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Primary Care Access Improvement

Primary Care Access Improvement helps team-based primary care organizations create efficiencies and optimize team functioning so patients can receive timely and appropriate care while ensuring continuity.

An illustration of three individuals: a masked healthcare provider holding a tablet standing in a doorway facing two individuals, one of whom has their hand on the other's arm and the other individual has their hand on their own chest signifying gratitude.
Topics
  • Primary and community care
Audience

  • Community organization

  • Point of care provider

  • Quality or safety improvement lead

With the support of a coach, 24 team-based primary care organizations will apply five pillars of a contemporary Advanced Access model. Each pillar identifies an area of work necessary for the successful implementation of contemporary Advanced Access in primary care practices. This approach helps healthcare teams balance appointment availability with patient demand so people can get care without long delays or relying on emergency departments.

Meet the teams

The 24 teams come from 7 provinces and reflect a wide range of primary care providers in Canada. They include community health centres, family health teams, hospital-affiliated practices, and independent clinics. Some serve urban populations, while others operate in rural and remote communities. This diversity ensures that the lessons learned are grounded in a variety of contexts and realities, making them applicable to primary care environments across the country.

By working together, these organizations demonstrate how local innovation can contribute to pan-Canadian change, ensuring timely, coordinated access to care for people everywhere.

Map of Canada with purple bubbles indicating the number of participating teams by province/territory. The largest bubbles are in Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia.

Alberta

  • Haven Medical Centre Inc. (Edmonton, Alberta)

  • Indigenous Wellness Clinic - Primary Care Alberta (Edmonton, Alberta)

British Columbia

  • Cowichan Collaborative Health (Duncan, British Columbia)

Manitoba

  • Centre de santé Saint-Boniface Inc. - Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (Winnipeg, Manitoba)

Nova Scotia

  • Nova Scotia Health - Dalhousie Family Medicine-Mumford (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

  • Nova Scotia Health - Dalhousie Family Medicine-Spryfield (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

  • Nova Scotia Health - Digby Area Health Services Centre (Digby, Nova Scotia)

  • Nova Scotia Health - Inverness Family Health Collaborative (Inverness, Nova Scotia)

Ontario

  • Central Community Health Centre (St. Thomas, Ontario)

  • Health For All Family Health Team (Markham, Ontario)

  • Queen’s Quay Medical Center (Toronto, Ontario)

  • Unity Health Toronto - St. Michael's Hospital Academic Family Health Team - Sumac Creek (Toronto, Ontario)

  • Unity Health Toronto - St. Michael's Hospital Academic Family Health Team - 61 Queen (Toronto, Ontario)

  • Unity Health Toronto - St. Michael's Hospital Academic Family Health Team - St. Lawrence Health Centre (Toronto, Ontario)

  • St. Michael’s Hospital – Wellesley – St. James Town Health Centre – 95 Homewood (Toronto, Ontario)

  • Women's College Hospital (Toronto, Ontario)

Québec

  • CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal - Centre médical Hochelaga (Montréal, Québec)

  • Clinique Médicale 1851 (Montréal, Québec)

  • GMF Jolibourg (Laval, Québec)

  • GMF Le Nordet - Clinique Médicale de Matane (Matane, Québec)

  • GMF Nouvelle-Beauce (Sainte-Marie, Québec)

  • GMF Richelieu (Sorel-Tracy, Québec)

  • GMF St-Étienne (Lévis, Québec)

Saskatchewan

  • Saskatoon Community Clinic (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)

How we’re supporting teams

Teams include team-based primary care organizations who are experiencing challenges with access. They are supported by:

  • Seed funding up to $15,000.

  • Expert coaches to help you address challenges, sustain improvements and plan for long-term success.

  • Proven tools and evidence-informed resources for implementing and measuring what works.

  • Virtual and in-person* learning and networking to share knowledge, celebrate successes and drive collective progress.

Teams will be supported to implement contemporary Advanced Access while building essential skills in equity, cultural safety, patient engagement and safety. They’ll also explore key topics like quality improvement and working in partnership with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities.

An illustration of three individuals: one individual is standing and holding a tablet in one hand and pointing toward a schedule on a computer monitor with the other, a second individual is standing and looking at the schedule on the computer monitor computer and the third individual with a stethoscope around their neck is seated in front of the schedule on the computer monitor and has a computer mouse in their hand.

“With the flexibility that Advanced Access allows us, we were able to offer timely appointments for our patients.”

Nurse

What is Advanced Access?

As more people look for ways to expand access to primary care, Advanced Access offers a proven solution that can reduce wait times, improve patient experiences and lighten workloads for primary care teams while boosting job satisfaction.

Advanced Access is a widely endorsed quality improvement (QI) model that enables patients to access primary care services when they need it, considering urgency of care needs, while ensuring continuity of care. It achieves this by creating efficiencies and optimizing team functioning in primary care settings in urban, rural, northern and remote areas.

Improvement with impact

After just six months of implementing Advanced Access with support from Healthcare Excellence Canada, four clinics in Quebec reported the following results (PDF):

  • Improved access to team-based primary care, with appointment wait times reduced by an average of seven days.

  • More appointments available within 48 hours.

  • Better provider experience, with providers reporting reduced workloads, fewer administrative tasks and higher job satisfaction.

Featured content

The Five Central Pillars of Advanced Access

Contemporary Advanced Access helps primary care teams improve access, reduce wait times, and deliver timely, patient-centred care using five pillars. Find out how it can help your team deliver the right care, at the right time.

Learn more
Cover photo of the five central pillars of contemporary advanced access one pager.

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