Essential Imaging – Quality Improvement

Essential Imaging is a quality improvement initiative led by the BC Patient Safety & Quality Council in partnership with the Ministry of Health, with a goal to help care providers partner with patients to successfully initiate, test, implement and spread evidence-based best practices for appropriate medical imaging in five common areas in primary and emergency care.

5 Areas to Promote Appropriate Medical Imaging

• Uncomplicated headache.
• Minor head injuries.
• Suspected pulmonary embolism.
• Low back pain.
• MRI in patients with moderate to severe osteoarthritis in hips or knees.

Who Should Participate?

• Teams working to improve access to vital imaging tests
• Multi-disciplinary primary care, specialist and emergency department teams, serving both adult and pediatric populations

Teams enrolled in Essential Imaging will be provided with a robust Getting Started Kit which is a change package complete with change ideas, campaign resources and quality improvement methodologies to help guide improvement at the point of care. Learning webinars, access to subject matter experts from across the province as well as coaching calls from key leaders will also be offered to support teams with improvement efforts.

The Goal of Essential Imaging

The purpose of the Essential Imaging initiative is to accelerate the spread and implementation of the BC Guidelines for Appropriate Medical Imaging and improve care provider’s access to evidence-based tools and change ideas that inform appropriate imaging requisition practices via a campaign and Action Series by March 2021.

This includes leveraging the BC Guidelines, promote patient and public awareness, support provider education and provide decision support resources to increase medical imaging appropriateness.

Key Dates

• Virtual launch webinar: January 2021
• Five, one-hour webinars every two to three weeks: January – March
• Monthly coaching calls
• Time to plan and apply improvement ideas
• Virtual closing celebration: May 2021

Enroll your health care team by Jan. 8, 2021