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Expand the reach of and access to primary care to ensure all Ontarians are linked with a primary care team
"My view you know is that the ultimate destination is the nursing of the sick in their own homes...I look to the abolition of all hospitals and workhouse infirmaries. But it is no use to talk about the year 2000."
What is ECCO?
Enhancing Community Care for Ontarians (ECCO) calls on the government and health system partners to strengthen community care and anchor the health system in primary care to better meet the health needs of all Ontarians. First released in 2012 and next in 2014, ECCO 3.0 aligns with much needed health system transformation that responds to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Why Now?
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the flaws in the health system with:
- Over-reliance on the hospital sector
- Under-utilization of of primary care and home health care
- Lack of early attention to all vulnerable populations and devastating effects, in particular, on residents of nursing and retirement homes
- Slow response
Time to reflect and act ahead of the second wave of COVID-19.
We can and must do better by accelerating the provincial system transformation plans, and expanding on the strengths of the Ontario Health Teams (OHT).
What attributes do we envision for our health system through our ECCO lens?
An accessible, equitable, person-centred integrated and publicly-funded health system, delivered primarily on a not-for-profit basis, can only be realized when we have a robust community sector that anchored in primary care has those same attributes.
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ECCO 3.0 at a Glance infographic
What will adopting the the ECCO model mean for our health system?
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1. Universal reach
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2. Upstream approach to care
Establish approaches to care that are person-centred, incorporate health promotion and disease prevention, and integrate equity and community engagement
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3. Inter-professional primary care teams
Ensure all primary care is provided through an inter-professional team-based model
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4. Comprehensive care coordination
Enhance all community care services across the continuum of care
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5. Enhanced community care across the continuum
Expand the reach of and access to primary care to ensure all Ontarians are linked with a primary care team
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6. Long-term care as home
Re-imagine long-term care (LTC) as 'home' to residents, and integrate nursing and retirement homes into enhanced community care plans and funding
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7. Evidence-based practice
Demonstrate a commitment to evidence-based practice across the health system
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8. Optimized digital health
Optimize digital health technologies to improve access, enhance integration and support person-centred care
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9. Full scope of practice
Maximize and enable the full scope of practice of all regulated health professionals
How do we get there from here?
Align independent public health entities with the integrated health system, while increasing the overall funding to public health
These four 'transition recommendations' are necessary to move from the current state to the transformed health system:
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10. Lead with primary care
Include primary care in a leadership role in the process of transforming the health system
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11. Align funding with Quadruple Aim
Use a funding model for OHTs that drives them to realize the Quadruple Aim
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12. Embrace Ontario Health as single system planner
Develop a single health-system planner and funder that oversees and supports networks of local health teams, allowing for enhanced health services and processes that realize the Quadruple Aim
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13. Integrate & streamline public health
Align independent public health entities with the integrated health system, while increasing the overall funding to public health
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The solution is to strengthen community care & anchor our health system in primary care
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ECCO 3.0 is a clarion for urgent change: Find out more here!
