In 2005, the initiative entered Phase Three as part of the Ministry's Information Management Strategy. The Nursing and Health Outcomes Project (NHOP) has now become known as the Health Outcomes for Better Information and Care (HOBIC). Its focus is the province-wide, standardized collection of patient health outcomes, staffing and quality of worklife information reflective of nursing, pharmacy, physiotherapy and occupational therapy not only in acute care, complex continuing care, long-term care, rehabilitation, and home care, but also in primary care, mental health and public health.

To assist with implementation planning, HOBIC has established a number of committees :

• Health Outcomes Implementation /Steering Committee – provides strategic advice and guides the process
• Learning and Development Committee – develops the strategy for educating nurses on the use of standardized outcomes measures and re-orienting nurses to outcomes focused care as well as incorporating standardized outcomes assessment into future educational programs for nurses
• Data Collection Committee – integrates standardized outcomes assessments into practice

Plans are currently under way for activities in the months ahead :

• Implementation of the collection of health outcomes data in four sectors-acute care, long-term care, complex continuing care and home care, (initially 25 sites) beginning in 2006/07.
• Testing of nursing indicators (staffing and worklife) across all sectors to link with and complement the health outcomes
• Development and testing of health outcomes for three additional sectors – mental health, public health and primary care by an Expert Panel  that will review literature and make recommendations
• Expansion of project scope to include health outcomes reflective of interdisciplinary teams–pharmacy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy