It benchmarks key indicators on quality, access and financing of health care, pinpointing where serious gaps or performance issues prevail. Alongside bilateral meetings between NDOH and specific provincial health departments, a forum of the 9 provincial health chief financial officers (CFOs) meets with the NDOH CFO to discuss these results and specific budgetary challenges. Participation in such forums is voluntary and designed to find policy consensus, with any agreed decisions on a non-enforced basis.