Practice Improvement Hub

The Rural Coordination Centre of BC (RCCbc) is viewed as an instrumental partner in creating collaboration across organizations. During the first four months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Practice Improvement Hub Forum met monthly for hour-long meetings to increase learning and collaboration across organizations. For the remaining eight months of the year, the Forum returned to meeting quarterly for two hours. The Internal Working Group, which coordinates the Hub’s activities, met monthly, while the four newly-established working groups (described below) met every two months.

The Practice Improvement Hub’s activities continued to ensure that rural communities’ needs were reflected in the activities of other organizations, and that innovations occurring in rural health services are shared with other parts of the province (and vice versa). With added project management in 2020–2021, the Hub increased its capacity, which enabled it to create four new working groups: Data Repository; Coaching and Mentoring; Anti-racism/Cultural Sensitivity; and Virtual Care. A fifth working group, Primary Care/Team-based Care/Learning Clinic, is being considered.

The activities of the Practice Improvement Hub Forum working groups attracted new participants to the Hub this past year. These include Pathways, Physician Quality Improvement, BC Medical Quality Initiative, University of British Columbia’s Associate Dean of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and a few senior Joint Clinical Committee members involved with the Practice Support Program, Alignment, and Primary Care. Member organizations have developed a greater understanding of rural health, which has increased focus on rural communities’ needs and their outreach to Pathways.

Further to this, the Hub provided input into the development of a Physician Quality Improvement program for alumni, which aims to increase the provincial network of physicians conducting improvement work across the province. And participating organizations’ appreciation of rural practice needs has aided in the development of a framework for how information technology platforms can assist physicians with improving their practice. Meanwhile, the Coaching and Mentoring program has supported increased communication, collaboration, and standardization between organizations with coaching/mentoring networks.

In the coming year, the Practice Improvement Hub will continue positioning itself as a venue for organizations to build relationships and find collaborative, synergistic ways to support practice improvement among physicians and those with whom they work. Opportunities to increase communication about RCCbc’s programs to Hub members may also be explored next year, which could increase partnerships and leverage RCCbc’s work.