Quality Improvement Plans
Information about Quality Improvement
Quality improvement is an ongoing priority that helps us continually find new and better ways of doing things so that we can enhance care for patients, increase satisfaction and achieve even better clinical outcomes.
Our Quality Improvement Plan, or QIP, is one tool that we are using to help us document and review our current performance in a variety of areas. With this plan, we will be able to very clearly see our targeted areas for improvement and chart our progress.
Background on the Quality Improvement Plan
In June 2010, the Ontario Government passed the Excellent Care for All Act. This legislation will help support hospitals to further improve the quality and safety of care they provide for members of our community.
One of the ways that the Excellent Care for All Act is helping hospitals meet our community’s expectations regarding quality, patient safety and accountability is through the public reporting of Quality Improvement Plans (QIP).
Quality Improvement Plans provide a meaningful way for the Cornwall Community Hospital to clearly articulate our accountability to our community, patients and staff. Our QIP is focused on creating a positive patient experience and delivering high quality health care.
How to Read the Quality Improvement Plan
Our Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) is made up of two parts:
A document that provides a brief overview of our quality improvement plan, highlighting and listing our hospital’s top priorities for the year.
A spreadsheet that includes our improvement targets and initiatives. The spreadsheet includes a core set of indicators that all similar hospitals across the province are working on.
The Ontario Health Quality Council has requested that all hospitals report on a series of core indicators to support province-wide comparisons. The core indicators that apply to our hospital are reflected in our QIP.
The QIP is only one of the ways we are working to improve our patients’ experiences. Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.
Q - How is the QIP developed?
A. The Board of Directors for the Cornwall Community Hospital and our Quality and Performance Monitoring Committee are responsible for overseeing the development of the Quality Improvement Plan. The members of our Board and the Quality and Performance Monitoring Committee work closely with our community and with our team of health care professionals to determine areas where we are doing well and areas where we have room for improvement. From there, we set targets for the organization, which are reflected in the plan.
Q - Can the QIP be used to help patients choose a hospital?
A. Patient safety and high quality care is a longstanding priority for our hospital. The Quality Improvement Plan does not change that. The plan is one way that we are keeping our focus on constantly doing better. You may want to talk to a member of your health care team about how we are doing in a specific area, but know that we strive to provide every patient with the best possible care.
Q - What time frame does the QIP cover?
A. Quality Improvement Plans are completed, submitted to the Ontario Health Quality Council and posted publicly annually at the start of each fiscal year, April 1st.
Q - Where can I find out more information about the Excellent Care for All Act and quality improvement plans?
A. Please click here for more information about the legislation and its requirements, including the Quality Improvement Plan.