That the patient perspective was mentioned first in our Twitter chat about quality in health earlier this week was both gratifying and appropriate.
Ditto the fact that a number of individual members of the public and patient advocates participated in the one hour #HQOchat, which represented the first time Health Quality Ontario has hosted a discussion on Twitter.
(On June 20, I will host a discussion on Twitter about quality and health care. This blog provides the context for that Tweet chat)
Most of us can recognize quality in clothes, cars or conversation.
But defining quality in health care delivery or in a health care system is not nearly as simple.
Think globally, act locally: As a slogan for advocacy this phrase has much to recommend it but it is especially relevant to the task of helping to build a health equity strategy for Northern Ontario.
“The publication of the first report on the Emergency Department (ED) Return Visit Quality Program is a proud moment for me personally – I’m proud of my colleagues and my discipline."
“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there,” says the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland.
That view is shared by many involved with bringing quality to health care. Everyone felt quality was important but what it meant and how to get there was much more elusive – especially at the system level.