Improving the quality of medical care is a major objective of an accountable, public health care system. Family medicine is the cornerstone of the health care system and family practices play a key role in providing safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, responsive and comprehensive primary health care. Family practices are also undergoing a transformation into group practices and interdisciplinary teams in Ontario. The development and testing of a voluntary quality assessment programme was proposed and funded as a first step in a process that would faciltiate continuous quality improvement (CQI) of family practices in Ontario.

The Quality in Family Practice project, Quality, was funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care through the Primary Health Care Transition Fund in two Phases in 2003-2006.

Phase1 recommended a programme in Ontario which promotes and celebrates a culture of CQI in family practices. The project was collaborative with a multidisciplinary group of key stakeholders and consumers. In this phase, the Quality Assessment Tool was developed and a group of interdisciplinary providers and consumers were trained as Quality Master Assessors.

Phase 2 set up a demonstration pilot project in three family practices in Ontario, to test the feasibility, acceptability and affordability of the Quality programme.

Phase 3 is currently underway, with field testing of the voluntary assessment program in seven Family Health Teams.