HEALTH QUALITY CONNECT IS GROUNDED IN THE SIX DOMAINS OF HEALTH CARE QUALITY...

Read about what makes a quality health system

Quality Standards Open for Public Comment 

Quality standards outline for clinicians and patients what quality care looks like. Four new draft standards are now available for feedback: 

• Until September 28th: 
  • Opioid use disorder
  • Opioid prescribing for acute pain
  • Opioid prescribing for chronic pain

• Until October 12th: 
  • Palliative care

We look forward to your input! 

Ontario Quality Standards Committee: New

A new committee of Health Quality Ontario’s board of directors is helping coordinate a provincial approach to clinical care standards. The Ontario Quality Standards Committee, working with others, will focus on how standards are prioritized, developed, adopted by the system, and ultimately measured. To do this, it will play a key role in Health Quality Ontario’s own quality standards program, while also playing a broader role in Ontario’s health system.

Change Day Ontario: Make Your Pledge  

Change Day Ontario has launched – and it’s already catching fire.

This growing movement supports people with first-hand experience with health systems to create positive change to improve compassionate quality care. It has people across Ontario making pledges, connecting on social media, and sharing their ideas.

For example, individuals at Health Quality Ontario have pledged to learn more about health literacy, make a monthly visit to a health care organization, and more. 

See for yourself the many pledges that others are making – and share yours before November 17.

Health Quality Transformation 2017

Canada’s largest conference on health care quality will take place on October 24 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. 

For the first time, we are also offering Health Quality Transformation 2017 - North featuring breakout sessions to be held at The Northern Ontario School of Medicine in Thunder Bay and Sudbury. Discussion will focus on the Northern Ontario Health Equity Strategy. 

Register today to attend HQT North in person or online!

Due to overwhelming demand, registration is now closed for Health Quality Transformation 2017 in Toronto. Thank you to everyone who registered. If you were unable to register and are interested in attending, please join our wait list. We will contact you if space becomes available.

Partnered Supports for Helping Patients Manage Pain 

Helping patients manage pain is complex and extends beyond primary care. To help navigate this challenging landscape and support providers across the health system, tools and resources are being expanded through a connected effort of health groups across Ontario.

Click here to see a communique to providers to learn more about these supports, including many related to opioid use and prescribing. Email PainQI@hqontario.ca for additional support and more information. 

These supports are about knowing as much as possible about what’s available, what you can do, and who can help. Current resources include digital dashboards and data, mentoring, accessing services for patients and many more are on the way.

Family Physicians: Sign Up for Your MyPractice Report

Family physicians are invited to see their own opioid prescribing patterns. This can be shown in a confidential report, giving you an informative perspective of your own practice.

In addition to opioid data, see how patients are doing with their cancer screening and diabetes management – and learn how they’re using other health services, like emergency departments.  See all this in relation to peers in the province.

Sign up now to receive your first report. This confidential report will only be sent to the email address used when you register and will not be shared with others, including other agencies or physician groups. 

This is just one of the partnered supports (see above) that are available for providers managing pain with patients. 

Quality Improvement Spotlight:
Digital Health and Medication Safety

Health care providers in south west Ontario are starting to gain access to the new provincial repository, Digital Health Drug Repository, which includes dispensed drug and pharmacy service information. This data, provided through the connecting South West Ontario Program Regional Clinical Viewer, ClinicalConnect, offers new information about patients’ medication history.

The eHealth Centre of Excellence is sharing early findings about the value of clinician access to the drug data in the electronic health record -- including reductions in medication errors and opioid prescribing -- on Quorum (an online forum for connecting the quality improvement community).

How can these findings, and online digital tools, contribute to better care?
Have your say on Quorum.

Resources for Hospitals to Review Visiting Policies 

Family presence policies enable patients, when staying in hospital, to designate family members and loved ones who can stay by their side. 

The Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement has developed resources for hospitals to review and update their family visiting hour policies. 

Health Links Community: Quarterly Update 

The latest Health Links quarterly report highlights how Health Link teams are integrating care to better support Ontarians living with complex chronic illnesses. This report includes data shared by 79 Health Links for the period of April to June 2017. 

On September 28th, clinical and administrative leaders from Health Links will be attending the Health Links Leadership Summit to collaborate, share their learnings and their perspectives on how Health Links are evolving.