It’s no surprise that it is important to keep a laser-focus on quality and safety to ensure patient care is maintained and enhanced.
This is what the Fraser Health (FH) physicians are doing through their Physician Quality and Regional Safety Team (PQRST). The PQRST is a joint project of the Specialist Services Committee (SSC), Fraser Health and the physicians who work in FH. The idea to establish a formal PQRST came from the late Dr. Jan Kornder, former Medical Director – Quality and Patient Safety.
Dr. Kornder took a proposal to the SSC to establish and prototype a quality committee composed of physician quality champions representing each of the regional departments within FH for one year. The PQRST aims to provide a venue for physicians to learn leadership and quality improvement (QI) skills, discuss quality issues, and act on opportunities for quality improvement activities that enhance patient care.
FH is the first among the health authorities to develop a physician-led quality team with SSC. The intent of the PQRST is to be guided by the IHI Triple Aim to build a culture within the physician community that enables widespread engagement and collaboration with FH to improve the quality of patient care. The SSC has provided about one million dollars in funding for physician sessions, meetings expenses, IT support for specialized quality improvement software, and project staff.
The PQRST began its work in April 2015 and members dedicate one day a week to PQRST work. For the first four weeks, members attended learning sessions by led by Dr. Curt Smecher, PQRSR Chair, which were devoted to learning about quality improvement, and identifying individual quality improvement projects.
These learning sessions also provide an opportunity for members to learn from their colleagues and collectively discuss quality improvement ideas. Members are now working on individual projects, promoting QI within their departments and mentoring others. The PQRST meet monthly to share learnings and further define their projects.
SSC looks forward to the results of this work as it progresses and would like to acknowledge the late Dr. Jan Kornder for his leadership and commitment. For more information, please contact Aman Hundal at ahundal@doctorsofbc.ca
