Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Sep 14;19(1):663.
doi: 10.1186/s12913-019-4472-8.

Implementation of a regional quality improvement collaborative to improve care of people living with opioid use disorder in a Canadian setting

Laura Beamish  1 , Zach Sagorin  1 , Cole Stanley  1   2   3 , Krista English  1 , Rana Garelnabi  1 , Danielle Cousineau  1   2 , Rolando Barrios  4   5   6 , Jan Klimas  1   7   8   9
Affiliations

Implementation of a regional quality improvement collaborative to improve care of people living with opioid use disorder in a Canadian setting

Laura Beamish et al. BMC Health Serv Res. .

Abstract

Background: Although opioid agonist therapy is effective in treating opioid use disorders (OUD), retention in opioid agonist therapy is suboptimal, in part, due to quality of care issues. Therefore, we sought to describe the planning and implementation of a quality improvement initiative aimed at closing gaps in care for people living with OUD through changes to workflow and care processes in Vancouver, Canada.

Methods: The Best-practice in Oral Opioid agoniSt Therapy (BOOST) Collaborative followed the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's Breakthrough Series Collaborative methodology over 18-months. Teams participated in a series of activities and events to support implementing, measuring, and sharing best practices in OAT and OUD care. Teams were assigned monthly implementation scores to monitor their progress on meeting Collaborative aims and implementing changes.

Results: Seventeen health care teams from a range of health care practices caring for a total of 4301 patients with a documented diagnosis of OUD, or suspected OUD based on electronic medical record chart data participated in the Collaborative. Teams followed the Breakthrough Series Collaborative methodology closely and reported monthly on a series of standardized process and outcome indicators. The majority of (59%) teams showed some improvement throughout the Collaborative as indicated by implementation scores.

Conclusions: Descriptive data from the evaluation of this initiative illustrates its success. It provides further evidence to support the implementation of quality improvement interventions to close gaps in OUD care processes and treatment outcomes for people living with OUD. This system-level approach has been spread across British Columbia and could be used by other jurisdictions facing similar overdose crises.

Keywords: Buprenorphine/naloxone; Mental health; Methadone; Opioid agonist therapy; Opioid use disorder; Primary care; Quality improvement; Retention; Suboxone; Substance use disorder.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None reported.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Oral Opioid Agonist Therapy Collaborative Methodology
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Collaborative Implementation Scores
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Government of BC coroners service. Illicit drug overdose deaths in BC January 1, 2009 – January 31, 2019 Government of British Columbia 2019.
    1. Bruneau J, Goyer M, Ahamad K, Poulin G, Selby P, Fischer B, et al. Management of opioid use disorders: a national clinical practice guideline. Can Med Assoc J. 2018;190(9):E24–E257. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.170958. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sordo L, Barrio G, Bravo MJ, Indave BI, Degenhardt L, Wiessing L, et al. Mortality risk during and after opioid substitution treatment: systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. BMJ. 2017;26:357–1550. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mattick RP, Breen C, Kimber J, Davoli M. Buprenorphine maintenance versus placebo or methadone maintenance for opioid dependence. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews. 2014;6(2):CD002207. - PubMed
    1. Reist D. Methadone maintenance treatment in British Columbia, 1996–2008: analysis and recommendations. 2010.

MeSH terms