Pausing Innovation Fund EOI intake, effective Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024

The Saskatchewan Medical Association and Government of Saskatchewan established an Innovation Fund of $10 million as a key achievement of the 2024 SMA Agreement to enable family physician led team-based care initiatives. The intent of the fund is to encourage the development of Family Physician-led, team-based clinics that support unique needs of the community and practice in partnership with Health Networks. More specifically the key objectives of the Innovation Fund are to:

1. Accelerate the implementation of the College of Family Physicians Patient’s Medical Home (PMH) model in Family Medicine clinics;
2. Strengthen collaboration between successful Innovation Fund applicants and Health Networks across the province;
3. Improve patient access and quality care within clinics through team-based supports; and
4. Improve work-life balance within funded clinics to support recruitment and retention efforts.

Applications may include but are not limited to costs for preparation and support of physicians and clinics in the transition to family physician-led, team-based care, and/or to enable physicians or clinics to employ office staff and/or non-physician providers, including associated incremental business expenses.

An Innovation Fund Committee was established by the SMA and the Ministry of Health, in partnership with the Saskatchewan Health Authority, to oversee the successful implementation of the program. This includes the approval of applications, alignment of resources, and coordination of supports provided to clinics.

The committee will endeavor to ensure a balance of projects, including a mix of geographical contexts, and initiatives that demonstrate a range of PMH development stages.

Online information sessions will be offered to provide more details, starting in September 2024.   

Expressions of Interest (EOI) will be accepted at any time; however, they must be submitted for consideration at least two weeks prior to a scheduled Innovation Fund Committee meeting.

The Innovation Fund Committee will meet monthly to review any EOIs or Applications that have been submitted for review and approval. 

Expressions of Interest (EOI) Phase:

• All applicants must complete the Expression of Interest Form as a first step. It should take approximately 30-45 minutes to complete. The EOI form is intended to gather some details about your project.
• SMA Application Support, pmh@sma.sk.ca, is available for assistance with the form. 
• Once the EOI is complete, send it to pmh@sma.sk.ca and pcb@health.gov.sk.ca. The Innovation Fund Committee will review and approve EOIs that meet the criteria. The Innovation Fund Committee meets monthly to review submissions.
• All EOIs are reviewed by the Innovation Fund Committee (which includes representatives from the SMA, SHA, and Ministry of Health) for approval to move to the Application Phase. EOIs not approved may be encouraged to develop their ideas further and resubmit for consideration. 

Application Phase:

• Once an EOI is approved, applicants receive support to develop a comprehensive application, based on the program criteria. SMA Application Support is a group that is SMA family physician led, along with SMA and SHA staff.
• All applications must be approved by the Innovation Fund Committee prior to implementation. The Innovation Fund Committee meets monthly to review submissions.
• Once approved, projects move to the Implementation Phase.

Implementation Phase:

• Once a project is approved for implementation, a Letter of Understanding is completed, and funding is released. 
• Projects will receive on-going support from the PMH Support Team to support implementation.   
• Reporting and evaluation will be part of this phase.

EOIs and applications coming to the Innovation Fund Committee for approval must be received two weeks before the meeting date.  The Innovation Fund Committee meets the following dates:

2024:

• October 7, 2024
• November 4, 2024
• December 2, 2024

2025:

• January 6, 2025
• February 3, 2025 
• March 3, 2025                                                       

The committee will strive to ensure a balance of projects, including a mix of geographical contexts and initiatives that demonstrate a range of PMH maturity.

Applicants must be committed to:

• Adhering to the principles of patient-centered care and collaboration with health care partners.
• Joining a group practice or collaboration between solo physicians who are willing to share patient information for coverage and comprehensive care.
• Identifying a clinic-level Physician Lead for the project.
• Having an EMR and using data to support patient care.
• Continuous improvement and reporting back on the implementation of the initiative.

 The Innovation Fund is intended to support Family Physicians who:

• Are learning about innovative ideas for family physician led team-based care and are open to team development/change supports to ensure success.
• Accept the principles of team-based care, which includes regularly huddling with team members (including those who are part of a Health Network), having space in the clinic for all team members to work collaboratively, and acknowledging the NP model of care, in which NP’s will have their own panel of patients.
• Are planning to improve patient access to appropriate care, which may include extended hours access (e.g. after-hours).
• Are working towards greater use of data (such as clinic and Health Network profiles to understand the patient population and identify needs.
• Strive to incorporate principles of reconciliation to address gaps in care for Indigenous patients.
• Focus on serving mostly equity deserving populations (i.e. groups of people who have been historically disadvantaged and underrepresented).
• Are working to provide services in locations that are experiencing a lack of access irrespective of location (i.e., rural and/or remote, but also underserviced areas in urban centers).

