We are 10 years old! 

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 PDF Letter

For 10 years the ORA has represented the interests of health service providers in Ontario by keeping them informed, establishing resources and building bridges between industries.

Today we are channeling our most earnest gratitude to all our members, past and present, who keep the ORA going year after year. You are what make up this organization and the ORA would not exist without you or be nearly as successful without your participation.

A special thank you to all members who have volunteered their time to fill roles on the Board of Directors. Your contributions have greatly enriched the ORA with fresh perspective and direction. Thank you for being a sounding board for idea generation, the arms and legs of implementation and occasionally filling in as moral support for Laurie and I.

Recognition would never be complete without taking a moment to appreciate the contributions of Laurie Davis, fearless maven, and steady heart beat of the ORA for the last 7 years. She has devoted her time and talents to the cause, leveraging her acumen in the sector to strategically seat herself at many advocacy tables. The ORA victories we’ve seen, are due much in part to the waves created by Laurie. Thank you for all you do.

In celebration of the occasion, we are releasing our Proud Member badges for email signatures. Please consider adding this badge to your signature. Our hope is to unify our members and further permeate the industry. The ORA knows you walk the walk so show off that your organization puts the best interests of patients and health service providers front and centre.

A word document has been attached for your copy & pasting needs. If you have any trouble with formatting please reach out to me.

Thank you to you all, and cheers to 10 years!

 

Heather McElroy

Executive Assistant

Ontario Rehab Alliance

Participants Needed: University of Toronto & OAK Concussion Lab study

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The University of Toronto and the OAK Concussion Lab are recruiting adolescents (ages 13-18 years) with concussion to participate in a research study. This study explores remote concussion care and will help bring concussion care to youth who live in areas without concussion specialists, or have difficulty attending in-person sessions at a clinic.

More information can be found below and interested participants are encouraged to contact [email protected] / 416-946-3273.

The OAK Concussion Lab is a team of researchers dedicated to improving concussion outcomes, knowledge and advocacy in youth.

ABI & MVA: The lived experience survey findings

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Attached here is an important and beautifully crafted advocacy document outlining the findings from the survey conducted jointly by ABISS and McMaster. My apologies for the delay in sharing this with you; it was released earlier this month.

ORA member Sheila MacDonald, (SLP, Sheila MacDonald & Associates), supervised the project along with Dr. Lynn Turkstra. The ORA was very pleased to get to know members of ABISS over the past few years through Sheila’s introduction, and to have them present at several ORA events.

Do read this – the results and recommendations for all stakeholders are summarized in the attached brief. Copies of the longer report are available on request.

Do share this on your websites and through social media posts.

McMaster-ABISS Study Findings.PDF

Image by Ryan McGuire, Pixabay

It’s Quintuplets! ORA Members Sweep Award Nominations

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Do consider supporting your fellow ORA members when you cast your ballot (by Aug 31) for the annual OBIA & PIA Awards of Excellence. There’s lots to choose from!

All five of the companies nominated in the Rehab Company of the Year category are ORA members, so you can’t go wrong voting for Abilities Rehab, Brainworks, Essentially You, FunctionAbility or Wright Rehab.

Colleen Boyce, (Bayshore), Sheila MacDonald, Kindrey Rowland (Orangeville, ORA members all, are nominated in the category of Healthcare Provider of the Year category.

Jennifer Jones (Abilities Rehab), Jodi Harendorf (Neuro-Rehab Services Inc.), Laura MacPhee (Rehab Results) and Maureen Palmer, are nominated in the Case Manager of Year category.

https://aoe.pialaw.ca/vote

Happy voting!

Help Distribute Important Survey of Individuals with Brain Injuries

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The ORA is asking its members to assist in disseminating a survey to individuals with brain injuries sustained in motor vehicle collisions to obtain information about their experience with auto insurance claims.

Please see the attached letters from student researchers at McMaster University and Acquired Brain Injury Survivor Solutions (ABISS), an advocacy group.

ABISS MCMASTER.TBI Insurance Study Approval 2020

Letter & Survey for Participants

Letter to Organizations & Professionals Assisting with Survey Distribution.

This research has received ethics approval through McMaster University from the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board. The researchers include:

• Principal Investigator, Dr. Lyn Turkstra, Department of Rehabilitation Science, McMaster University
• Research Supervisor, Sheila MacDonald, Assistant Professor (Adjunct), Department of Rehabilitation Science, McMaster University
• Student Investigators: Laura Brooks, Yvette Hou, Daniella Reid, Aileen Zhou

Clinicians distributing the survey are asked to ensure objectivity and privacy by observing the following:

• Allow the person to complete the survey in their private (non-therapy) time
• Do not discuss, assist with, or document survey completion in clinical notes and records (reporting, chart notes, emails etc.).

If you have questions or need more information about the study itself, please contact student investigator Laura Brooks by email at [email protected], or call Dr. Turkstra at 905.525.9140 Extension 28648.

The goal of this research project is to help better understand the experiences that those with brain injury following a motor vehicle collision have with their auto insurance claims.

Data from surveys like is so badly needed to support our advocacy for changes. Please do what you can to support this initiative.

