Canada’s family doctors say that every citizen should have access to a family practice that acts as their personal “medical home” to meet their medical needs. Currently, about four million Canadians (12% of the population) do not have a family doctor.

The College of Family Physicians of Canada, which represents more than 22 000 members, described the concept of a patient centred medical home in a discussion paper issued on 29 October 2009.

The college’s vision is that the Canadian medical home would be a medical office or clinic where patients would have a personal family doctor who provides and directs their medical care and allows patients timely access to team based care supported by electronic medical …