Health Quality BC

What Health Quality BC does

Health Quality BC (HQBC), headquartered in Vancouver, is the provincial organization mandated to provide system-wide leadership for health care quality improvement across British Columbia. Originally established as the BC Patient Safety & Quality Council and rebranded to Health Quality BC in 2021 after 15+ years of operation, the organization works through collaborative partnerships with the BC Ministry of Health, all six BC health authorities, patients and families, and clinical providers. HQBC delivers a portfolio of interconnected programs rather than a unified software product: the annual Quality Forum conference, BC Quality Awards, BC Health Quality Matrix framework, Quality Academy and Quality Café educational programs, Clinician Fellowship, Summer Student Internship Program, and the Patient Voices Network (1,251 patient partners as of 2020/21). Its clinical improvement work includes the APPLAUD Action Series (Alcohol Use Disorder care), the Inpatient Sepsis Toolkit and Emergency Department Sepsis Guidelines, the Hospital-Associated Deconditioning & Frailty Collaborative, the Bridge-to-Home Collaborative (with Healthcare Excellence Canada, also extending to Yukon), and the Patient-Oriented Discharge Summary tool.

The underlying technology footprint is a digital platform organization: program resources, toolkits, the BC Health Quality Matrix, and educational content are distributed through the healthqualitybc.ca website, the @healthqualitybc YouTube channel, and a Flickr presence, supported by newsletter and social engagement. There is no API, no mobile app, and no proprietary AI/ML layer disclosed. HQBC's business model is principally a publicly funded provincial mandate: operations are sustained by BC government health care quality funding rather than commercial revenue. The only direct revenue signal is conference registration pricing for Quality Forum 2027 ($249 + GST pre-Forum day; $749 + GST BC in-province main forum; $899 + GST out-of-province; $349 + GST student), with a discounted Hyatt Regency Vancouver room block at $299 + GST. Programs such as Quality Academy and Patient Voices Network are free to BC-system participants, reflecting the non-commercial, public-good positioning.

HQBC's go-to-market is event-driven and partnership-based: it engages BC's health system through the annual Quality Forum, the BC Quality Awards recognition program, structured provincial collaboratives, and direct delivery of educational programming to clinicians and quality improvement leaders. Its customer set is exclusively public-sector — BC's health authorities, the BC Ministry of Health, and limited extensions to Yukon — with no private-sector or commercial customer base. Strategic partners include Healthcare Excellence Canada, SWITCH BC, the Rural Coordination Centre of BC, the BC Centre on Substance Use, the Canadian Alcohol Use Disorder Society, and Joint Collaborative Committees, several of which serve as platinum sponsors of the Quality Forum.

Name

Health Quality BC

Legal name

Health Quality BC

Website

https://healthqualitybc.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Health Quality BC is a Vancouver-based provincial organization that provides system-wide leadership for health care quality improvement in British Columbia, serving the BC Ministry of Health, all six BC health authorities, and patients through the annual Quality Forum, BC Health Quality Matrix, Patient Voices Network, clinical toolkits, and province-wide quality improvement collaboratives.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Health Care Quality Improvement Services

NAICS

Administration of Public Health Programs (92312), Health Care and Social Assistance (62)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Health Systems Performance & Quality Measurement (Public Sector) (HLAJANAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Quality Measurement, Reporting & Benchmarking (HEDIS/Stars/CQM) (HLACAHAC), Monitoring, Evaluation, Performance Management & Quality Improvement (HLAJAMAJ), Public Health Quality Measurement & Performance Benchmarking (HLAJAJAL)

Keywords

• Health quality improvement
• Patient safety programs
• Clinical quality toolkits
• Patient engagement network
• Health care education

Headquarters

HQ city

Vancouver

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Government Funding: Health Quality BC operates as a provincial health quality organization, providing system-wide leadership to improve quality of health care in British Columbia through collaborative partnerships with health authorities, patients, and health care workers. Funded primarily through provincial government health care quality mandates.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Health Quality BC provides system-wide leadership to improve the quality of health care in British Columbia. It delivers educational programs (Quality Forum, Quality Academy, Quality Café, Clinician Fellowship), develops clinical toolkits and guidelines (Inpatient Sepsis Toolkit, APPLAUD Care Pathway, Emergency Department Sepsis Guidelines), coordinates patient engagement through the Patient Voices Network, and administers the BC Health Quality Matrix framework. Its offerings are delivered through conferences, digital resources, collaborative initiatives, and partnerships with all BC health authorities and the Ministry of Health.

