Data to Decisions
At a time of rapid change in primary care, data is everywhere – turning it into insight and action is the hard part. We support primary care teams across Ontario in moving beyond reporting for reporting’s sake, and using information to strengthen care, inform choices, and clearly demonstrate the value of interdisciplinary primary care.
Data to Decisions
At a time of rapid change in primary care, data is everywhere – turning it into insight and action is the hard part. We support primary care teams across Ontario in moving beyond reporting for reporting’s sake, and using information to strengthen care, inform choices, and clearly demonstrate the value of interdisciplinary primary care.
A Voice At The Table
Each day, we’re working to ensure that the Primary Care Act is operationalized based on the expertise and experience of those on the ground. In practice, this looks like co-design of primary care indicators, data standards, performance measurement and quality improvement with key system partners, and defining what accountability truly means for high quality care in Ontario.
What is Data to Decisions?
Data to Decisions (D2D) is AFHTO’s renewed approach to performance measurement in primary care.
Many in the sector will remember the original, large-scale provincial Data to Decisions program that concluded several years ago. While that initiative ended, the need it addressed never did. In fact, today’s primary care environment makes thoughtful, purposeful data use more critical than ever.
AFHTO’s D2D is a right-sized, member-driven program designed for the realities teams face now. It supports Primary Care Organizations to voluntarily measure and reflect on their performance using meaningful indicators, while contributing to a shared provincial picture of primary care delivery.
Leveraging Data with Purpose
At its core, D2D is about using data to ask better questions and make better decisions.
The program helps teams:
Measure what matters
Indicators are selected with input from clinicians and patients and grounded in the Primary Care Performance Measurement Framework. The focus stays on relevance, not volume.
Learn from peers
Teams receive performance summaries that show how they compare with similar organizations, helping surface strengths, patterns, and opportunities for improvement.
Support quality improvement
Was announced in 2025 to support primary care expansion – AFHTO’s longstanding advocacy efforts in collaboration with many other professional associations and partners have led to this historic investment.
Build confidence with data
Was announced in 2025 to support primary care expansion – AFHTO’s longstanding advocacy efforts in collaboration with many other professional associations and partners have led to this historic investment.
Sharing Data Across Teams
Participating teams contribute standardized data drawn from multiple sources, including:
- Electronic medical records (EMRs)
- Patient experience surveys
- Select administrative health data from provincial systems
AFHTO brings this information together into periodic D2D reports. These reports provide participating teams with practical insights for local use, while also generating provincial-level views that highlight trends, gaps, and opportunities across Ontario’s primary care system.
This collective view is powerful. It helps the sector tell a clearer, evidence-informed story about what team-based primary care delivers.
Have questions or looking for more resources? Send us an email – we’d love to meet you and hear your story!
From Measurement to Meaningful Change
Data to Decisions is about more than indicators and reports. It is about culture.
D2D supports a way of working where data informs action, performance conversations are constructive, and improvement is continuous. By strengthening how teams use data at the frontline, the program helps connect patient experience, clinical care, and system performance in ways that matter.
In a time of rapid change and growing pressure on primary care, the ability to manage data thoughtfully is no longer optional. It is foundational. Data to Decisions is AFHTO’s commitment to helping teams turn information into insight and insight into better care, for patients and for the system as a whole.