Ontario Health Key Performance Indicators

#health #healthpolicy #ontario #kpi #healthmanagement #ethics Ontario Health has retired the public tracking of “hallway health care” patients from its annual reports, ending reporting on care delivered in unconventional spaces such as emergency department hallways or on stretchers. This metric had climbed from an average of 1,326 patients per day in 2022-23 to 1,390 in early 2024, with peaks above 1,860 in January 2024, reflecting ongoing hospital overcrowding well after the pandemic peak.

The retirement occurred under the refreshed Accountability Agreement between Ontario Health and the Ministry of Health. Officials stated the changes remove COVID-19 recovery metrics and those with reporting delays so the agency can “focus on what matters most to people in Ontario.” Hallway health care was not the only indicator dropped. Others retired include the percentage of hip and knee surgeries completed within target wait times, adult cancer and non-cancer surgical volumes, the share of patients with four or more mental health and addictions emergency visits, multiple virtual-care access and proportion metrics, timely COVID-19 test completion, and cancer screening volumes versus pre-pandemic levels.

In their place, 21 new performance indicators were added, including colorectal, cervical, and breast cancer screening participation rates, as well as days of physician coverage in underserved communities. Ontario Health maintains it continues internal monitoring of several retired measures, including no-bed admits and mental health emergency visits, for operational use. Frontline emergency physicians and opposition critics, however, view the public removal differently. Doctors have called withholding the data “complete and utter malpractice” in accountability for the province’s largest budget item, describing hallway care as an ongoing affront to patient dignity, privacy, and safety.

They, NDP, and Liberal health critics argue that retiring visible metrics rather than simply reprioritizing them obscures persistent system strains that staff and patients experience daily. This reflects frustration among health professionals who want transparent data to support improvement. Ontario’s healthcare system would benefit from stronger ethical standards for public reporting and clearer communication. Greater openness about challenges, paired with focused action, would better serve Ontarians and restore trust in how performance is measured and managed.

We believe Ontario can do better and it's only a matter of leadership, ethics and art of communicating.