Quality of warfarin management in primary care: Determining the stability of international normalized ratios using a nationally representative prospective cohort.

Objective: To determine the stability of warfarin anticoagulation using a nationally representative sample of Canadian primary care patients and providers.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Primary care practices associated with the Canadian Primary Care Sentinel Surveillance Network.

Opioid use disorder in primary care: PEER umbrella systematic review of systematic reviews.

Objective: To summarize the best available evidence regarding various topics related to primary care management of opioid use disorder (OUD).

Data Sources: MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, Google, and the references of included studies and relevant guidelines.

Study Selection: Published systematic reviews and newer randomized controlled trials from the past 5 to 10 years that investigated patient-oriented outcomes related to managing OUD in primary care, diagnosis, pharmacotherapies (including buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone), tapering strategies, psychosocial interventions, prescribing practices, and management of comorbidities.

Managing opioid use disorder in primary care: PEER simplified guideline.

Objective: To use the best available evidence and principles of shared, informed decision making to develop a clinical practice guideline for a simplified approach to managing opioid use disorder (OUD) in primary care.

Methods: Eleven health care and allied health professionals representing various practice settings, professions, and locations created a list of key questions relevant to the management of OUD in primary care. These questions related to the treatment setting, diagnosis, treatment, and management of comorbidities in OUD.

Top studies relevant to primary care from 2018: From PEER.

Objective: To summarize high-quality studies for 10 topics from 2018 that have strong relevance to primary care practice.

Quality Of Evidence: Study selection involved routine literature surveillance by a group of primary care health professionals. This included screening abstracts of important journals and Evidence Alerts, as well as searching .

Do family health clinics provide primary-level palliative care in Ontario and the eastern regions of Quebec?

Objective: To explore the extent to which family health clinics in Ontario and the eastern regions of the province of Quebec provide palliative care.

Design: A cross-sectional survey.

Setting: Ontario and the eastern regions of Quebec.

Collaborating to Achieve the Optimal Family Medicine Workforce.

When the Family Medicine for America's Health (FMAHealth) Workforce Education and Development Tactic Team (WEDTT) began its work in December 2014, one of its charges from the FMAHealth Board was to increase family physician production to achieve the diverse primary care workforce the United States needs. The WEDTT created a multilevel interfunctional team to work on this priority initiative that included a focus on student, resident, and early-career physician involvement and leadership development. One major outcome was the adoption of a shared aim, known as 25 x 2030.

Primary Care Research Priorities in Low-and Middle-Income Countries.

Purpose: To identify and prioritize the needs for new research evidence for primary health care (PHC) in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) about organization, models of care, and financing of PHC.

Methods: Three-round expert panel consultation of LMIC PHC practitioners and academics sampled from global networks, via web-based surveys. Iterative literature review conducted in parallel.

Trust as the foundation: thoughts on the Starfield principles in Canada and Brazil: The Besrour Papers: a series on the state of family medicine in Canada and Brazil.

Objective: To compare primary care in Canada and Brazil and how both countries have embraced the Starfield principles in the design of their health care systems.

Composition Of The Committee: A subgroup of the Besrour Centre of the College of Family Physicians of Canada developed connections with colleagues in Brazil and collaborated to undertake a between-country comparison, comparing and contrasting various elements of both countries' efforts to strengthen primary care over the past few decades.

Methods: Following a literature review, the authors collectively reflected on their experiences in an attempt to explore the past and current state of family medicine in Canada and Brazil.

Position Statement: Guidelines for vitamin K prophylaxis in newborns: A joint statement of the Canadian Paediatric Society and the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

Newborns are at risk for vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB) caused by inadequate prenatal storage and deficiency of vitamin K in breast milk. Systematic review of evidence to date suggests that a single intramuscular (IM) injection of vitamin K at birth effectively prevents VKDB. Current scientific data suggest that single or repeated doses of oral (PO) vitamin K are less effective than IM vitamin K in preventing VKDB.

Approach to the detection and management of chronic kidney disease: What primary care providers need to know.

Objective: To help primary care providers, both family physicians and nurse practitioners, identify, detect, and manage patients with and at risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD), as well as outline criteria for appropriate referral to nephrology.

Sources Of Information: Published guidelines on the topic of CKD and its comorbidities were reviewed. A MEDLINE search was conducted using the MeSH terms and .

Future practice of comprehensive care: Practice intentions of exiting family medicine residents in Canada.

Objective: To describe exiting family medicine (FM) residents' reported practice intentions after completing a Triple C Competency-based Curriculum.

Design: The surveys were intended to capture residents' perceptions of FM, their perceptions of their competency-based training, and their intentions to practise FM. Entry (T1) and exit (T2) self-reported survey results were compared considering the influence of the curriculum change.

A Technology-Enabled Solution to Manage Referrals to Hospice and Palliative Care Beds: The Ottawa SMART System as a Case Study.

Ottawa has a 31-bed palliative care unit (PCU) and two residential adult hospices (total 19 beds). In 2013, we initiated a project to improve the referral and triage processes to these beds. Previously, there were two separate paper-based systems with duplication, inefficiencies, delays and inappropriate patient placements.

Identifying the Priority Topics for the Assessment of Competence in Care of the Elderly.

Background: With Canada's senior population increasing, there is greater demand for family physicians with enhanced skills in Care of the Elderly (COE). The College of Family Physicians Canada (CFPC) has introduced Certificates of Added Competence (CACs), one being in COE. Our objective is to summarize the process used to determine the Priority Topics for the assessment of competence in COE.

Developing family practice to respond to global health challenges: The Besrour Papers: a series on the state of family medicine in the world.

Objective: To assess family medicine's role in developing strong, coordinated, community-based, integrated health care systems in low-resource settings globally.

Composition Of The Committee: A subgroup of the Besrour Centre of the College of Family Physicians of Canada developed connections with selected international colleagues with expertise in international family medicine practice, health systems and capacity building, and teaching to map family medicine globally and give a bird's eye view of family medicine internationally.

Methods: Following a background literature review, the authors collectively reflected on their substantial international experience to attempt to describe best practices for various contexts.

Do Weekly Alerts From a Mobile Application Influence Reading During Residency?

Background: The benefits of "spaced education" have been documented for residents in highly focused specialties. We found no published studies of spaced education in family medicine. In this study, we report on the feasibility of delivering weekly alerts from a mobile application (app) developed for exam preparation, to increase the reading of clinical information in the family medicine residency.

Family physician access to specialist advice by telephone: Reduction in unnecessary specialist consultations and emergency department visits.

Problem Addressed: Timely access to specialist care is an important issue for patients with mild to moderate symptoms, and wait times for referrals are currently quite long.

Objective Of Program: To provide FPs with quick telephone access to other specialists for treatment advice for patients with nonserious conditions that they would otherwise refer to specialist care.

Program Description: The RACE (Rapid Access to Consultative Expertise) program is a telephone hot-line providing FPs and nurse practitioners in the Vancouver, BC, area with timely access to specialist consultations.