Improving quality and performance in Ontario's cancer services: lessons for constructing a learning healthcare system

Cancer Care Ontario as a provincial agency has undergone a significant transformation in the last 10 years. This paper documents a predictable crisis of radiotherapy capacity at the turn of the millennium, creating an imperative for transformative change. This transformation occurred included a divestment of existing cancer centers to large local host hospitals while retaining service obligations through a financial, quality and performance contract. The paper documents the simultaneous introduction of quality and access measures and the creation of a continuously evolving improvement panel of metrics which underpin the performance of local centers and population-wide reporting of Cancer Control. The recent successful expansion to include renal services is referenced.