Executive Summary
If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could then better judge what to do, and how to do it. —Abraham Lincoln, 1858
The availability of robust, coherent, defensible and credible data on healthcare system performance is an essential component of any effort to improve quality. Decision makers need a shared understanding of the magnitude and nature of problems facing healthcare systems, along with a basis for communication and co-operation among the many stakeholders responsible for the delivery of health services and enhancing health outcomes. In recent years, the amount of available data and information relevant to the quality of healthcare in Canada has grown – produced by national, provincial, territorial, academic, professional and patient organizations. This chartbook seeks to draw these disparate pieces of data together to build a broad and coherent picture of the quality of healthcare in Canada. The approach adopted for this Canadian chartbook builds upon that developed by the authors for similar chartbooks in Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
The chartbook takes a multifaceted approach to assessing quality and examines international, national and provincial/territorial data. It has been designed using four guiding principles – accessibility, validity, diversity of perspectives, and balance in presentation of data.
The data are presented in six key domains: the effectiveness of the healthcare sector in improving health outcomes; access to healthcare services; the capacity of systems to deliver appropriate services; the safety of care delivered; the degree to which healthcare in Canada is patient-centred; and equity in healthcare outcomes and delivery.
Resources
About the ChartbookFull report (PDF, 7.3 MB) Printable by chapter
Building the Case for QualityResearcher on Call
