Improving care is the ultimate goal of HIVQUAL. Quality improvement methods and tools are adapted for every participating facility.
QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PRINCIPLES:
- Measurement: Use data to improve care
- Focus on the important patient outcomes and consumer needs
- Involvement of participants: encourage direct participation in teams by those individuals who implement the process being evaluated
- Enhance communication and accountability
- Emphasis on strengthening systems of care through process analysis
Quality Improvement Workshops:
Quality improvement workshops are interactive, hands-on sessions designed to impart practical skills to facility staff for immediate use. HIVQUAL offers experienced quality improvement facilitators who teach improvement methods through real world examples of HIV care. HIV-specific examples are used to provide related skills and a complete learning experience.
Quality Improvement Projects:
Once baseline data collection and performance measurement has been completed, and key personnel have been trained through Quality Improvement Workshops, projects are undertaken to improve care based on a problem area identified by each facility.
Quality Improvement Projects follow these steps:
- Prioritize area for improvement based on performance data.
- Develop a project work plan.
- Identify the sequential processes of the chosen system.
- Implement changes.
- Modify as needed.
- Share strategies and best practices.