D2D 6.0: Small Things Matter

Baby step by baby step, walking the measurement talk – to better health Imagine the conversation. “Hey, my sweet baby, what do you think about putting your vaccination into the tablet here? That way the doctor will know that you have had your shots, and all your information will be in one spot. It also means that when we see the doctor, we don’t need to do this and instead can talk about other things that matter to us.” The baby agrees! So do the staff of the primary care team. “Thanks! Now that we know about the shots you got from public health, we know you’re safe and we can focus on your friends that aren’t there yet!” A smart conversation, don’t you agree?   Unpacking the processes and progress behind the picture Change doesn’t come in one swoop, or from a single source. It comes, as we see here, through many small steps – intentional steps, taken in consistent and coordinated ways, over time, by many. If we unpack all the changes that made the real-life story above happen, what do we see? For starters, we see electronic medical record (EMR) maturity, reflected in the growing numbers of teams measuring, reporting, and improving EMR data quality – 57 teams for over 4 years and counting. Clinical leadership is key to making changes stick – and AFHTO teams are doing that, with more than three-quarters of teams identifying clinical champions for quality and a similar proportion participating in at least two iterations of D2D. We can imagine the moms at yoga class talking about vaccination and using the tablets to keep the team informed. The whole team, patients included, help move the needle in the right direction. Steady, albeit small, improvements matter: In D2D 6.0, we see a cohort of teams showing improvement across many indicators in each iteration of D2D. Small changes, the right changes, matter. Small things, like tablets, like baby vaccines, are beautiful. They are the stuff of change.

Photo used with permission.

Looking for more?

Check out D2D 6.0 by the Numbers for a summary of aggregate results. To help you put these numbers into context, we’ve compiled a list of province-wide comparative rates and their sources for each of the indicators, along with their highest, lowest, and mean values in each iteration of D2D. Check out the LHIN-specific summary to see how primary care teams are doing in your region.

AFHTO Members only

D2D 6.1 is now live! Visit the interactive display platform to view your team’s data and compare with your peers.