Quality Improvement

Since 2008, the Cross Part Collaborative has supported quality improvement among HIV providers funded by the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program. In 2016, the CHPC Quality and Performance Measures (QPM) Team took on the role of the Cross Part Collaborative. 

Ryan White is a federal program that provides services to those who do not have sufficient health care coverage or financial resources to cope with HIV. Through different Ryan White Parts, the program works with cities, states and community-based organizations to provide services. Each Ryan White Part supports quality improvement. The QPM Team addresses challenges that cut across all Ryan White Parts. 

QPM uses the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) approach to improve quality. The PDSA cycle is a simple and powerful tool for accelerating quality improvement — by planning a change, trying it, observing the results, and acting on lessons learned. Based on the results, further changes may quickly be made to improve service quality. 

In 2016, the QPM Team learned about quality improvement and PDSAs, reviewed statewide Ryan White data, and selected measures needing improvement: the percentage of people screened for syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia.  In 2017, QPM reviewed PDSAs that Ryan White providers have conducted to improve STI screenings.  QPM invited Stamford CARES and Community Health Services to present their successful models at a webinar for Ryan White providers on June 15, 2017. By sharing promising practices, the QPM can help all providers improve their STI screenings. 

In September 2019, QPM partnered with Ryan White Hartford, UConn Health / CCMC, and the Connecticut Department of Public Health to convene Getting to Zero through Quality Management: A 2019 Summit. The Summit featured Clemens Steinbock from the Center for Quality Improvement and Innovation (formerly NQC), Dr. Merceditas Villanueva from Yale University, Angelique Croasdale-Mills from Ryan White Hartford, and a Best Practice Carousel of projects from across Connecticut.

The Figure to the right is from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit (2nd edition). 

Below are downloadable presentations from the Quality Summit, QPM webinars and additional quality improvement resources from the Center for Quality Improvement and Innovation (formerly the National Quality Center).