System Performance Initiative
April 2012 marks the beginning of the Partnership’s second five-year mandate and the next phase of implementing Canada’s national cancer strategy. The priorities and initiatives for the next five years are outlined in our 2012-2017 strategic plan, Sustaining Action Toward a Shared Vision. Our website will soon be updated to reflect the activities supporting the strategic plan. The information below reflects the priorities and accomplishments of our work between 2007 and 2012.
Informing changes in the cancer system to drive improvement
Evidence-based planning, management and policy development has — for some time now — been the standard for advancing health-care systems in Canada. While each province and territory is responsible for planning and funding cancer service delivery within its jurisdiction, national collaboration promotes the sharing of best practices, which in turn allows significant advances in quality across the country. For interprovincial system performance comparisons to be meaningful, a co-ordinated strategy is required to ensure standardized definitions, methodologies and interpretations.
Optimizing the cancer control system for Canadians is at the heart of the Partnership’s work. But unless it is clear how well the cancer control system is performing, it is difficult for cancer agencies or other partners to know where to focus any improvement efforts. In response to this challenge, the Partnership developed the System Performance Initiative, a pan-Canadian approach to reporting on performance across the cancer control continuum.
The System Performance Initiative is a collaboration among the Partnership and the provincial cancer agencies. The initiative collects data from many sources, including provincial registries, provincial cancer partners and Statistics Canada. It brings together existing cancer-related data from across the country and makes this information available as a baseline for measuring progress. Overall, it will help shape the planning and delivery of the entire cancer control system, from prevention, screening and diagnosis to treatment, supportive care and survivorship.
Through the System Performance Initiative, the Partnership has undertaken a national approach to reporting on the needs and performance of the cancer control system in Canada. This collaborative work is based on sharing information, comparing practices and evaluating outcomes from across the country and around the world.
Progress to date
- Since it was launched in 2008, the Partnership’s System Performance Initiative has been building a strong foundation for meaningful system performance measurement and reporting. This process has involved ongoing engagement with Canada’s cancer control community. In addition, health-system workers have been collaborating to develop all aspects of this initiative, including the research, evaluation, interpretation and dissemination of performance measurement information.
- Consultation at a pan-Canadian level resulted in the identification of an initial set of 17 indicators to measure and report on the performance of Canada’s cancer control system. A wide range of relevant data and information has been gathered and synthesized in collaboration with many partners nationally and provincially.
- Annual reports have been published on system performance that progressively expand on performance indicators on cancer prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, research, supportive care and survivorship, including the patient experience through the entire continuum. Reports to date are:
