RESUMEN
There is no disputing that the key to any high-performing healthcare system is a high-performing primary healthcare system. As health systems around the globe grapple with aging, sicker populations, variable quality of care and unsustainable growth in health expenditures, the overhauling of primary healthcare cannot be put off any longer. Patient centred. Community designed. Team delivered. These are the tenets behind Saskatchewan's recently released framework for achieving a high-performing primary healthcare system. It has much in common with the primary healthcare framework offered by Kates and colleagues; and given its promising genesis, perhaps (finally) what has eluded many health systems so far can be achieved in the province that 50 years ago led the country in healthcare innovation.
Asunto(s)
Planificación en Salud/organización & administración , Atención Primaria de Salud/organización & administración , Mejoramiento de la Calidad/organización & administración , HumanosRESUMEN
The mandate of Saskatchewan's Health Quality Council (HQC) is to play a hands-on role in health system transformation by working collaboratively with government, regional health authorities, health professions and citizens. Instead of the traditional, representative model, HQC is governed by an "expert board." Because board members do not represent their own organization or profession, they have stayed focused on the "system" nature of HQC's mandate, working with individuals and organizations committed to improving quality at a system level. In recent years, HQC has achieved a significant shift in attitude toward quality improvement throughout Saskatchewan's healthcare system, realized partly through building strong, effective relationships with those managing and delivering care. Hundreds of front-line providers, managers and leaders are now learning and applying quality improvement methods to improve healthcare quality. Since its inception, HQC has moved to a higher level of interdependence with other healthcare system stakeholders, helping advance the quality agenda so that everyone has a greater understanding about mutual responsibilities.
Asunto(s)
Atención a la Salud/normas , Federación para Atención de Salud/organización & administración , Garantía de la Calidad de Atención de Salud/organización & administración , Comités Consultivos , Reforma de la Atención de Salud , Investigación sobre Servicios de Salud , Humanos , Innovación Organizacional , Objetivos Organizacionales , SaskatchewanRESUMEN
Saskatchewan was the first province in Canada to establish a Quality Council. Fall 2012 would mark the 10-year anniversary of this unique change agency. This article looks back on what the Health Quality Council has achieved to date working collaboratively with its health system partners and looks ahead to coming challenges and opportunities.
Asunto(s)
Comités Consultivos , Garantía de la Calidad de Atención de Salud , Comités Consultivos/historia , Comités Consultivos/tendencias , Conducta Cooperativa , Predicción , Historia del Siglo XXI , Mejoramiento de la Calidad , SaskatchewanRESUMEN
Building upon some key discussion points in the Brown et al. paper, we explore the key elements driving performance measurement and quality improvement strategies in the Veterans Affairs healthcare system in the United States and the national primary-care trusts in England, both of which offer important insights into understanding the factors that affect rapid, large-scale change. In the context of these "extreme makeover" examples, our commentary discusses the currently evolving performance measurement culture in the Canadian primary healthcare reform setting. We specifically highlight the experiences in Saskatchewan, a province that has been acknowledged recently by CIHI as a leader in primary healthcare evaluation. Although Saskatchewan has attempted to overcome the methodological and conceptual challenges in evaluation that Brown et al. outline in their paper, a stable performance measurement culture has yet to emerge and systematically utilize performance measurement reports for purposes of facilitating change. Although there is a growing recognition that measures by themselves will not be able to spur improvement, it is yet to be seen to what extent these performance reports can speak compellingly to policymakers, primary healthcare providers and managers to serve as catalysts to a major leap forward in overall quality improvement.