MSPQI starts next phase in measuring quality improvement

The initiative to measure quality improvement in British Columbia’s health care system is moving to the next stage, with the beginning of Phase ll of the Measurement System for Physician Quality Improvement (MSPQI) project.

After Phase I launched in 2018 and reached a successful conclusion in March of this year, the commencement of the next phase marks another milestone for the project. 

The importance of MSPQI

A collaborative partnership between Doctors of BC, the Ministry of Health and BC’s health authorities, MSPQI will provide a safe environment for physicians to access quality measures data to assess and support improvement opportunities in the health care system. It will provide physicians and administrators with aggregated and de-identified information needed to support continuous quality improvement, and inform the value of services at the physician, health authority and system levels. Specialists and family physicians in community and facility practice are key healthcare partners in contributing to the quality of care that patients are deserving of, and are, receiving.

The measurement system will not be used to override clinical decisions or manage physician performance, but rather to foster learning and refine practices for the benefit of patients and the health care system as a whole.

What was achieved in Phase l 

From the outset, partners identified five medical service areas for the development and reporting of quality measures. Those are, Surgical/Procedural Care, Primary Care, Specialist/Specialized Care, Acute and Emergency Care and Diagnostics. 

Phase I of the project concentrated efforts on Surgical/Procedural Care and Primary Care to define an initial set of quality measures, as well as to develop a virtual roadmap for creating the technical environment to calculate and report measures and will establish a model for data sharing, while ensuring security, and privacy amongst stakeholders.

What is next with Phase ll

With Phase I successfully completed, the MSPQI Steering Committee now turns its attention to defining sets of measures for the areas of Specialist/Specialized Care, Acute and Emergency Care, and Diagnostics, as well as overseeing the development of the virtual data environment and information sharing and governance model.

During Phase II, a collaborative effort between doctors, health authorities, and the Ministry of Health will help to develop, test, and refine the technical solution as well as to establish the necessary administrative framework and governance tools to enable the safe and secure sharing of quality measure data.

As Phase II moves towards completion, a plan and budget for Phase III will also be established. In Phase III the measurement system itself will be launched.

The MSPQI Steering Committee is co-chaired by Dr. Ken Hughes for Doctors of BC and Dr. Guy Fradet of Interior Health. Members include Dr. Sam Bugis of Doctors of BC, Dr. Fiona Duncan, Dr. Frank Ervin, Dr. Alan Ruddiman of Doctors of BC, Dr. David Byres and Mr. Martin Wright of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Bill Clifford of Northern Health, Ms. Linda Dempster of Fraser Health, and Mr. Michael McMillan of the Health Employers Association of BC.