doctors to rely on each other for practice coverage and to provide continuous care for patients.

This integrated team-based health care system will enable lasting system change, and ensure patients have a clear path to the care they need, now and in the future.

Research and Evidence

 

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