Priority will be given to community-based longitudinal family practice clinics who have enrolled in the Transitional Payment Model (TPM) and are working towards these deliverables:

• Intentional clinic strengthening in the Patient’s Medical Home (PMH) Framework.
• Joining a group practice or collaboration between solo physicians who are willing to share patient information for coverage and comprehensive care.
• The development of leadership capacities within your clinic.
• Strengthening the relationship between clinic staff and patients.
• Engagement in quality improvement and PMH and HN learning opportunities, including the SMA’s Enhanced Use Program, HQC’s QI (Quality Improvement) in Clinics Program, and other relevant capacity building activities.
• Active partnership between your clinic and the SHA to determine efficient resource planning supports the clinic and geographic area. This would include adopting an agreement between the clinic and SHA to enable this partnership.
• Improving the use of their EMR within HN and/or TPM.
• Common work standards for Electronic Medical Record (EMR)/Electronic Health Record (eHR) patient-centered information exchange, as developed by the EMR Co-management Committee.
• Adhere to a set of Primary Care Quality Indicators, as developed.
• Any necessary data tracking, sharing, and reporting that demonstrates improvements to primary care delivery and patient outcomes, as developed.

This funding is to be used to support Family Physician-generated ideas that will deliver better access to team-based primary care with priority given to those clinics that have enrolled in the Transitional Payment Model (TPM). Funded initiatives will support physicians and clinics to align with the Patient’s Medical Home (PMH) vision.

Eligible Fund Use:

• Funding to hire team members (office staff and/or non-physician providers such as Medical Office Assistants, Nurse Practitioners, Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses, social workers and Physician Assistants).  Note: Collaboration with the SHA is required to first identify opportunities to realign existing SHA staff, provide virtual or itinerant services.
• Overhead business costs for new team members.
• IT/EMR supports.
• Training and leadership development opportunities.
• Change leadership supports.
• Innovations that increase capacity and/or quality improvement within clinics.
• Innovations that strengthen collaboration and integration, such as planning meetings, huddles and other opportunities to collaborate.

Ineligible Fund Use:

• Not advancing team-based care.
• Applications from other Specialists.
• Large infrastructure projects.
• Duplication of services/programs if they already exist and are available to use.

Funding for team members will be based on generally accepted salary ranges and benefits paid in Saskatchewan.

Once an application has been approved by the Innovation Fund Committee, the SMA will administer compensation for: Family Physician leader payment for implementation work and the approved expenses to support the project, as identified in the application and approved by the Innovation Fund Committee.

A PMH Support Team is a dynamic team of people who are committed to advancing Patient’s Medical Home clinics in Health Networks. The team is led by an SMA Family Physician leader and includes SMA, SHA and HQC staff that support the physician clinic leader and team on the elements required for implementation.

Clinic supports may include:

• Project planning
• Meeting or workshop facilitation
• Leadership development
• Outlining employment processes for new team members
• Integrating team members
• Leadership coaching
• Culture change
• Clinic/team development
• Learning opportunities
• IT/EMR resources
• Quality improvement
• Data and analytics

Clinic support also includes arranging and facilitating conversations with key healthcare partners to build the necessary relationships to achieve a common goal. Supportive healthcare partners may include SMA Family Physician leaders, SMA staff, IT/EMR resources, SHA primary health care operational and physician leaders (Area Department and Division Leads of Family Medicine) and staff, Ministry of Health staff, Health Quality Council quality improvement facilitators, leadership coaches, The Saskatchewan College of Family Physicians, or other professional experts.

Innovation Support Resources

Patient’s Medical Home

• Click here for Saskatchewan’s Patient’s Medical Home Clinics in Health Networks vision. 
• The Saskatchewan Patient’s Medical Home Development Tool is available to help understand where your practice is at on the PMH development journey. It also outlines the next steps a clinic may choose to take to strengthen the Patient’s Medical Home vision in our province. There are four key areas of development:
  • • Engaged physician leadership and team functioning
    • Patient-centered culturally responsive care
    • Panels, measurement, and continuous quality improvement
    • Care coordination and patient access
    • Saskatchewan College of Family Physicians Implementation Kit

• PMH vision in Canada, and Best Advice Guides introduce key concepts on the pillars of a PMH.

Family Physician Leadership

The SMA will work with Family Physician leaders to strengthen their role in leading transformational change in culture, relationships and operations, as well as removing obstacles for their team to make required changes. 

