This book reflects contributions from a large number of people, and we wish to thank them for their important efforts and sage advice. We especially thank Paula Blackstien-Hirsch, whose energy, sound judgment and continuing guidance has been critical to the Quality by Design project. Paula played an important role in the project's design, the coordination of team activities and, most importantly, the analysis and review of the case studies. Her commitment to Quality by Design and her wisdom about many issues have been invaluable elements for more than two years. Michael Murray also offered important advice on the design of the project, especially in its early stages, and provided insights into how to translate the lessons learned for different audiences. Sonya Pak did a brilliant job in capturing the essence of each case and developing short versions that could be used to support presentations and overviews of the project. Adalsteinn Brown, assistant deputy minister in the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, supported the project as our "decision-making partner" and provided a strategic perspective and critical commentary that helped ensure that the project both met high academic standards and maintained relevance to healthcare policy issues.

Leaders and staff members at each of the seven sites we visited gave important assistance, and we deeply appreciate their gracious receptions and generous contributions of time and effort. In particular, staff members at the sites were extraordinarily helpful in providing information, assisting our efforts to meet with many individuals and engaging in extended discussions about their work. Many people at the sites read and reread our case studies, thereby helping to ensure the accuracy and relevance of our observations. We also recruited external readers who were familiar with our cases to provide additional review and commentary. We thank Patricia Stolz, William B. Weeks, Chris Ham, Cliff Norman, Howard Waldner and June Duesbury-Porter for their careful considerations and valuable comments.

To help ensure that Quality by Design's information and outcomes will be useful in informing policy decisions, we assembled an advisory group of healthcare leaders who offered advice on the project's goals, methods and products: Tony Woolgar, John McKinley, Arlene Bierman, Bob Baynham, Cynthia Majewski, Jonathan Lomas, Ben Chan, Barry Monaghan, Ken White, Paul Darby, Marilyn Emery, Dave Murray, Hy Eliasoph and Sandra Hanmer. We benefited from discussions with these people, and we sincerely thank them for their time and insights.

To help identify how these cases might contribute to improvements in Canadian healthcare we asked several leaders across the country to comment on the international case studies. We thank Maura Davies, Jack Kitts, David Levine, Murray Martin and Rick Roger for sharing their thoughtful reflections on the possible lessons for the Canadian system. Finally, we asked Steven Lewis to review how these cases might inform policy and we were rewarded with a discerning assessment of the challenges.

In thanking the many people who have contributed to this work we must add that while the final product is much better as a result, any remaining deficiencies result from our shortcomings, not theirs.

G. Ross Baker, PhD
Anu MacIntosh-Murray, PhD
Christina Porcellato, MHSc
Lynn Dionne, MHSc
Kim Stelmacovich, MHSc
Karen Born, MSc

Toronto, Ontario
March 13, 2008

Comments

Be the first to comment on this!