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Ontario homecare reform edges forward

As noted earlier, the seven year suspension of competitive bidding in home care will continue. But the stated plans for home care reform remain  ... vague.

The "Community Providers Association Committee" (comprised of the the Ontario Association of CCACs, the Ontario Home Care Association, the Ontario Community Support Association, etc.) has formed a steering group and is establishing "Tables" for further discussion in four areas: [1] Funding Models, [2] Contracts, [3] Performance Measurement, and [4] Education and Training.  Each Table has about ten members.   In June, this reform initiative was named “Quality and Value in Home Care”.

As a first step, “starting on October 1st, 2012, a new, flexible 2-year contract will be in place." This contract is supposed to give CCACs and service providers "the flexibility to begin the phased implementation of one or more changes in accordance with provincial direction and local priorities.” They also appear to be contemplating another round of two year contracts in 2014.

Between now and October they plan to develop a new transitional contract template. CPAC says “guided by the new flexible contracts, CCACs and service providers will begin staged implementation of one or more changes to some contracts locally according to provincial direction and local priorities.”

In the longer run (2016?) they plan to be “working with performance based, renewable contracts.”

Whether this reform will create a more viable and robust model for home care delivery remains far from clear.  It sounds like it will continue the dominant role of for-profit providers, however.

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