Working within the statutory requirements established for all Health Regulatory Colleges in Ontario; the College views its Quality Assurance Programs as a means of supporting members in maintaining their knowledge and skills throughout their careers. While adhering to rigorous legislative requirements, the College’s Quality Assurance Programs have been designed to be supportive rather than investigative. Whenever participation in the Quality Assurance process leads to the identification of the need for remediation; information about this remains confidential as member-specific information about Quality Assurance involvement is not publicly available.
SELF-ASSESSMENTS
The Quality Assurance Committee reviews the fully completed Self-Assessment Guide submitted by members who did not make their Declaration of Completion by the required date. At the beginning of the first quarter (June 1, 2022), there were 11 members required to submit their completed Guides. The reviews have begun and further information about the outcome of these reviews will be provided once they are completed.
PEER-ASSISTED REVIEWS (PAR)
Members are selected to participate in a Peer Assisted Review via random and stratified random selection. A member is also required to participate in a PAR if they have not submitted their Self-Assessment Guide Declaration of Completion and have also not submitted their fully completed Self-Assessment Guide after it had been requested. Physical distancing measures necessary to decrease the spread of COVID-19 led to the postponement of in-person PARs in March 2020, more than two and a half years ago. The College currently is working through the resulting significant, two-year backlog of Reviews. Unless specifically requested and agreed to by all participants, Reviews are currently being conducted virtually.
At the end of the first quarter (August 31, 2022) there were 61 PARs outstanding. Three were completed virtually during the quarter and in all three cases, the members reviewed appeared to have met the standards of the profession. All remaining outstanding reviews are currently being arranged.
We are currently seeking additional Peer Assisted Review Assessors. Members who have been practicing with a Certificate of Registration for Autonomous Practice for at least five years, and who have an interest in helping fellow members enhance the quality of their services and learning from their peers, are encouraged to contact the College’s Quality Assurance Coordinator, David Fierro at qualityassurance@cpo.on.ca. Training and ongoing support for Assessors will be provided by the College and, in addition a per diem and reimbursement for any out of pocket expenses, members may earn CPD credits as Assessors.
CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Members who did not submit their Declaration of Completion of the minimum requirements of the mandatory Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program by the required date are required to submit all CPD documentation for audit by the Quality Assurance Committee. Seven members were required to provide their documentation for this reason. The Committee also conducts audits of members who have been randomly selected. The Committee seeks to conduct a total of 50 audits this year, therefore 43 members were randomly selected for participation.
It was hoped that revisions to the online CPD credit tracking system would be completed before the current CPD cycle for members with even-numbered Certificates of Registration began on July 1, 2022. Due to changes being made to the College’s IT systems, the tracking system unfortunately was not available at the start of the 2022-2024 cycle. A simple tracking sheet for members to use on their own devices until a new online tracking system is operational is available here.
Members with even-numbered Certificates, who have just begun the2022-2024 cycle, will notice that the credit requirements have been simplified and that some credit categories have been combined, to make for a more equitable and simpler tracking experience. These changes were made following the Committee’s review of member responses to the survey of those who completed the requirements during the 2018-2020 CPD cycle. These survey results, published in two parts in the April 2021 edition of HeadLines are available here: Part I and Part II.
Members with odd-numbered Certificates of Registration, who are approximately halfway through the 2021-2023 CPD cycle, may satisfy the requirements of the CPD program according to the requirements set out at the beginning of that cycle, or if they prefer to, may adopt the changes early.