Resources Safer Healthcare
Now! Resources Spread and Sustainability Leadership Culture Quality Improvement Safety and
Risk Management Frameworks Measurement Integration Storytelling

Centre Stage:

Ben Chan, CEO, Ontario Health Quality Council

As part of our new membership benefit package and our ongoing commitment to collaboration, we are giving impassioned improvers within the Network centre stage. We would like to get to know the faces of your organization. If you have a member that should get centre stage, let us know.

“Quality improvement has been my passion for the last several years.  I firmly believe that people in health care are there because they want to make a difference. It is very satisfying when you can work with people in the system and support them to be the best possible caregivers that they can be.”

I’m Dr. Ben Chan. I joined the Ontario Health Quality Council (OHQC) in November 2007 after having spent four years as CEO of the Health Quality Council in Saskatchewan. I am also a former Senior Scientist with the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Toronto and have practiced as locum family doctor and emergency department physician in 70 rural communities and 8 provinces and territories across Canada.

Currently as CEO, I oversee the operations of the OHQC, an organization with a legislated mandate to report to Ontarians on quality of care and to support continuous quality improvement. Our staff works extensively with partners throughout the healthcare system to pull together the information necessary to present the best possible view of the quality of healthcare to the public at large. We have close working relations with the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and other researchers around the province. At this phase of our organization’s development, we are looking at how we can best support the quality improvement agenda in the province, again with a heavy emphasis on partnerships with key groups around the province.

“It was a real privilege to be a part of Saskatchewan’s big bold experiment in quality improvement.”

I think much of what was learned and accomplished in that province can be used here in Ontario. Thanks to great working relationships with our Regional Health Authorities and the Department of Health, we saw a real acceleration of activity in quality improvement throughout the system.

Some of our largest projects, such as in chronic disease management, engaged close to 30% of the entire primary care workforce and have shown real tangible gains in use of the right medications for patients with diabetes and coronary artery disease and improvement in their control of these conditions.

It was also great to see other successful projects in reducing pressure ulcers in long-term care facilities, improving drug management among seniors and use of evidence-based practices in ICUs to improve patient safety.

Perhaps one of the things I was most excited about was the general increase in capacity to do quality improvement and the increased knowledge of quality improvement science and tools. In just 18 months, we brought the model for improvement, PDSA cycles and basic system analysis tools to 3.5% of the entire health care workforce in Saskatchewan, through different training programs. It's activities like that that will lead to a solid foundation for quality improvement in the future.

"Managing chronic disease is certainly a big challenge for health systems around the world and Ontario is no exception."

We are pleased to be supporting the Quality Improvement and Innovation Partnership (QIIP) for Family Health Teams and Community Health Centres which is focused on improving management of diabetes and colorectal screening, as well as implementing advanced access to help patients get seen on the day of their choice. We are assisting the QIIP particularly on improving access, as that is a critical step to making sure patients have their chronic diseases managed well.

"My past experience as a traveling locum across Northern Ontario and other rural regions in Canada has given me a good perspective on both the challenges and triumphs of trying to improve quality at the frontline."

There are often many great ideas for improving care that one finds in one community but often we don’t have a systematic way of sharing those ideas to everyone that could benefit from them. It's through quality improvement activities like learning collaboratives that we can really draw upon the best that everyone has to offer and accelerate implementation of improvements throughout the system.

Quality improvement has been my passion for the last several years.  I firmly believe that people in health care are there because they want to make a difference. It is very satisfying when you can work with people in the system and support them to be the best possible caregivers that they can be.

"QHN has a strong history of linking together people with a passion for quality to share common experiences.  Members of the Network have already helped OHQC with some of its QI training activities for family practice teams." 

The OHQC joined the Quality Healthcare Network (QHN) in 2007. QHN has a strong history of linking together people with a passion for quality to share common experiences.  Members of the Network have already helped OHQC with some of its QI training activities for family practice teams.  Right now we are working together on how to improve data capture in some of the Safer Healthcare Now! interventions.  This will both make it easier for QI teams to track their improvements, but also help them address new government-mandated reporting requirements in areas like surgical site infections.  We really look forward to working closely with the Network to help support other quality improvement initiatives in the future.

Ben received his BSc and MD from the University of Toronto, where he was awarded the Moss Scholarship, the university's highest undergraduate award.  He also holds a Master of Public Health from Harvard and Master of Public Affairs from Princeton. In 2006, the HQC received the Saskatchewan Health Excellence Award for its pioneering work, and Dr. Chan was named Canada’s Outstanding Young Health Executive by the Canadian College of Health Service Executives, and Distinguished Alumnus of the Year by Victoria College, University of Toronto.

 

Centre Stage Index

To view past profiles of impassioned improvers within the Network, click the one that you want to read.

December, 2007, Gordon Milak from Southwest Community Care Access Centre, London, Ontario

January, 2008, Glenna Raymond from Whitby Mental Health Centre, Whitby, Ontario

February, 2008, Michael Heenan from St. Joseph’s Healthcare, Hamilton, Ontario

Spring, 2008, Carol Annett from VHA Home HealthCare, Ontario

Summer, 2008, Ben Chan from Ontario Health Quality Council, Ontario