Grant: Project Grant

Primary care has shifted to a team-based approach, where family doctors collaborate closely with other health providers, such as nurses, social workers, and pharmacists, to deliver patient care. Indicators reflecting the contributions of these professionals are critical for helping teams improve their work and for supporting government decision-makers in shaping policies to strengthen primary care. However, quality and performance measurement largely rely on physician data, overlooking the role of other health providers. Data from electronic medical records offer a promising yet untapped solution to close this gap. This interprovincial project aims to measure indicators in 10 primary care teams across Quebec, Ontario, and Nova Scotia, focusing on the contributions of all health providers to improving care quality. Guided by a stakeholder advisory panel-including clinicians, managers, knowledge users, patient partners, and decision-makers-our research team will support teams in identifying strategies to enhance teamwork and patient care. Finally, we will reconvene our advisory panel to develop shared recommendations for measuring primary care team quality from a whole-team perspective. Given the current lack of evidence on existing primary care practices, our project will fill an important gap identified by practice and policy partners. By understanding how health providers contribute to day-to-day primary care, we aim to guide decisions based on reliable data.