The former Ontario Health Quality Council and five other health care improvement organizations have been consolidated into one organization called Health Quality Ontario (HQO). The other organizations included in the merger are the:
- Medical Advisory Secretariat of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
- Ontario Health Technology Advisory Committee
- Ontario Health Technology Evaluation Fund
- Centre for Healthcare Quality Improvement
- Quality Improvement and Innovation Partnership.
Under the Excellent Care for All Act (ECFAA), the Ontario Health Quality Council became part of Health Quality Ontario and the mandate was expanded to:
- Recommend and help health service providers in adopting standards of care and best practices;
- Monitor and report on quality improvement efforts across the health care sector and;
- Lead the effort in Ontario to improve safety, quality, efficiency and the patient experience across all of the health care system.
For more information, see the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care news release “Health Quality Ontario to Promote Evidence-Based Health Care,” April 2011, available at news.ontario.ca.