title: Primary Care Performance Measurement and Reporting at a Regional Level: Could a Matrix Approach Provide Actionable Information for Policy Makers and Clinicians?
abstract: Primary care services form the foundation of modern healthcare systems, yet the breadth and complexity of services and diversity of patient populations may present challenges for creating comprehensive primary care information systems. Our objective is to develop regional-level information on the performance of primary care in Canada.
  
  
  
  A scoping review was conducted to identify existing initiatives in primary care performance measurement and reporting across 11 countries. The results of this review were used by our international team of primary care researchers and clinicians to propose an approach for regional-level primary care reporting.
  
  
  
  We found a gap between conceptual primary care performance measurement frameworks in the peer-reviewed literature and real-world primary care performance measurement and reporting activities. We did not find a conceptual framework or analytic approach that could readily form the foundation of a regional-level primary care information system. Therefore, we propose an approach to reporting comprehensive and actionable performance information according to widely accepted core domains of primary care as well as different patient population groups.
  
  
  
  An approach that bridges the gap between conceptual frameworks and real-world performance measurement and reporting initiatives could address some of the potential pitfalls of existing ways of presenting performance information (i.e., by single diseases or by age). This approach could produce meaningful and actionable information on the quality of primary care services.
authors.affiliation: Research Associate, Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, University of British, Columbia Vancouver, BC.
authors.forename: Julia M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Langton
authors.affiliation: Professor, Centre for Health Services and Policy Research & School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.
authors.forename: Sabrina T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine, University of Ottawa & Bruyere Research Institute, Ottawa, ON.
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Johnston
authors.affiliation: Professor, Department of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Abelson
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, School of Public Policy & Administration, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ammi
authors.affiliation: Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS.
authors.forename: Fred
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Burge
authors.affiliation: Professor, Primary Care Research Group, University of Exeter Medical School, Exeter, UK.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.affiliation: Professor, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montréal, QC.
authors.forename: Jeannie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Haggerty
authors.affiliation: Professor, Department of Family Medicine, University of Ottawa & Bruyere Research Institute, Ottawa, ON.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hogg
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.
authors.forename: Walter P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Wodchis
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.
authors.forename: Kimberlyn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: McGrail
mesh_terms: D005843:Geography; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000592:standards*; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000592:standards*