Frequently Asked Questions
Developed by the Health Quality Council of Alberta (HQCA), FOCUS provides data about what patients experience in Alberta’s healthcare system. We’ve provided answers to our most commonly received questions, but if you are looking for more information please Contact Us.
Who is the HQCA?
The Health Quality Council of Alberta (HQCA) is a provincial agency that brings together patients, families, and our partners from across healthcare and academia to inspire improvement in patient safety, person-centred care, and health service quality. We assess and study the healthcare system, identify effective practices, and engage with Albertans to gather information about their experiences. Our responsibilities are outlined in the Health Quality Council of Alberta Act.
What is FOCUS on Healthcare?
FOCUS is a public website developed by the Health Quality Council of Alberta (HQCA) that provides data about what patients experience in Alberta’s healthcare system. We believe that transparent reporting about what’s happening across our healthcare system with patients, families, and our partners from healthcare and academia, can lead to quality improvement and a better understanding of Alberta’s healthcare system.
The goal of FOCUS is to present data from all areas of the healthcare system to create a whole system view. We are working to add new healthcare areas to FOCUS, which currently includes emergency departments, primary care, long term care, designated supportive living, and home care.
FOCUS supports the HQCA’s mandate to promote and improve patient safety, person-centred care, and health service quality on a province-wide basis.
Will the HQCA be adding more healthcare areas or measures to FOCUS on Healthcare?
The goal of FOCUS is to present data from all areas of the healthcare system to create a whole system view. We are working to add new areas to FOCUS, which currently includes emergency departments, primary care, long term care, designated supportive living, and home care.
In deciding whether to add new healthcare areas or measures, we work with patients, families, and our partners from healthcare and academia to identify new topics of interest and what healthcare system data is important to measure in Alberta. We look at whether the data is available to create the new measures and consider if the measure can be presented in a way that starts a conversation about improvement.
Who is the audience for FOCUS on Healthcare? And who will be acting on the information on this website?
Healthcare quality improvement is a complex process that involves people at all levels of the healthcare system. The measures on FOCUS are one source of information that individuals who influence or are involved in improvement activities in Alberta’s healthcare system (such as policymakers/government, and executives and managers in healthcare delivery organizations) can use to identify where improvements are needed and to identify areas of success.
FOCUS also provides patients and families with transparent data about Alberta’s healthcare system, which can be used to better understand our system or to support conversations about quality and safety.
Why is patient/resident and or family member experience important to overall health system quality?
We know, from survey work and research, that the things that patients encounter, undergo, and experience throughout their healthcare journey impacts how they feel about their overall experience of care.
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) has developed the Triple AIM Framework to describe an approach for optimizing health system performance which includes experience of care. The Triple AIM has three components: (1) Experience of Care, (2) Population Health, (3) Per Capita Cost. The HQCA’s surveys, Alberta Health Services (AHS) and Alberta Health administrative data used throughout this website can be used in working towards addressing the Triple AIM and improving the health system.
It is also valuable to think about patient/resident experience across the dimensions of quality. These quality dimensions are captured in the Alberta Quality Matrix for Health: Acceptability, accessibility, appropriateness, effectiveness, efficiency, and safety.
Where can I find more information about the data definitions used to create these charts and/or survey methodology?
Please visit About the Data for more information about the data presented on FOCUS on Healthcare.
How often is the primary healthcare information updated?
This information is updated annually, typically between June and September.
What is primary healthcare?
Primary healthcare is the first place people go:
- For healthcare or wellness advice and programs,
- For treatment of a health issue or minor injury, or
- To have a health condition diagnosed and managed.
Primary health care includes all the services in your community that support the day-to-day health needs of you and your family through every stage of life.
Those services may include a visit to your family doctor, a consultation from a nurse practitioner, advice from a pharmacist or an appointment with a dietitian or therapist. Primary health care includes a focus on wellness, and connecting people with social supports that impact their health status, such as housing or parental support.
What is a primary care network (PCN)?
Primary Care Networks (PCNs) are groups of doctors working together with teams of healthcare professionals (for example, nurses, dietitians, and pharmacists to meet the primary healthcare needs of patients in their communities. PCNs were designed to strengthen family doctor clinics by providing referral services, programs and information to help patients manage their health. Their programs can include after-hours medical access, clinics and workshops.
Approximately 80 per cent of primary care physicians are registered in a PCN.
Primary care networks were started in Alberta in 2003. Alberta now has 41 PCNs involving more than 3,800 physicians and over 1,000 health care providers.
Which PCN is my family doctor a part of?
You can visit the Primary Care Networks, Doctor Directory to find out which PCN your doctor is part of, or search for your doctor by selecting your Primary Care Network Zone.
How can I find a family doctor?
You can visit the Primary Care Networks, Help me find a doctor to find a doctor accepting new patients near you.
What is a patient’s medical home?
The Patient’s Medical Home (PMH) is the place patients feel most comfortable to discuss their personal and family health concerns. It usually includes the patient’s family doctor and other healthcare team members the doctor works with, including nurses, pharmacists, nutritionists and others to provide the care the patient needs. They are usually located within the same clinic; if they work in different sites, they share information to ensure a smooth care experience for their patients.
What is continuity and why is it important to primary healthcare?
Continuity of care reflects the patient’s experience of care over time as consistent, connected and coordinated.
There are three aspects of continuity that work together:
Relationship – when the patient sees the same family doctor or team of healthcare providers consistently over time, a mutual bond of trust and respect is formed.
Information – knowledge about a patient’s medical condition, values, needs and wants is available to all team members.
Management – the patient’s care is coordinated between all healthcare team members and between all the different places where care is provided.
When patients move around the healthcare system, it is very important that all three of these types of continuity are maintained. This is especially important in primary healthcare because a goal of Alberta’s health system is for primary healthcare to be the patient’s medical home (see “Patient’s Medical Home” definition above). So, the family doctor or primary healthcare clinic will likely be the one responsible for maintaining continuity with a patient.
How do I use this primary care information?
These measures were determined through collaboration with our healthcare partners to ensure they represent what is important to measure in primary care in Alberta.
The interactive charts allow you to see primary care patient experience, delivery of care and clinical care over periods of time and some measures allow you to compare zones and primary care networks (PCN). By looking at the charts, you may notice, for example, trends or spikes over time or that one PCN consistently performs better. You can then start the conversation about why you are seeing these results at some PCNs but not others, and what might be affecting them.
Below each chart there are prompting questions and more detailed information to help you reflect on the data.
How often is the Emergency Department information updated?
This information is updated quarterly.
What is Emergency Department care?
Emergency departments help you with your emergency health needs anytime day or night. They provide care for patients with major trauma, cardiac events, injuries, and general medical problems. An emergency department provides medical care, which includes assessment and treatment.
Are all emergency departments in Alberta included in this information?
No, this website focuses on Alberta’s 16 busiest emergency departments. Not all emergency departments in Alberta collect consistent information so that we can report accurately across all hospitals. We selected these 16 emergency departments because they are historically characterised as having the highest-volumes. They include:
Large Urban – Trauma
- Foothills Medical Centre, Calgary
- Royal Alexandra Hospital, Edmonton
- University of Alberta Hospital, Edmonton
Large Urban
- Grey Nuns Community Hospital, Edmonton
- Misericordia Community Hospital, Edmonton
- Peter Lougheed Centre, Calgary
- Rockyview General Hospital, Calgary
- South Health Campus, Calgary
Medium Urban
- Chinook Regional Hospital, Lethbridge
- Medicine Hat Regional Hospital, Medicine Hat
- Northern Lights Regional Health, Fort McMurray
- Grande Prairie Regional Hospital, Grande Prairie
- Red Deer Regional Hospital, Red Deer
- Sturgeon Community Hospital, St. Albert
Children’s
- Alberta Children’s Hospital, Calgary
- Stollery Children’s Hospital, Edmonton
How can I use this emergency department information?
These 19 measures were determined through collaboration with our healthcare partners to ensure they represent what is important to measure in emergency department care in Alberta.
The interactive charts allow you to see emergency department wait times, delivery of care, and patient experience information over periods of time and allow you to compare similar emergency departments to one another. By looking at the charts, you may notice, for example, trends or spikes over time or that one emergency department consistently performs better. You can then start the conversation about why you are seeing these results at some departments, but not others, and what might be affecting them.
Below each chart there are prompting questions and more detailed information to help you reflect on the data.
Why can’t I compare all emergency departments to one another?
For most of the charts, the emergency departments are grouped so that you are comparing “apples to apples.” Not all emergency departments deliver the same level of care and serve the same patient populations. Therefore, we display the information by “Hospital Type” groupings. This ensures that are comparing similar departments that would be subject to similar demands, for example, Large Urban Trauma vs. other Large Urban Trauma hospitals and Children’s vs. Children’s hospitals.
For some charts, such as alternate level of care percentage, it is relevant and practical to compare the emergency departments in a city, because this may lead to conversations about continuing care bed availability and other care options that would impact a hospitals alternate level of care percentage.
What charts display information that relates to another chart?
Charts that display information that relates to wait times
- Patient time to see an emergency doctor
- Patient emergency department total length of stay (LOS)
- Length of time emergency department patients wait for a hospital bed after a decision to admit
- Time for X-ray completion
- Time waiting for specialist/admitting doctor opinion
Charts that display information that relates to patient movement within the emergency room or the hospital, or processes within the hospital.
