From the Canadian Medical Association

Dr. Brian Day
President, Canadian Medical Association

Every effective organization has a strategy, and the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) is no exception. Earlier this year, we announced a five-point plan that will shape everything we hope to accomplish in the next half-decade to support our vision of a healthy population and a vibrant medical profession. It is our belief that by making the five points part of everything we do, we can transform health care in Canada.

It can be argued that ultimately everything the CMA does benefits either individual patients or the population as a whole. It achieves this directly, through its lobbying activities in support of better health and through the provision of information on key health issues. This can also be accomplished indirectly, through strengthening the Canadian medical profession so doctors can better care for their patients.

The new plan explicitly sets out this commitment. Two of its five main points, or “key results,” are healthy patients and a healthy population; the other three goals are healthy physicians, a healthy profession and a strong and effective CMA.

In working toward healthy patients, the CMA will focus on five main areas.
•  Access — ensuring timely access to appropriate high-quality care
•  Physician resources — ensuring the right supply, mix and distribution of physicians
•   Information-technology infrastructure — making sure a comprehensive and integrated IT system is in place to enhance patient care
•  Patient safety — ensuring that resources are available to measure and improve the delivery of quality care
•  Funding — ensuring the availability of adequate funding for equitable access to medically indicated care for all Canadians.

To achieve the objective of a healthy population, the association is also concentrating on five key areas.

• National health goals — advocating for a set of targets to measure health status and address health disparities, beginning with child health
• Patient health information — making physicians and the CMA an authoritative source of  health information for health-care consumers
• Health and safety — making Canada a world leader in creating legislation and regulations to support a healthy medical profession
• International leadership — playing a guiding role in promoting healthy populations around the world
• Health surveillance — helping to identify and report on emerging public health issues.

Too often strategic plans are just empty words on paper, having little impact on what an organization actually is or does. At the CMA, nothing could be further from the truth. Over the next five years, everything we do for Canadian doctors, their patients and the public as a whole will be based on our plan and on measurable outcomes. In this way, we can be sure that the CMA remains accountable and focused on doing what is most important to reach established goals. The association is reviewing its current activities to see how they fit in with the plan.

But where does Canadian Health fit into the plan? Well, a key strategy for the outcome of patient health information is “providing patients and the public with authoritative, timely, useful, plain-language health information.” What better description of Canadian Health magazine could you ask for?