Patient Advisor, Developing a Patient Medical Home

We are a group of family physicians in Vancouver who recognize that there is a high number of patients without family physicians in the area and throughout BC. We are working on a model of primary care delivery that we hope will serve both patients and physicians better than existing practices and health care delivery models. We can’t do it alone — we need you as patients to tell us how primary care and family physicians can better meet your health care needs.

Open to: Patient partners from East Vancouver

Lead Organization or Department

Kensington-Cedar Cottage Patient Medical Home

Aim

We are building a comprehensive family practice, or a Patient Medical Home, in the Kensington-Cedar Cottage area of East Vancouver that we hope to deliver under a funding model outside of the traditional fee-for-service model that most physicians work in. The goal of our health care delivery model (clinical model) would be to deliver care through a high functioning multi-disciplinary team, provide comprehensive care across the lifespan and ensure that care is carefully coordinated within the comprehensive and multi-disciplinary care team. Our clinical model would be responsive to patient needs, through careful and continuous patient engagement and adaptation of our care delivery to meet patient needs. It is our hope that model can be replicated across the province. We know that primary care is not always meeting the needs of patients and leaving many patients with gaps in care or difficulties with access. We need feedback about the needs of patients in Vancouver and how we can serve them better. We want to understand how patients in Vancouver are experiencing primary care, and what steps we can take at the outset of development of this clinic to best meet our future patients' needs.

Level of Engagement

This opportunity is at the level of consult on the spectrum of engagement. The promise to you is that the health care partner will listen to and acknowledge your ideas and concerns, and provide feedback on how your input affected the decision.

Eligibility

• Comfort telling your story as a patient trying to navigate our health care system
• Experience in dealing with the primary care system in Vancouver

Logistics

Vacancies: 3 Time, Date, Location: Meetings will take place every 1-2 months for about 1-2 hours. Meetings will take place in East Vancouver. Location to be determined based on patient partner needs. Commitment: Patient partners will be asked to meet with us approximately four times over the next 6-12 months, and potentially connect for short periods of time over the phone.

Reimbursement

Cost of parking, mileage and/or transit will be reimbursed. Light refreshments will be provided.

Background

This initiative came about when several family physicians came together and were inspired to action by the goal to improve the way primary care is delivered in Vancouver. This project is relevant to the primary care setting. We anticipate few risks to participants from involvement in our focus groups. All patient stories will be kept confidential and if we wish to share them with others, this will only be done with permission from the patient, with patient identity/details anonymized to protect their privacy.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Karen Estrin
Engagement Leader, Patient and Public Engagement | Lower Mainland & Sunshine Coast
604.668.8245
kestrin@bcpsqc.ca