- Hospital patients who require an alternate level of care
- Length of patient hospital stay compared to Canadian average
- Patients who left without being seen (LWBS) by an emergency department doctor
- Patients who returned to the emergency department within 72 hours
- Patients waiting in the emergency department for a hospital bed
- Hospital occupancy
Charts that display information that relates to patient experience
- Patient experience with staff introductions
- Patient experience with communication about follow-up care
- Patient experience with help for pain
- Overall rating of care
- Overall patient experience with emergency department communication
- Communication with patient about possible side effects of medicines
- Patient reason for emergency department visit
How often is the data on Hospital Care updated?
The measures are updated quarterly (every three months).
What is hospital care?
Hospital care refers to care requiring admission to an acute care facility. In Alberta, there are 113 hospitals that provide patient care units such as medical, surgical, intensive care, palliative care, obstetrics, pediatrics, mental health, day surgery, and contracted surgical services.
Which hospitals are included on the website?
This website focuses on Alberta’s busiest hospitals. Not all hospitals in Alberta collect consistent information which makes it challenging to report accurately across all hospitals. We selected these sites because they are historically characterized as having the highest-volume of patients. The smaller remaining hospitals in each Alberta Health Services zone are reported as a group for patient experience measures.
To see which hospitals are included across the following categories (Large Urban – Trauma; Large Urban; Medium Urban; Children’s; and Smaller Remaining Hospitals), please click here.
How can I use the Hospital Care information?
The website currently presents 16 measures in the form of interactive charts. The key measures were determined through robust stakeholder engagement to ensure they were meaningful in determining overall patient experience and could be used to help start quality improvements conversations. The interactive charts allow you to see hospital patient experience information (such as patient communication with nurses and doctors) over periods of time and allow you to compare similar hospitals to one another. By looking at the charts, you may notice, for example, trends or spikes over time or that one site consistently performs better or worse. You can then start the conversation about why you are seeing these results at some facilities but not others, and what might be affecting them. On the website, beside each chart there are prompting questions that you may want to ask. Under each chart there is more detailed information about the chart being looked at.
Why can't I compare all hospitals to one another?
For most of the charts, the hospitals are grouped so you can compare “apples to apples.” Not all hospitals deliver the same level of care, and serve the same patient populations. This is why we display the information by “Hospital Type.” This ensures that when you compare hospitals you look at similar facilities that face similar demands, for example, Large Urban Trauma versus other Large Urban Trauma hospitals. For some charts, such as hospital occupancy, it is relevant and practical to compare the hospitals within a city, because this may lead to conversations about bed availability and other care options that would impact a hospital’s occupancy percentage.
How are the charts linked to one another?
Charts that display information that relates to patient movement to the hospital, or processes within the hospital.
- Hospital occupancy
- Length of patient hospital stay compared to Canadian average
- Patients who returned to an emergency department within seven days
- Unplanned readmission to hospital within 7 or 30 days
Charts that display information that relates to patient experience
- Patient communication with nurses and doctors
- Patient involvement in care decisions
- Patient receiving information about their condition and treatment
- Staff helping patient with pain
- Overall rating of care
- Talking with staff about the help needed at home
How often is the home and community care information updated?
The client experience information is updated every three years.
What is home and community care?
Home and community care is a type of continuing care service that supports individuals’ health and wellness goals by providing personal and healthcare services to clients in their home or other private residential setting (e.g., designated supportive living site or seniors lodge). Home and community care aims to keep individuals safe and independent in their own home or care setting for as long as possible. Home and community care clients are assigned a case manager, who assesses their needs using a standardized tool, develops a personalized care plan, and coordinates access and delivery of care and services as outlined in the plan. Home and community care services may be provided for both short-term and long-term needs, depending on the client.
What type of home and community care client is reported in this information?
In Alberta, home and community care clients are categorized into six main groups: acute, rehabilitation, long term supportive, end-of-life, maintenance, and wellness. Long term supportive and maintenance clients have chronic health conditions that are either stable or unstable and require ongoing support to live at home. At present, FOCUS on Healthcare: Home and Community Care reflects the experiences of clients who completed the HQCA’s Alberta Seniors Home Care Client Experience Survey. Clients eligible to complete this survey are seniors who were aged 65 and older, had no cognitive impairment, and were receiving long term supportive and maintenance care. This home care client group is among the largest in Alberta.
Why is there no home and community care information reported for clinical care and delivery of care?
At present, it is difficult to report clinical care and delivery care information publicly about home and community care because of data and analytical challenges, or in some cases data availability. However, our healthcare partners are working to resolve these issues, and we will continue to learn from and work with our partners, so that we can include information about clinical care and delivery of care in future Home and Community Care updates.
