Ontario has now had close to four years of experience with Quality Improvement Plans (QIPs), which started in the hospital sector and, over the course of the last few years, extended to inter-professional primary care organizations, Community Care Access Centres (CCACs), and Long-Term Care (LTC) Homes.
The QIP is an organization-owned plan that establishes a platform for quality improvement that can be used to harmonize efforts to improve quality of care across the health care system. While most health care sectors are familiar with developing QIPs as a way to express quality goals and targets for their organizations, the sectors are at a different starting points when it comes to developing QIPs. The expectation is for health care organizations to have their QIPs in place, publicly posted, and submitted to HQO by April 1 every year.
To support QIP development and implementation, HQO offers a suite of tools and resources, including: comprehensive analyses, an online portal that streamlines the QIP submission process, and web-based learning opportunities. Visit HQO's Quality Improvement Planning Page for more information.
The Excellent Care for All Act (ECFAA), which came into law in June of 2010, puts Ontario’s patients first by strengthening the health care sector's organizational focus and accountability to deliver high quality patient care. Quality Improvement Plans (QIPs) are a key enabler to support this goal. For more information about the Excellent Care for All Act, or to receive regular ECFAA updates, please email ecfaa@ontario.ca.