In this episode, Tara speaks with Dr. Nicole Boutilier, Executive Vice President of Medicine and Clinical Operations at the Nova Scotia Health Authority —  a family doctor leading primary care transformation from within the government. Dr. Boutilier walks Tara through Nova Scotia’s multi-pronged plan to improve primary care access: transforming the province’s centralized waitlist into an active patient management tool, building and strengthening Health Homes (team-based primary care clinics), creating pathways for people without a family doctor to access care while they wait, and modernizing how data flows — so patients can access and share their own health information through the YourHealthNS app.

Research and programs mentioned in this episode

Read the OurCare reports from the Provincial Priorities Panels (including Nova Scotia’s).

Find out more about Nova Scotia’s Need a Family Practice Registry and Health Homes model.

Get more info on Nova Scotia’s Longitudinal Family Medicine (LFM) physician payment model.

Watch a video about how the YourHealthNS app gives patients access to their health data.

Learn more about Nova Scotia’s new pathways for integrating internationally-trained medical graduates and the new Cape Breton Medical Campus training rural family doctors.

Dive into the research on virtual care in Canada.

MAINPRO CREDITS: Family doctors can claim Mainpro Credits by completing a linking learning exercise. 

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Dr. Tara Kiran is a family physician and researcher who is passionate about building a stronger, more equitable primary care system in Canada. She practices at St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto where she is also a scientist at MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions. In 2022, Dr. Kiran launched OurCare, a national initiative to engage the public in shaping the future of primary care in Canada. You can learn more about Dr. Kiran’s research here: https://maphealth.ca/kiran/ 

Primary Focus is supported by a grant from the St. Michael’s Foundation. Dr. Tara Kiran is supported as the Fidani Chair in Improvement and Innovation at the University of Toronto and a Scientist in the Departments of Family and Community Medicine at St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto.

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