Edited introduction from QIDS-Essential: The Making and Meaning of the Quality Improvement Decision Support (QIDS) Program
As the QIDS program turned five in the Fall of 2018, the QIDS Secretariat within AFHTO decided that the milestone merited not just another report or case study but a different kind of account, one that would capture the QIDS journey with a wider lens, from both a philosophical and practice perspective. QIDS-Essential: The Making and Meaning of the Quality Improvement Decision Support (QIDS) Program is the result.
There is a story to tell about that journey: a narrative less about projects, and more about people. Less about what was done and more about how (and if) it was done; less about data and indicators and more about building collective capabilities, confidence, and communities to make change in the field, from the ground up.
It's also a story about progress in primary care performance measurement -- in some cases, first steps. It's a story for the primary care community to learn from and share with each other and all partners in health care.
The intent is to prompt reflection about the key components and characteristics of that approach. As the quality improvement decision support specialist (QIDSS) positions were introduced, allocated and integrated into FHTs and new measurement tools launched and embraced, what fuelled the momentum? What stalled it? How far did it take FHTs in their sometimes circuitous journey along the data-measurement- performance-and-quality- improvement continuum? What can be leveraged today from the QIDS program to position FHTs as ideal partners in emerging primary care innovations?
Plenty, as it turns out. If you want to learn more, read QIDS-Essential: The Making and Meaning of the Quality Improvement Decision Support (QIDS) Program. Even though Ministry funding for the AFHTO QIDS Program was cut earlier this year, there is a lot to celebrate from the learnings of the program. AFHTO remains committed to ensuring quality remains a priority in the health system transformation under way by leveraging the great integration work already being done by interprofessional primary care teams in Ontario.