May 2016

• CPSO Council approved the development of draft policies that would support continuity of care for patients.
• CPSO began work to establish their Continuity of Care Working Group

May 2018

• CPSO released draft versions of five policies and considered a 60-day consultation period for physicians and the public to review and provide feedback on them.
• OMA advocated to extend the consultation period to six months in order to properly engage members and weigh the impact of the draft policies.
• CPSO Council extended the consultation period to six months to allow for meaningful engagement.

June – November 2018

• OMA collected input from members and other system stakeholders using a number of methods, including: engaging the OMA Health Policy Committee and OMA sections, creating a dedicated Continuity of Care inbox, and holding virtual focus groups. The OMA’s President also sent regular updates to keep members informed.
• OMA worked with the CPSO to help them understand members’ response to the draft policies and the day-to-day realities that physicians face. This work included numerous staff meetings, discussions between senior leadership, participation at CPSO-organized stakeholder summits, and meetings with the CPSO Continuity of Care Working Group. OMA members were also encouraged and supported to submit their thoughts directly to the CPSO.

December 2018

• OMA submitted a formal written response to the CPSO’s draft Continuity of Care policies. The response included six key recommendations and outlined numerous suggested revisions.

January – August 2019

• CPSO revised the draft policies based on formal submissions collected during the consultation period. The outcome was four policies and one “Advice to the Profession” companion document.
• CPSO submitted the revised Continuity of Care policies to the CPSO Council for approval.

September 20, 2019

• CPSO Council approved the revised Continuity of Care policy suite with a 30-day transition period to allow physicians to align with any new expectations that were not previously set out in policy or where there has been substantial change in expectations.

October 20, 2019

• CPSO’s 30-day grace period of flexible enforcement ended.

OMA Health Policy Resources:
OMA Submission to CPSO: Input on Draft Continuity of Care Policies
OMA Comparative Table: Proposed vs. Accepted Revisions to Draft Continuity of Care Policies

The OMA has developed a series of checklists to help you understand and implement the new Continuity of Care policies in your practice.

The checklists organize expectations from across all four policies into common themes so that you can easily apply them to your everyday tasks and practice contexts.

Each checklist lists key action items followed by the exact wording from the CPSO’s policies. They also include optional guidance from the CPSO’s Continuity of Care: Advice to the Profession document.