Case Example

The following is an example of how a collaboration is evaluated as part of continuous quality improvement.

In a northern urban/rural community, during a past H1N1 pandemic, there had been long lines for the immunization service.

While planning for the current flu immunization, the organizational leaders of both public health and the region’s primary care centre supported the goal to improve service delivery. To address this situation, they shared the view that a collaboration, including a shared records system, would not only reduce wait times but would offer an opportunity to track other immunizations.

To evaluate the immunization delivery services, the collaboration team used several approaches including the following: a volunteer survey, analysis of school suspensions due to students’ out-of-date immunization records, and an annual debriefing meeting for continuing quality improvement purposes.

Activities of a Collaborative Service Model

Results showed that:

• With no lineups, the public’s demand for improved immunization services was met;
• The shared record system improved the ability to record and share statistics on annual immunizations with the provincial ministry;
• School suspensions due to students’ out-of-date immunization records were dramatically reduced.

Each year, public health and primary care managers and frontline staff meet to evaluate past performance of the immunization service with the purpose for quality improvement.