Evaluation and ongoing development of PPEP
The program is committed to continuous quality improvement, and strive to stay current in the area of physician assessment, physician feedback, and quality improvement. By continuously improving the program we can better support physicians throughout their careers.
Program development
The PPEP uses a quality improvement model to develop our programs and new tools, as well as improve on existing ones to support physicians.
Our decisions are informed by evidence-based innovations found in literature shared by other organizations and by our own program evaluation findings.
Updated assessment tools for physician assessments
The program updated the assessment tools used during the peer practice assessment – chart review portion of the physician assessment.
The new tools were modelled after the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario’s (CPSO) scope-specific assessment tools and are anchored in a quality improvement framework. These assessment tools provide criteria and elements of quality for assessors. They have a common structure across specialty practices.
To date we have transitioned the following specialties to the new tool:
- family practice (2016)
- psychiatry (2016)
- pediatrics (2017)
- internal medicine (2018)
- dermatology (2019)
- podiatry (in development)
Performance review and action plans
In 2018, PPEP launched a new report format as a way to
- provide more comprehensive feedback to physicians after an assessment, and
- provide tools to support physician quality improvement.
The report includes the following:
- recommendations from a medical advisor
- tool for self-reflection
- a self-directed action plan template to aid in developing and implementing practice improvements
The goal is to encourage and support physicians in a cycle of improvement. Additionally, we developed the RISE criteria as a means of assessing the action plan.
Facilitated feedback assessor training project
Physician peer assessors play a critical role in the physician assessment process. The program is committed to ongoing assessor feedback and development.
R2C2 training sessions
In 2016 and 2017, the PPEP launched a series of improvements that included the R2C2 training sessions of physician peer assessors. Simultaneously, our physician peer assessors were trained to interpret multi-source feedback data and conduct an R2C2 facilitated session with physicians.
Following these program changes, a study found that these efforts led to a significant improvement in physicians’ perceptions of their assessment.
Since that time, PPEP has continued training assessors on facilitated feedback using the R2C2 model. We continue with our mission to find innovative ways to engage physicians in practice improvement.