Product overview

Health Quality BC (HQBC) is BC's health quality experts providing system-wide leadership to improve the quality of health care in British Columbia. The organization operates a portfolio of interconnected programs rather than a unified software product. Core offerings include the annual Quality Forum conference, the BC Quality Awards recognition program, and the BC Health Quality Matrix framework. Educational initiatives include the Quality Academy, Quality Café sessions, Clinician Fellowship, and Summer Student Internship Program. Patient engagement is supported through the Patient Voices Network (PVN) and the "What Matters to You?" initiative. Clinical improvement programs include the APPLAUD action series for alcohol use disorder care, Inpatient Sepsis Toolkit, and Emergency Department Sepsis Guidelines. Additional initiatives address hospital-associated deconditioning, cultural safety, Indigenous health, long-term care, patient safety, and substance use. The Bridge-to-Home Collaborative improves care transitions from hospital to home.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Quality Forum Health Quality BC's flagship annual conference that brings together British Columbia's health care community to share and discuss how to improve quality across the continuum of care. Features plenary speakers, health talks, quality debates, rapid fire presentations, and storyboard sessions.
• BC Quality Awards Annual awards celebrating people and projects that made health care better in British Columbia, featuring multiple category types including Excellence in Quality awards, Inspiring Individual awards, and Transformative Leadership awards.
• BC Health Quality Matrix A shared definition of quality for BC that measures quality across seven Dimensions of Quality and five interconnected Areas of Care, supporting a coordinated approach to thinking and learning about quality improvement.
• BC's Patient Safety Strategy: Your Care, Our Commitment A five-year provincial plan outlining how BC's health system can strengthen patient safety and quality of care by fostering a culture where safety is felt, lived and upheld in every care interaction.
• Quality Academy An educational program that expands capability to effectively lead quality and safety initiatives, including teaching and advising others in the process of improving health care quality.
• Quality Café Regular virtual learning sessions providing ongoing education on quality improvement topics for health care professionals.
• Clinician Fellowship in Health Care Quality A fellowship program designed to develop clinician leaders in health care quality improvement.
• Patient Voices Network (PVN) A community of patients, families and caregivers working together with health care partners to improve BC's health care system. PVN connects patient partners with health care partners seeking to engage the patient voice in quality improvement efforts.
• What Matters to You? Initiative An international movement that encourages meaningful conversations between health care providers, patients, caregivers and families. The initiative supports asking 'What matters to you?' instead of 'What's the matter?' to ensure care is aligned with patient priorities.
• APPLAUD (Approaches and Pharmacotherapies for Patients Living With Alcohol Use Disorder) An action series designed for primary care teams who want to improve care and outcomes for people living with Alcohol Use Disorder, featuring evidence-informed approaches with practical tools to screen, diagnose and treat AUD.
• Inpatient Sepsis Toolkit A comprehensive toolkit providing BC inpatient hospital wards with information, resources and tools to successfully initiate, implement and spread best practices for sepsis care in adult populations, updated in 2022.
• Emergency Department Sepsis Guidelines Provincial guidelines for sepsis management in emergency department settings.
• Navigating Hospital-Associated Deconditioning & Frailty Collaborative A virtual initiative to improve quality of care outcomes for older adults at risk of hospital-associated deconditioning and frailty.
• Summer Student Internship Program An internship program providing students with experience in health quality improvement.

Quantifiable outcome

• 378 patient partners supported in 215 engagement opportunities (2020/21)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Patient Voices Network (PVN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHealth Quality BC administers the Patient Voices Network - a community of patients, families and caregivers working together with health care partners to improve BC's health care system. PVN connects patient partners with health care partners seeking to engage the patient voice in quality improvement efforts. The network is guided by an Oversight & Advisory Committee including representatives from health care organizations, the Ministry of Health, and patient representatives.
• Healthcare Excellence CanadacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to improve care transitions from hospital to home and community through the Bridge-to-Home Collaborative for BC and the Yukon. A national Bridge-To-Home collaborative was led by HEC in 2018-20 with 16 health care teams, and HQBC partnered with HEC to offer another edition focusing on BC and Yukon teams.
• Canadian Alcohol Use Disorder Society (CAUDS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAPPLAUD (Approaches and Pharmacotherapies for Patients Living with Alcohol Use Disorder) Action Series is delivered by Health Quality BC in partnership with CAUDS. The collaboration brings evidence-informed approaches to AUD care for primary care teams across BC.
• BC Centre on Substance UsemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative support partner for the APPLAUD Action Series, providing clinical expertise for improving alcohol use disorder care in primary care settings.
• SWITCH BCmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to produce 'Caring Unmasked 2: From Crisis to Connection' - a film addressing burnout, compassion fatigue, and mental health crisis affecting health care workers, premiered at Quality Forum 2023.
• Rural Coordination Centre of BC (RCCbc)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRCCbc's Personal Health Record (PHR) project, developed with input from patients and providers, is designed to give patients timely access to their clinical information. Claire Snyman, a patient advocate, is working with RCCbc on this initiative which originated from expressing 'what matters' in health care.
• Joint Collaborative CommitteescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPlatinum sponsor of Quality Forum 2025. Joint Collaborative Committees represent a partnership among BC's health system partners working on collaborative quality improvement initiatives.
• Healthcare Excellence CanadacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPlatinum sponsor of Quality Forum 2025. National organization working to improve health care quality across Canada.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• National Quality Forum (NQF): US-based organization that develops quality measures and endorses standards for health care. Comparable to HQBC in its role defining shared quality frameworks and measurement standards across a health system.
• Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI): Global leader in health care quality improvement with extensive QI methodology, fellowships, and toolkits. Comparable to HQBC in mission (system-wide QI) and educational programming, though operating at an international rather than provincial scale.
• Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care: National government-funded body that leads and coordinates safety and quality improvements across the Australian health system. Directly analogous to HQBC's mandate at a national scale, including quality measurement and clinical standard-setting.
• Alberta Health Services – Quality and Safety: Quality and patient safety function within Alberta's single integrated health authority. Comparable as a large provincial body performing system-wide QI, benchmarking, and patient safety programs across multiple care areas.
• NHS England – Quality and Safety: National-level quality, safety, and oversight function within NHS England. Comparable in mission—system-wide quality measurement, reporting, and improvement programs—but operates at a much larger national scale.

Direct peers

• Saskatchewan Health Quality Council (HQC): Provincial quality and safety body in Saskatchewan that measures and reports on health system performance. Comparable as an independently mandated provincial QI organization serving a single provincial health system.
• Health Quality Ontario (Ontario Health – Quality): Provincial quality council in Ontario (now part of Ontario Health) that publishes quality measurement reports and supports system-wide QI. Functions as HQBC's most direct provincial peer, having followed a similar institutional model before being absorbed into a larger provincial agency.
• Healthcare Excellence Canada: National Canadian organization dedicated to improving health care quality and safety. Directly comparable to HQBC as a quality-improvement convener; HQBC is a provincial-level counterpart to HEC's national mandate, and the two organizations co-deliver programs such as the Bridge-to-Home Collaborative.
• Canadian Patient Safety Institute: National Canadian organization focused on patient safety (operations wound into Healthcare Excellence Canada). Comparable as a peer producing national patient safety strategy frameworks, similar to HQBC's BC Patient Safety Strategy.

Emerging players

• Beryl Institute: Global community of practice focused on improving the patient experience in health care. Comparable to HQBC's Patient Voices Network and 'What Matters to You?' initiative as a patient-experience and engagement community, though operating globally rather than provincially.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/healthqualitybc
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@healthqualitybc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Health Quality BC