a set of transparency principles that will help determine how we
can provide more information about health-care professionals, our
decisions and processes, while ensuring fairness to members and
preserving a commitment to education.
Dr. Rocco Gerace writes more about our transparency initiative in
the Looking Ahead section of this annual report. I urge all of our
stakeholders to become part of this conversation.
Of course, an annual report is itself an act of transparency, and this
document is no different. We talk about a number of important
milestones that the College reached in 2013. Some of the biggest
ones include the following:
• e registered more doctors than in any year previous in our
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history. In fact, we registered 7% more physicians to practise
medicine in Ontario than the year previous.
• n addition to conducting hundreds of physician assessments
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through our various programs, we embarked on a process to
increase efficiencies in our peer assessment program.
• e concluded 3,126 investigations.
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• e actively reviewed and consulted on 10 policies.
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• e launched several social media properties, including FaceW
book, Twitter and LinkedIn.
• e answered more than 66,000 phone calls from physicians and
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members of the public looking for guidance on health care or
College-related issues.
There were other milestones as well. After 147 years of registering
physicians, we registered Dr. #100,000: Dr. Alaina Aguanno, an
emergency physician from London, Ontario.
Another notable development is a new partnership with Cancer
Care Ontario that seeks to drive continuous quality improvement
and foster efficiency in mammography, pathology and colonoscopy services. This initiative will no doubt have a profound effect
on the delivery of care for these services in Ontario.
I would like to thank Council, staff and our partners for making
2013 a remarkable year. I would also like to thank the hundreds
of physicians who gave of their time to participate in the activities
of self-regulation. When physicians contribute their knowledge
and thoughtful feedback to College programs, they ensure we
deliver on our mandate of improving the quality of medical care in
Ontario.
4
COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS OF ONTARIO