title: An international cross-sectional survey on the Quality and Costs of Primary Care (QUALICO-PC): recruitment and data collection of places delivering primary care across Canada.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Performance reporting in primary health care in Canada is challenging because of the dearth of concise and synthesized information. The paucity of information occurs, in part, because the majority of primary health care in Canada is delivered through a multitude of privately owned small businesses with no mechanism or incentives to provide information about their performance. The purpose of this paper is to report the methods used to recruit family physicians and their patients across 10 provinces to provide self-reported information about primary care and how this information could be used in recruitment and data collection for future large scale pan-Canadian and other cross-country studies.
  
  
  METHODS
  Canada participated in an international large scale study-the QUALICO-PC (Quality and Costs of Primary Care) study. A set of four surveys, designed to collect in-depth information regarding primary care activities was collected from: practices, providers, and patients (experiences and values). Invitations (telephone, electronic or mailed) were sent to family physicians. Eligible participants were sent a package of surveys. Provincial teams kept records on the number of: invitation emails/letters sent, physicians who registered, practices that were sent surveys, and practices returning completed surveys. Response and cooperation rates were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Invitations to participate were sent to approximately 23,000 family physicians across Canada. A total of 792 physicians and 8,332 patients from 772 primary care practices completed the surveys, including 1,160 participants completing a Patient Values survey and 7,172 participants completing a Patient Experience survey. Overall, the response rate was very low ranging from 2% (British Columbia) to 21% (Nova Scotia). However, the participation rate was high, ranging from 72% (Ontario) to 100% (New Brunswick/Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland & Labrador).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The difficulties obtaining acceptable response rates by family physicians for survey participation is a universal challenge. This response rate for the QUALICO-PC arm in Canada was similar to rates found in other countries such as Australia and New Zealand. Even though most family physicians operate as self-employed small businesses, they could be supported to routinely submit data through a collective effort and provincial mandate. The groundwork in setting up pan-Canadian collaboration in primary care has been established through this study.
authors: School of Nursing, University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada. Sabrina.wong@nursing.ubc.ca.|Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada. Sabrina.wong@nursing.ubc.ca.|Department of Family Medicine, University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada. Sabrina.wong@nursing.ubc.ca.|The Canadian Primary Health Care Research and Innovation Network (CPHCRIN), Ottawa, Canada. Sabrina.wong@nursing.ubc.ca.
authors: Sabrina T
authors: ST
authors: Wong
authors: School of Nursing, University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada. leena.chau@nursing.ubc.ca.|Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada. leena.chau@nursing.ubc.ca.
authors: Leena W
authors: LW
authors: Chau
authors: The Canadian Primary Health Care Research and Innovation Network (CPHCRIN), Ottawa, Canada. whogg@uottawa.ca.|Department of Family Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada. whogg@uottawa.ca.|C.T. Lamont Primary Health Care Research Centre, Élisabeth Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada. whogg@uottawa.ca.
authors: William
authors: W
authors: Hogg
authors: Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. gteare@hqc.sk.ca.|Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Canada. gteare@hqc.sk.ca.|Saskatchewan Health Quality Council, Saskatoon, Canada. gteare@hqc.sk.ca.
authors: Gary F
authors: GF
authors: Teare
authors: Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada. Baukje.miedema@horizonnb.ca.|Family Medicine Teaching Unit, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada. Baukje.miedema@horizonnb.ca.
authors: Baukje
authors: B
authors: Miedema
authors: Université de Sherbrooke, Charles LeMoyne Research Center Hospital, Sherbrooke, Canada. Mylaine.breton@usherbrooke.ca.
authors: Mylaine
authors: M
authors: Breton
authors: Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Canada. kaubrey@mun.ca.|Health Sciences Centre, St. John's, Canada. kaubrey@mun.ca.
authors: Kris
authors: K
authors: Aubrey-Bassler
authors: Departments of Community Health Sciences and Family Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. akatz@cpe.umanitoba.ca.|Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, Winnipeg, Canada. akatz@cpe.umanitoba.ca.
authors: Alan
authors: A
authors: Katz
authors: Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada. Fred.burge@dal.ca.
authors: Fred
authors: F
authors: Burge
authors: Department of Family Medicine, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada. Antoine.boivin@umontreal.ca.
authors: Antoine
authors: A
authors: Boivin
authors: Health Quality Council of Alberta, Calgary, Canada. Tim.cooke@hqca.ca.
authors: Tim
authors: T
authors: Cooke
authors: Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ), Québec, Canada. daniele.francoeur@inspq.qc.ca.
authors: Danièle
authors: D
authors: Francoeur
authors: Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. walter.wodchis@utoronto.ca.|Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, Toronto, Canada. walter.wodchis@utoronto.ca.|Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Canada. walter.wodchis@utoronto.ca.
authors: Walter P
authors: WP
authors: Wodchis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005194:Family Practice / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000191:economics* / Q000592:standards*