Symposium explores primary care reform in Ontario, Canada

Jan Kasperski, chief executive officer for the Ontario College of Family Physicians, was keynote speaker for a February 20, 2013, symposium exploring the impact of primary care reform in Ontario, Canada. The symposium was held on Michigan State University’s East Lansing campus.

Her keynote lecture, “Primary Care in Ontario: Transforming Payment and Practice,” was followed by a reactor panel. Panelists included E. Chris Bush, MD, president of the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians; Rebecca Malouin, PhD, MPH, assistant professor in the MSU Department of Family Medicine and Department of Pediatrics and Human Development; and John vanSchagen, MD, associate chair of the Department of Family Medicine and program director for the Grand Rapids Family Medicine Residency Program. The symposium, which was sponsored by the MSU Canadian Studies Center, was well attended—with invited guests representing academic and private clinical practice, policy, and research.

The symposium was organized by Dr. Malouin and Ms. AnnMarie Schneider, director of the Canadian Studies Center. Both the symposium and an earlier private reception hosted by Dr. Malouin offered venues for open discourse between Michigan and Canadian colleagues, an exchange of information and discussion on innovations in primary care, and an exploration of the recent impact of healthcare reform in the region. The outcomes included research questions that meeting attendees and interested stakeholders may tackle together through research and scholarship leading to advocacy and policy.

The symposium builds on the work of Dr. Malouin and Dr. Heather Howard of the MSU Department of Anthropology. Malouin and Howard, who both serve on the Advisory Committee for the MSU Canadian Studies Center, have received a Canadian Studies Grant Award from the Canadian Embassy for the project “Understanding Primary Care Transformation in the Niagara Region of Ontario from the Perspective of Practices and Programs.” This grant builds on the work of Dr. Malouin’s R01 award from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality titled, “Comparative Effectiveness of Primary Care Practice Transformation by Two Payers,” evaluating primary care practice transformation in Michigan and Western New York.

For more information about this event or related future events, please contact Dr. Malouin at Rebecca.Malouin@ht.msu.edu.