Frequently Asked Questions About the Family Health Network

• What is the advantage of being part of a Family Health Network?
• When I enrol with my family doctor in a Family Health Network can I still choose to get a second opinion?
• How confidential is my medical information?
• Can I go to emergency if my child is sick in the middle of the night?
• I like my doctor and want to continue to see him or her. Do I have to join my doctor's Family Health Network?
• Do I have to sign the Patient Enrolment Form and Consent to Release Personal Health information?
• What type of information am I agreeing to share?
• Can I enrol my children as well?
• I have a personal care Power of Attorney for my father. Can I enrol him with his doctor?
• What happens if I want to change doctors or cancel my enrolment with my doctor?

The new system ensures that you have access to primary health care treatment or advice, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Your Family Health Network doctor or another member of the network team who is familiar with your important health information will care for you during regular and extended hours. After-hours, you can speak to a registered nurse at the Telephone Health Advisory Service.

You may also benefit from your doctor's increased access to secure information technology. Secure IT makes it easier for doctors involved in your care to update and review your health information, so that they always have your most complete and current health history at their fingertips.

Finally, by getting more of your regular primary care through the Family Health Network, you can help relieve the pressure on hospital emergency rooms, making them easier to access when you need them most.

Yes. You can always choose to get a second opinion. You can ask your Family Health Network doctor to recommend another doctor for a second opinion or you can make your own choice.

The advantage of being in a Family Health Network is that your personal family doctor will often be able to refer you to another doctor or health practitioner in the network. Of course, your family doctor will also continue to refer you to specialists when you need them.

Information about your health is as confidential as it has always been. Your doctor is required to respect the confidentiality of your health information, as are the other health professionals in your Family Health Network who care for you. Your doctor decides if there's a need to share your personal health information with other health professionals. If your records are shared through computer systems, it will be done under the strictest conditions of confidentiality that meet or exceed approved privacy standards and regulations.

Of course you can. If you think it's an emergency, don't hesitate to go. If you're not sure, simply take advantage of your network's after-hours Telephone Health Advisory Service. A registered nurse will provide you with advice about what to do. And you can be sure that in the morning, with your permission, your doctor will have a record of your call and the advice you received.

No. The choice is yours. You can continue to use the services your doctor offers without joining. But be sure to talk to your doctor about the Family Health Network. He or she can tell you more about the advantages of enrolling.

You must sign the form to enrol in a Family Health Network.

By consenting to the limited release of personal health information, you are allowing your family doctor to share that information with other health care providers involved in your care or other doctors in the Family Health Network.

In addition, you are allowing the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to release, to your Family Health Network doctor, the dates of immunizations, cervical screenings and mammograms and the dates and types of other primary care services that you have received from doctors outside your Family Health Network.

Also, you are allowing the Ministry - on behalf of your family doctor - to give the Telephone Health Advisory Service your name, address, date of birth and Health Number when you call so that the service can report back to your family doctor about your call.

To enrol your children under 16 years of age, simply sign the appropriate section of the Patient Enrolment Form and Consent to Release Personal Health Information on their behalf. Young people 16 years and over need to sign the form themselves.

Yes. Just sign the enrolment and consent form on the "Attorney for Personal Care" line. Please make sure you have the Power of Attorney for Personal Care document available, in case we contact you for a copy.

You are free to change the doctor you are enrolled with up to twice a year.

If, however, you are seeing another general practitioner on a regular basis, the doctor with whom you have enrolled can remove you from his or her Family Health Network roster of patients.

If you decide to cancel your enrolment in your doctor's Family Health Network, you don't have to change your family doctor. He or she can continue to see you on the same basis as before you joined the network.

If you do want to cancel your enrolment or consent, or plan to change your doctor, simply advise the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care by calling the patient information line at 1-888-218-9929.