With thanks,

Laurie Davis 

Executive Director, ORA

 

<a href=’https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/background’>Background vector created by freepik – www.freepik.com</a>

ORA ED Laurie Davis shares thoughts on COVID-19 and Auto Accident Survivors

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“We have people who are seriously and catastrophically injured who are in their own homes or in community settings and they are vulnerable”

How COVID-19 is probably affecting your auto claimants

ORA Pandemic Issues Letter to FSRA

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ORA Pandemic Issues Letter to FSRA PDF

Sent via email
RE: FSRA’S GUIDANCE AND PROMPT RESPONSE SOUGHT RE PANDEMIC RELATED ISSUES

March 26, 2020
Dear Ann and Stuart,
The ORA is very gratified by the deferral of the AIR filing. Thank you for any contributions you may have made to that announcement.
Along with all healthcare providers we’ve been asked to do our part and help mitigate the impact of this pandemic on our most vulnerable populations and on our acute care sector. We are ready and anxious to do so. Help us do our part.
The ORA has been holding weekly consultations with our members to hear what their experiences and questions are during this pandemic. Below I’ve outlined the issues and requests for FSRA’s guidance and assistance that have emerged thus far. We appreciate that some may be out of scope for FSRA and would, in these cases, be grateful for suggestions or introductions as to where to redirect.

Suspension of Non-Essential Regulated Health Provider (RHP) Services by Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health in the on March 19, 2020.
Early communications from some RHP members’ Colleges indicate that this directive is being interpreted to relate to in-person services though the wording of the directive is not clear. Though health care facilities and home care services have subsequently been deemed essential in Ontario we are concerned that insurers may be confused and are consequently denying approvals for services that may be safely delivered virtually and/or in-person in cases where that may be deemed essential.
A further concern is that while some services may not be considered essential in the early days of this pandemic its highly likely they may become essential in coming weeks

 

To read the whole letter please see link to PDF above

ORA Requests Fee Deferral in AIR Filling & FSRA Guidance for Pandemic Related Issues

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ORA Pandemic Issues Letter to FSRA

Letter to MPP Cho re FSRA Licensing Fee Deferal

Ann MacKenzie, Senior Manager, Policy Interpretation
Stuart Wilkinson, Director, Policy Auto & P/C

Copied to:
Tim Bzowey, Executive Vice President, Auto/insurance Products, FSRA
Cobi Lechem, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of the Minister of Finance
Barbara Sulzenko-Laurie, VP Policy Development, Insurance Bureau of Canada
Sent via email

RE: FSRA’S GUIDANCE AND PROMPT RESPONSE SOUGHT RE PANDEMIC RELATED ISSUES

March 26, 2020

Dear Ann and Stuart,
The ORA is very gratified by the deferral of the AIR filing. Thank you for any contributions you may have made to that announcement.
Along with all healthcare providers we’ve been asked to do our part and help mitigate the impact of this pandemic on our most vulnerable populations and on our acute care sector. We are ready and anxious to do so. Help us do our part.

The ORA has been holding weekly consultations with our members to hear what their experiences and questions are during this pandemic. Below I’ve outlined the issues and requests for FSRA’s guidance and assistance that have emerged thus far. We appreciate that some may be out of scope for FSRA and would, in these cases, be grateful for suggestions or introductions as to where to redirect.

—Click the links above to view the entire letter. —

 

 

 

ICBC’s bold change to auto insurance

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BC’s newly announced no-fault care-based auto injuries benefits include a minor injury cap of $5,500 for pain and suffering, an increase in accident benefits to $300,000 and up to 7.5 million for catastrophic injuries. And a premium rate reduction of 20% for drivers.

Might Ontario be contemplating something similar with the yet-to-be-unveiled Care not Cash model?

 

Read all about it:

The story behind ICBC’s bold change to auto insurance

ORA Input to CPSO Third Party Reports Policy Consult

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ORA Input to CPSO Third Party Reports Policy Consult PDF

DATE: January 31, 2020
TO: College of Physicians and Surgeons Consultation
RE: Third Party Reports

The Ontario Rehab Alliance appreciates this opportunity to comment on the proposed policy, and thanks the College for reaching out to us with the invitation. Our comments are as follows:

Objectivity
RE # 29. Physicians must state any findings or opinions contained in a report in a way that is objective and free from personal bias; and # 30. Physicians must not include comments unrelated to the physician’s professional opinion, or that are extraneous to the requesting party’s stated objectives.

Comment: We commend the intention to ensure objectivity but believe that goal might be best accomplished by extending the policy to address the larger issue of physician objectivity and the conflicts of interest that arise when a physician routinely and frequently undertakes IME assignments from an insurer. Objectivity and/or the perception of objectivity may be compromised where such patterns exist and significant income from such assignments is involved. We suggest that the policy could address such circumstances by requiring disclosure and transparency regarding such
relationships.

Scope of Expertise & Knowledge
RE # 37. In situations where a physician is asked to answer questions, or provide an opinion that is beyond their expertise or experience, or which requires access to information they do not have, physicians are advised to discuss the matter with the requesting party, and explain that they may not be able to answer every question asked, or provide the opinion sought.

a. If the party will not amend their request, or is otherwise unresponsive to the concerns expressed, physicians
must:
i. restrict their statements to matters that are within their area(s) of expertise and about which they have sufficient information, and
ii. indicate clearly the reasons for which they are unable to fulfill all the elements of the third party’s request.

Comment: We commend the intention of this policy. If the intention is to ensure that limitations of scope and expertise are respected and acknowledged, this policy would be most effective if it restricted physicians from taking on assignments beyond their expertise or experience, or which require access to information they do not have.

With thanks, again, for this opportunity to contribute.

Sincerely,

Laurie Davis, Executive Director