An Essential Service The work of CPSO is considered an essential service . This means we needed to maintain our business continuity while ensuring we kept our staff , Council and committee members as safe as possible . To that end , we made the decision in mid-March 2020 to close our offices to the public and have employees work safely from home , where possible .
Fortunately , we had adopted a culture of continuous improvement 18 months before the pandemic struck that allowed us to implement a comprehensive remote-work plan and we were able to continue our work without missing a beat . We were able to hold Council meetings , committee meetings and discipline hearings , all virtually . This seamless transition allowed us to continue our work , embedding right-touch regulation in all that we did .
Guidance to Physicians
In 2020 , the College continued its work in bringing physicians policies that were more clear and concise . Conveying expectations in a transparent manner is key to ensuring physician compliance with their obligations . If physicians wish to read further on a particular issue , most policies are accompanied by an advice document that elaborates on the College ’ s expectations .
In 2020 , we applied the principles to the following policy development :
Approved new policy that modernized how we regulate physician advertising by adopting a more flexible approach that supports physicians practising in the modern era while ensuring patient trust is maintained .
Updated our Protecting Personal Health Information policy to include new and clarified expectations that support and enable the appropriate use of e-communication with patients .
Developed a draft version of our Delegation of Controlled Acts policy recognizing that a one-sizefits-all approach is not possible and that flexibility is needed based on risk .
Practice Improvement
As evidenced by historical Quality Assurance ( QA ) assessment results , most Ontario physicians are practising well . The new Quality Improvement program , launched in 2020 , is designed to benefit the entire membership by helping all physicians proactively strengthen their practice ( including those who are already doing well ) with its needs-based approach to improvement . Resource intensive QA assessments will be reserved for those physicians above 70 and other physicians who may require further guidance . This is aligned with key tenets of Right-Touch Regulation which states that the level of regulation should be proportionate to the level of risk to the public .
The Quality Improvement Program ( QI ) – in true Right-Touch form – was built with a view of reducing duplication of physician efforts . Participating physicians can fulfill their CPSO Quality requirements , claim CPD credits and , in the case of the Partnership Program , meet any quality activity / patient safety requirements their hospital may have as part of their annual reappointment process . By streamlining the quality requirements for hospital-
CPSO ANNUAL REPORT 2020 // 15