Enhancing Surgical Care in BC: Improving Perioperative Quality, Efficiency and Access

There are over 400,000 hospital based surgical procedures performed each year in British Columbia. The increasing demand for surgical care, a growing emphasis on the quality and safety of care, and the rising costs of delivering health services are driving the need for the health care system to improve the level and quality of surgical care while keeping health care expenditures in check.

Hospitals across Canada and in other countries have turned to concepts such as process improvement and system redesign initiatives to enhance the quality and efficiency of the surgical system and individual hospitals in BC are beginning to apply process improvement methods to surgical care and other areas of the health care system with some promising results.

The Doctors of BC proposes that a provincial framework centered on the principle of continuous process improvement should be developed to support individual hospitals and surgical personnel. In the spirit of process improvement, this needs to be an undertaking that engages perioperative personnel, is supported by senior management, and is ongoing and measurable—with institutions learning from each other’s challenges and success.

The Doctors of BC proposes that a coordinated initiative to improve the quality, efficiency, and access to surgical care needs to be implemented across British Columbia and offers 12 recommendations based on six key themes:

• Establishing a Process Improvement Panel
• Identifying Clinical Champions
• Establishing Provincial Implementation Support
• Measuring Performance
• Involving Patients, and
• Maximizing Utilization of Resources

For the full policy paper, please see “Enhancing Surgical Care in BC: Improving Perioperative Quality, Efficiency and Access”.