Leadership Development

Family Physicians will be provided with a structured learning environment to grow their leadership competencies and share their experiences and expertise together. The following courses may be offered:

• Role of Family Physician Leadership (TBD)
• Leading Self (TBD)
• Leading Others (TBD)

EMR Resources

SMA EMR website

SMA EMR Enhanced Use Program

Health Network Resources

SHA teams have experience building and strengthening interdisciplinary teams throughout the province to enhance primary health care.  The SHA offers programs, services and resources that may be able to be integrated in Patient Medical Homes, based on local needs and context. The SHA also has access to teams with expertise in various areas (e.g., data and performance measurement, patient and community engagement, facilitation, project planning). Teams across the province have been collaboratively advancing Health Network development in the following areas:

• Know Your Network, Know Your Health Network Services
• Alignment and Program Optimization
• Team Integration
• Community Integration
• High Quality Care Transitions

Foundational Health Network resources include:

• SHA Area Maps and Health Network map 
• Health Network Profiles
• Use your SHA email to log in and view Health Networks 101

Quality Improvement Resources

• The Health Quality Council (HQC) Physician Panel Reports for Family Physicians.
• The Health Quality Council: QI in Clinics Program

Click here to open the Patient’s Medical Home page. 

Reporting

Projects will be expected to provide routine reports on the status of their projects. While some outcome measures may be identical for all projects, others may be specific to an individual project. These details will be discussed with the SMA Application Support during the application phase. All reports will be shared with members of the Innovation Fund Committee.

Evaluation

An Innovation Fund program evaluation will be completed. It will include program administration, an overview of funded projects, and outcomes and lessons learned. 

Data

High quality data are essential for effective Patient’s Medical Homes and Health Networks. Reliable, timely and relevant data can help leaders and providers make clinical decisions, coordinate care, and design services around the needs of the population.

Examples of tools include:

• The Health Quality Council (HQC) develops Physician Panel Reports for Family Physicians, with accessible and relevant information about providers’ patient populations. These reports include information on demographics, continuity of care, health service use, and prescribing practices. Patient panels are calculated semi-annually in April and October of each year. Your panel report is available at Physicians Practice Report.
• The SHA generates annual Health Network Profile Data Reports on the health indicators of the population within each HN. With a clear understanding of the health needs of individuals and communities, the health system is positioned to tailor staffing and services based on local needs. Key information includes demographics, social determinants of health indicators, acute care utilization, and prevalence of chronic diseases. Health leaders can use this data to plan resourcing, develop teams, engage stakeholders, understand population needs, and improve health outcomes.

SMA

• Dr. Kirsty Sanderson, Co-chair
• Dr. Craig Cantin
• Dr. Sean Groves
• Dr. Ginger Ruddy
• Mark Ceaser, Director, Economics, Clinical Informatics & Research
• Tahirih North, Consultant
• Kate Fast, Consultant
• Sheila Johnstone, Consultant

Ministry of Health

• Melissa Kimens, Executive Director, Primary Care Branch
• David Howland, Director, Strategy Team, Co-chair
• Karen Scherle, Strategic Policy/Program Analyst
• Ramona Furkert, Strategic Policy/Program Analyst

Saskatchewan Health Authority

• Sheila Anderson, Vice President, Integrated Regina Health
• Dr. Johann Roodt, Physician Executive, Integrated Rural Health
• Dr. Rashaad Hansia, Physician Executive, Integrated Regina Health
• Patricia Comfort, Executive Director, Primary Health Care (Provincial)
• Dr. Kathy Lawrence, Provincial Head, Department of Family Medicine (Regina)
• Adrienne Danyliw, Director, Strategy & Innovation, Large Scale Change
• Dylan Letendre, Specialist, Strategy & Innovation, Large Scale Change
• Tracy Sanden, Specialist, Strategy & Innovation, Large Scale Change

To ensure timely responses and proper support for applicants, a pause is needed – effective October 31, 2024. During this time, the Saskatchewan Medical Association and the Ministry of Health will assess how much of the $10 million has been allocated thus far, to determine the capacity and remaining funds available for future rounds when the EOI intake process reopens. For more details, please contact us at pmh@sma.sk.ca.

The Innovation Fund Committee will meet monthly to review any EOIs or applications that have been submitted for review and approval. The Innovation Fund Committee meets the following dates:

2024:

• October 7, 2024
• November 4, 2024
• December 2, 2024

2025:

• January 6, 2025
• February 3, 2025
• March 3, 2025

All EOIs will be reviewed by the Innovation Fund Committee (which includes SMA, SHA, and Ministry of Health). If approved, they will move to the Application Phase. EOIs not approved may be encouraged to develop their ideas further and resubmit for consideration.

SMA TPM Information Booklet