Doc sees reporting requirements as part of healthcare evolution in Ontario
Requirements hold hospitals publicly accountable for their performance
Monday June 16, 2008 -- Jason Thompson
Dr. David Higgins says new reporting requirements announced by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care is an important step in the evolution of healthcare in Ontario.

“It’s about time institutions were held somewhat accountable for performance one way or the other,” says Higgins, chief of staff at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton.

“Not just numbers of cases, but how you treat those people is going to be an important step in the evolution of healthcare in Ontario.”

The ministry unveiled its plan to introduce new public reporting requirements May 28, saying it will create an unprecedented level of transparency in Ontario’s hospitals.

The requirements will be phased in over the next 10 months and include a number of patient safety indicators ranging from Clostridium difficile and MRSA to central site and surgical line infections.

Higgins says if organizations can show their patient safety performance is appropriate in certain clinical areas, it will give members of the public a sense of confidence.

“I suspect the scorecard for hospitals may look different in five years time than it does now but we’ve got to start somewhere,” Higgins says. “What impact this will have on how we drive change, I don’t know . . . (but) it has made everybody sit up and pay attention.”

He adds the fact that healthcare organizations are being called to task on the quality of care they provide, regardless of the individual indicators, is significant in that it is helping drive the use of common language.

Higgins will address the importance of common language in the pursuit physician engagement in clinical improvement June 17 at an interactive workshop called “Eating the Elephant,” which is being organized by the Quality Healthcare Network (QHN).

He says physicians have been engaged in patient safety initiatives for years, but in a different capacity than other healthcare professionals. Common language helps bring everyone together from nurses and physicians to hospitals board members and politicians.

“It has given people the confidence to say, ‘let’s get together around a set of agreed upon quality improvements that have been shown by evidence to be effective,” says Higgins.

To register for the event, visit www.qhn.ca. For more information, contact Clara Ballantine via e-mail at clara.ballantine(at)qhn.ca or Sean Malloy via e-mail at sean.malloy(at)qhn.ca.

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