Charter on improving quality of patient care: can CEOs and boards create the momentum Canada needs to realize performance gains?

W ̃hen compared with other developed countries, Canada sits solidly in the middle of the pack with respect to the quality of healthcare available to its citizens – rarely emerging as the front runner but rarely seen to be the laggard. These are the findings of Quality of Healthcare in Canada: A Chartbook, released by the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (CHSRF) in partnership with the Canadian Institute for Health Information and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute, and with support from Statistics Canada (Sutherland and Leatherman 2010). But is B-level performance good enough? Driving quality and performance improvements in Canada was the focus of the fourth annual chief executive officer (CEO) forum, Metrics for Healthcare Quality: The Leader’s Role, held on February 17, 2010, and attended by some 120 CEOs, policymakers and experts. Hosted by CHSRF, with the Association of Canadian Academic Healthcare Organizations and the Canadian Medical Association as partners, the conference agenda examined the role that healthcare leaders could play in improving quality. Topics covered included the following: