Background Information & Legislative Context

CCO’s Quality Assurance (QA) Committee developed the Peer & Practice Assessment Program to enhance members’ learning opportunities and ensure their compliance with the regulations, standards of practice, policies and guidelines.

On becoming registered with CCO, members have the right to call themselves chiropractors and to practise chiropractic within the scope of practice identified in the Chiropractic Act, 1991. In assuming the right to practise, members also assume the responsibilities associated with this right, including the responsibility to maintain competence.

The public must feel confident that chiropractors, who demonstrated entry-level competencies when they registered with CCO, continue to be competent for as long as they are in practice. The public should reasonably expect some level of consistency of experience, such as a thorough history, pertinent examination, diagnosis/clinical impression, plan of care, and outcome evaluations.

Participation is Mandatory

Members who hold a General (i.e., General Active, General Non-Practising and General Non-Resident) Certificate of Registration are required to participate in this program.

If a member is registered as General Active, the assessment will entail a review of 10 current patient files and the member’s knowledge of CCO regulations, standards of practice, policies and guidelines.

If a member is registered as General Non-Practising and General Non-Resident, he/she will undergo a modified assessment. For example, if the member does not actively see patients (General Non-Practising), the assessment would entail a review of his/her knowledge of CCO regulations, standards of practice, policies and guidelines.

Information gathered during the peer assessment is shared with the members of the Quality Assurance Committee only.

Member Selection

CCO selects members to participate in the program and matches the selected member with an assessor in his/her electoral district. A colleague trained to identify areas of improvement and encourage members to strive for continuous quality improvement will conduct the assessment, designed to be educational, not punitive.

If you have any concerns and/or conflict with the assigned assessor, members may contact CCO to request another peer assessor.

If you have been selected to participate in the Peer & Practice Assessment Program, please do the following:

1. Review the Peer & Practice Assessment Program Handbook
2. Mail the following items to CCO within 15 days of receiving the assessment notification:
   • pre-visit questionnaire
   • one current sterilized patient file (name/other identifying information removed)
   • blank sample of clinical charts/forms
   • list of abbreviations and short forms used (if any)

When CCO receives your completed materials, the materials will be forwarded to your assessor, who will contact you (telephone or e-mail) to arrange a mutually convenient time to conduct the assessment.

The assessment may not occur right away and does not have to occur during office hours.

Materials & Resources

Members selected to participate in the program are encouraged to review the Peer & Practice Assessment Program Handbook, which contains detailed information about the program and how to prepare for the assessment.

The following Peer and Practice Assessment 1.0 resources are also available, and can be downloaded as fillable PDF forms:

• Member and Assessor Identification
• Pre-Visit Questionnaire
• Peer and Practice 1.0 Assessment Checklist
• Record Keeping Worksheet
• Peer Assessor Report Form