Quality and patient Safety
Both Listening for Direction II and III identified quality and patient safety as a recurring theme. All levels in an organization, from boards to management to staff to the patients themselves, need to embrace the change that is necessary to ensure a consistent commitment to quality improvement and safety. It is also crucial to increase the focus on performance indicators: their use and misuse, the need to understand data gaps, and the need for shared standards.
The Foundation collaborates with other organizations with a mandate for quality improvement and patient safety, such as the Canadian Patient Safety Institute and the Health Council of Canada.
Some questions we’re asking:
- How can decision makers and clinical leaders access and use effective information about safety and quality at different levels of the healthcare system?
- How can patients and families contribute to improving the quality of care?
- How are institutional boards and senior executive teams held accountable for safety and quality improvement?
CHSRF Resources
- Interprofessional Collaboration and Quality Primary Healthcare; Appendices (December 2007)
- Evidence Boost for Quality: Visiting-specialist services to improve access and outcomes for isolated populations (December 2007)
- Evidence Boost for Quality: Incorporate lay health workers to promote health and prevent disease (September 2007)
- In the Know: Effects of socioeconomic status on mortality after acute myocardial infarction (Septebmer 2007)
- In the Know: Do patients receive recommended treatment of osteoporosis following hip fracture in primary care? (September 2007)
- Managing for Quality and Safety Environmental Scan (March 2007)
- Staffing for Safety: A Synthesis of the Evidence on Nurse Staffing and Patient Safety (September 2006)
- Promising Practices: How a B.C. hospital uses research evidence to improve care for elderly patients (2006)
- Mythbusters: Myth: People use health system report cards to make decisions about their healthcare (September 2006)
- Evidence Boost for Quaity: Implement nurse staffing plans for better quality of care (September 2006)
- Evidence Boost for Quality: Electronic decision support tools bring better care to the bedside (December 2005)
- Evidence Boost for Quality: Interdisciplinary teams in primary healthcare can effectively manage chronic illnesses (September 2005)
Related Resources
- Regulation and quality improvement: A review of the evidence (October 2006)
- Patient-focused interventions: A review of the evidence (August 2006)
