Changes to the Primary Care Quality Indicators (PCQI) guide will be implemented on October 1, 2025, for primary care physicians using Family Medicine Plus. The PCQI guide is a series of evidence-based targets that physicians should strive to meet in caring for their patients both on prevention and caring for common conditions. The Manitoba Primary Care Quality Indicator Advisory Committee (MPAC) reviews suggestions from clinicians, considers current best practice and clinical evidence to develop and revise Manitoba’s Primary Care Quality Indicators. FM+ requires physicians and their teams to provide service aligned with the most recent PCQI guide.

Family Medicine Plus is Manitoba’s longitudinal primary care funding model, which provides support for physicians caring for a panel of enrolled patients. The act of enrolling a patient signifies an agreement to provide comprehensive primary care to that patient which includes ongoing care, chronic disease management, ordering and monitoring of diagnostics, referral to specialists when needed, etc. Physicians should consider their ability to meet this obligation when considering enrolling a new patient. More information on appropriate enrollment can be found, here.

New Quality Care Indicators

MPAC recommended the approved changes and updates to the Primary Care Quality Indicators. These changes are available in the Primary Care Quality Indicators Guides, version 5.0, which includes the full standards, calculations and related ICD9 codes. 

• New Sexually Transmitted and Blood Borne Infections (STBBIs) Indicator Cluster, including management of patients on PrEP, management of HIV, Syphilis, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C. 

• Additions and updates to the Mental Health and Addiction Management Indicator Cluster: Added indicators for the management of ADHD, Bipolar Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder and Schizophrenia. Cannabinoids are no longer excluded from the ongoing assessment and management of Substance Use Disorder (SUD) indicators. 

• Updates to the COPD Screening and Management and Smoking Cessation Counselling indicators to now include vaping, found in the Prevention Indicator Cluster and COPD Management Indicator Cluster. 

• Updated Indicator name from previous Colon Cancer Screening Indicator has been changed to Colorectal Cancer Screening, found in the Prevention Indicator Cluster. 

Manitoba Health has provided a summary of the changes, frequently asked questions and related tariff information here.

What This Means for You 

Your practice’s Primary Care Quality Indicators (PCQIs) are provided to Manitoba Health via a Patient Care Data Extract (PCDE) on a regular basis by your clinic. In most instances, this is an automated process that happens ​“behind the scenes” and lets Manitoba Health know that you are providing excellent care to your patients. 

As Manitoba Health notes, although meeting the prevention and care guidelines outlined in the PCQIs should be the goal, many factors (some of which are out of the control of clinicians) may impact attainment. The purpose of the Manitoba PCQIs is to foster quality improvement in clinical practice and be used as a tool to facilitate clinical assessments, but do not supersede the clinical decision-making process. 

Next Steps

This update has been shared with your EMR vendors and most are well on their way to full compliance. We would encourage members to check in with their software providers to ensure that they are on track to meet this implementation date. 

In preparation for this inclusion, clinicians can capture care aligned to the new version 5.0 indicators in the (currently available) applicable data fields within their EMR. 

Manitoba Health has provided information for clinic managers and providers here including the following: 

• Manitoba Primary Care Quality Indicators Guide (Short Version 5.0)
  • Contains summary tables of the PCQIs 
• Manitoba Primary Care Quality Indicators Guide (Long Version 5.0)
  • Contains a more detailed list of the PCQIs, including a description of how they are calculated 

If you have any questions, concerns or comments, we encourage you to contact your home clinic liaison and copy us or email us directly at practiceadvice@​doctorsmanitoba.​ca.