How can I use the information on the website?
These measures were determined through collaboration with our healthcare partners to ensure they represent what is important to measure in home and community care in Alberta.
The interactive charts for the experience measures allow you to see zone-level results relative to other zones and geographic area (i.e., metro, urban, or rural). By looking at the charts, you can review your results relative to others and then start a conversation about why the results may be different and start to explore where there are opportunities for improvement.
Below each chart there are prompting questions and more detailed information to help you reflect on the data.
How often is the continuing care homes - type B information updated?
The information is updated annually or every three years, depending on the chart/measure.
What is continuing care homes - type B?
Continuing care homes – type B (formerly designated supportive living) is a type of continuing care service for individuals with complex medical needs that are more predictable than continuing care homes – type A (formerly long term care). Residents of continuing care homes – type B receive 24-hour on-site, scheduled (physiotherapy, recreation therapy, etc.) and unscheduled (wound care, incontinence care, etc.) personal care and support services from health care aides and/or licensed practical nurses (LPNs).
Individuals become eligible for a space or a room based on an assessment of their needs by Alberta Health Services (AHS) using a standardized tool which identifies an individuals’ healthcare needs, and the type or level of care that is needed to meet these needs. Continuing care homes – type B is a general term that encompasses what was formerly known as designated supportive living or DSL3 and DSL4; and continuing care homes – type B secure space encompasses what was formerly known as DSL4-Dementia (DSL4D).
How can I use this information?
These measures were determined through collaboration with our healthcare partners to ensure they represent what is important to measure in continuing care homes – type B (formerly designated supportive living) in Alberta.
The interactive charts for the experience measures allow you to see information (when available) for a site relative to comparable sites. You can see results for a selected site in relation to other sites that are located in the same zone and geographic setting (i.e., urban or rural), and are similar by operator type and size. By looking at the charts, you can review your results relative to others and then start a conversation about why the results may be different and start to explore where there are opportunities for improvement.
Below each chart there are prompting questions and more detailed information to help you reflect on the data.
How often is the continuing care home - type A (formerly long term care) information updated?
The information is updated annually, quarterly, or every three years, depending on the chart/measure.
What is continuing care home - type A?
Continuing care homes – type A (formerly long term care) is a type of continuing care service for people who have highly complex and unpredictable health needs whose care cannot be safely provided in their own home or in a supportive living site. Registered nurses (RNs) supervise care and professional nursing services may be provided by licensed practical nurses (LPNs). There is 24-hour onsite (unscheduled and scheduled) professional nursing and personal care staff. Continuing care homes – type A is provided in nursing homes and auxiliary hospitals, which FOCUS on Healthcare: Continuing Care Homes – type A will refer to as “sites.”
Individuals become eligible for a space or a room based on an assessment of their needs by Alberta Health Services (AHS) using a standardized tool which identifies an individuals’ health care needs, and the type or level of care that is needed to meet these needs.
What is a quality indicator?
A quality indicator is a standardized measure of quality that can be used to track clinical performance and outcomes. Quality indicators are often used for public reporting, by care providers to improve care, and system leaders to monitor care and inform decision-making.
FOCUS on Healthcare: Continuing Care Home – Type A reports the interRAI quality indicators. These quality indicators are derived using information that is collected from individuals living in continuing care homes using a standardized assessment instrument that is completed by a trained assessor. While the information is initially collected at the individual-level, it can be expressed as an average at a site, zone, or provincial level.
Quality indicators, when studied as a group or whole over time, can signal the need to improve quality and safety.
Why is the falls quality indicator not reported in Continuing Care Homes - Type A?
The quality indicator on falls is not reported because it is difficult to interpret the information reported by this indicator.
A high score at a site on this indicator means that there is a high incidence of falls, which does not necessarily provide enough information to comment on the quality of care at a site. For example, a site may see higher scores, because they are honouring residents’ wishes to accept risk and implementing rehabilitative efforts to improve mobility. These are actions that may increase falls. Falling is also an inevitable outcome of aging-related changes that occur over time. Therefore, it is difficult to understand what a high score on this indicator tells us and whether improvement is needed.
How can I use the information on the website?
These measures were determined through robust stakeholder consultations to ensure they represent what is important to measure in continuing care homes – type A in Alberta.
The interactive charts for the experience measures allow you to see information for a site relative to comparable sites. You can see results for a selected site in relation to other sites that are located in the same zone and geographic setting (i.e., urban or rural), and are similar by operator type and size. By looking at the charts, you can review your results relative to others and then start a conversation about why the results may be different and start to explore where there are opportunities for improvement.
Below each chart there are prompting questions and more detailed information to help you reflect on the data.