BC Environmental and Occupational Health Research Network

A gap exists in Canada between current primary healthcare system performance and what is potentially achievable according to current evidence and the performance of primary healthcare systems in other countries.[ii,iii,iv] In many jurisdictions, accreditation processes and the use of quality improvement methods in primary healthcare have helped address the gap between current and potential performance. In 2010, the Quality Improvement and Innovation Partnership commissioned an overview of systematic reviews of the effectiveness of quality improvement processes in primary healthcare.[v] Twelve systematic reviews were identified, most of which included studies situated in primary healthcare settings. However, none of these reviews focused on primary healthcare quality improvement interventions or synthesized the results of primary healthcare-based studies.
The objectives of this project are to:
• Identify, assess and synthesize published evidence on the effectiveness of quality improvement processes in primary healthcare
• Describe the nature and extent of primary healthcare accreditation processes in Canada and internationally
• Identify, assess and synthesize evidence from the public and grey literature on the effectiveness of primary healthcare accreditation processes.