Winter 2021 (Volume 31, Number 4)
Quality Care Committee Report
By Amanda Steiman, MD, MSc, FRCPC
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They say that the more things change, the more they
stay the same. I have reflected on how the converse
may be truer of 2021. Indeed, an observer from
another planet could easily interpret 2021 as another year
that was much like the last, and very different than those
that came before, with ongoing masking, social distancing,
decreased movement — to and from places of work, places
of travel, and social gatherings. What has changed, however,
is the mounting collective hope that there will be a
flip side to the pandemic, that vaccines and public health
measures have allowed for some cherished aspects of our
lives to cautiously resume, and that life will get back to a
(new) normal that is less foreign.
In this spirit, the initiatives of the Quality Care Committee’s
membership over the past year seem to reflect a
shift from reactive support of a new frontier to visionary
progress in support of the practice of rheumatology in
Canada for many years to come, and in a changed world.
I highlight but a few in this update. Claire Barber, Shirley
Lake, and Cheryl Barnabe continue to nimbly and effectively
lead the Quality, Resource Stewardship and Equity
Subcommittees, respectively, and I continue to lead Access.
I would also like to take the opportunity to thank
Sue Ranta for her steadfast commitment to and (seemingly
prescient!) support of the committee.
Through 2021, members of the Quality Care Committee
have worked towards the development of a transition
care-related suite of resources, in collaboration
with the Pediatrics Committee, to provide consistent and
streamlined knowledge translation and support for local
advocacy and care delivery. Appreciating that elements
of virtual care are here to stay, a Virtual Care Best Practices
consensus statement has been published. A Choosing
Wisely recommendation on palliative rheumatic disease
care was published in the spring. Two Indigenous Health
Initiative workshops were delivered virtually.
We look forward to a year-to-come that brings opportunities
for collaboration, growth, and application of lessons
learned to best support the CRA membership in a familiar
— but forever changed — practice milieu.
Amanda Steiman, MD, MSc, FRCPC
Chair, CRA Quality Care Committee
Assistant Professor of Medicine,
University of Toronto
Clinician in Quality and Innovation
Rheumatologist,
Sinai Health System/University Health Network
Toronto, Ontario
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