Measuring Healthcare Delivery
In Canada, the quality of care that a person with IBD is provided may be different depending on where they live. Healthcare providers need a way to match the care received to other areas in Canada, and also information on the best possible care that can be given.
At McGill University Health Centre, Dr. Alain Bitton led a team to create a list of items that summarize the best way to provide care. This team also set a goal to create an online form that healthcare providers can complete to measure how well they are providing care.
What is a quality indicator?
Quality indicators are evidence-based metrics that best reflect the level of care to be targeted for improvement. These quality indicators helped inform the development of an online assessment tool for healthcare providers: The IBD Global Rating Scale.
Learn more about the development of the IBD quality indicators (weblink).
What is an IBD global rating scale?
In partnership with the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology, the IBD Global Rating Scale (IBD GRS) (weblink) was created as a user-friendly online tool for IBD clinics and healthcare providers to assess the quality of care they provide to their patients.
Healthcare providers complete the IBD GRS every year. Once completed, the IBD GRS rates the quality of care on a scale from A to D. The grade of A means ‘excellent service’ and the grade of D means ‘basic service’. Based on the grading received, the IBD GRS identifies areas for healthcare providers to improve upon.
The IBD GRS allows IBD clinics and healthcare providers across Canada to:
- Identify areas of IBD patient care that could be improved or enhanced
- Empower people with IBD to actively participate in their own care plan
- Provide standard care across Canada, and
- Continuously improve the level of care Canadians with IBD receive
Sign up for the IBD GRS
The IBD GRS is available through CAG (weblink).
IBD clinics who complete the IBD-GRS annually will receive a certificate of joint recognition from CAG and Crohn's and Colitis Canada. Crohn's and Colitis Canada’s will also recognize these IBD clinics in the IBD Service Finder (weblink). This is a great opportunity to recognize healthcare professionals and their clinics who are dedicated to providing exceptional care for patients with IBD.
For more information or to connect to the IBD-GRS platform, please contact us at research@crohsandcolitis.ca.
Publications
Development of a global rating scale for inflammatory bowel disease
Dr. Alain Bitton and his PACE research team have developed the first IBD global rating scale with the aim of improving quality of care.
Access the publication: https://doi.org/10.1093/jcag/gwz017
Patient perspectives of IBD care and services: An integral part of a pan-Canadian quality improvement initiative
Dr. Alain Bitton and his PACE research team explore patient perspectives on IBD care services and how their unmet needs can be used to create metrics for quality of IBD care delivery.
Access the publication: https://doi.org/10.1093/jcag/gwaa044
Selection of quality indicators in IBD: Integrating physician and patient perspectives
Dr. Alain Bitton and his PACE research team have identified 45 quality indicators to measure and improve the quality of care provided to IBD patients.
Access the publication: https://doi.org/10.1093/ibd/izy259
History
In 2016, Dr. Bitton and his PACE research team identified and published 45 IBD quality indicators that can measure care delivery.
In 2020, Dr. Bitton and team, in partnership between Crohn’s and Colitis Canada and Canadian Association of Gastroenterology, began developing the IBD Global Rating Scale, using the 45 IBD quality indicators as a foundation for this web-based self-assessment
In 2021, the IBD-GRS was piloted in PACE and non-PACE IBD centres to further refine the web-based self-assessment tool. CAG continued development of the IBD GRS on a new web-based platform.
In 2023, the IBD GRS was officially announced at the annual Meeting of the Minds conference in Toronto, Ontario.
In 2024, the IBD GRS was offered on a new web platform.
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Contact Information
To learn more about the PACE network, please contact research@crohnsandcolitis.ca.
The PACE network is supported by Crohn’s and Colitis Canada and our funding partners: