Acceptance Declaration
Accept
Additional Information
I declare I have no actual or potential conflict of interest in relation to this program.
Accepted Type
Oral
Category
General Call (Workshop, Oral Presentation, Poster Presentation)
Type
Oral
Sub Type
Education Research
Considered for Poster
yes
Title
Physician Continuous Quality Improvement in Rural British Columbia: A Qualitative Analysis
Background/Purpose
Engaging physicians in practice improvement (PI)/quality improvement (QI) activities is an important component of improving healthcare, enhancing patient and provider experience, and reducing the cost of care (Geonnotti, 2015). Although the importance of continuous quality improvement (CQI) has been recognized for decades, sustaining a CQI culture is a daunting undertaking especially in rural and remote settings.
The following research questions were determined in order to understand how to better support effective PI/QI in rural BC: (1) What is the interest and understanding of rural physicians to engage in PI/QI? (2) What is the willingness and readiness of rural physicians to engage in PI/QI? (3) What has enabled rural physician's success in engaging in PI/QI? (4) What are barriers for rural physicians to engage in PI/QI? (5) What would help for rural physicians to be able to engage more fully in PI/QI?
Methods
Seven 90-min focus groups were held with 33 participants and were designed to increase our understanding of how to support and engage rural practitioners in CQI as part of a larger study that included a survey. Participants included rural physicians (family physicians and specialists, fee for service and alternate payment model physicians, team and facility-based providers), program leaders, and health regulators. Transcripts were coded independently by research team members using NVivo and then discussed and condensed into thematic categories.
Results
Analysis revealed that the following themes were essential to enabling CQI for rural physicians: imbedding approaches into current practice, compensation models and incentivization, collaboration and feedback, accountability, team-based approaches, support staff, access to high quality data, creating a culture of safety - permission to be wrong as a way to promote a culture of learning. Additionally, the relationship and tensions between quality improvement and quality assurance along with the importance of "fire walling" was elucidated as a major theme.
Conclusion
Significant barriers, enablers and support gaps were identified in the PI/QI process. The findings will highlight and inform resources and educational programming to better support improved PI/QI for BC rural physicians.
Keyword 1
practice improvement
Keyword 2
quality improvement
Keyword 3
rural
Level of Training
CPD (faculty development, CME)
Abstract Themes
Continuing Medical Education
Additional Theme (First choice)
Continuing Medical Education
Authors
Term 1
Yes
Term 2
Yes
Term 3
Yes
Term 4
Yes
Term 5
Yes
