Jennifer L. Gold, LLB, MPH, Kunin-Lunenfeld Applied Research Unit, Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, Toronto, ON.
Tamara J. Shulman, BA, MSc, Kunin-Lunenfeld Applied Research Unit, Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, Toronto, ON
Paula A. Rochon, MD, MPH, FRCPC, Kunin-Lunenfeld Applied Research Unit, Baycrest Centre For Geriatric Care; Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Sunnybrook & Women’s College Health Sciences Centre; Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.

Quality of care provided in long-term care facilities (LTC) is an important social issue. To improve quality of care, Canada is moving in the direction of public reporting. In this paper, we discuss current efforts to assess and report LTC home quality, and provide an overview of quality assessment initiatives in Canada as compared to the United States. We include a thorough description of the new Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care web-based public reporting feature, and discuss some possible future attempts at improving this tool to incorporate quality indicators.
Key words: public reporting, quality, long-term care homes.