Development and implementation of a quality improvement program for Ryan White Title I care services using a stakeholder-based model

Abstract

Both medical and community support services for people living with HIV and/or AIDS have been implemented on a widespread basis since the implementation of the 1990 Ryan White CARE Act. However, many services are provided without adequate evaluation or quality assurance, in spite of federal directions to both evaluate and ensure quality. This report details the development and implementation of a quality improvement project to evaluate Ryan White CARE services using a community stakeholder-based effort. The evaluation was consumer rather than administratively driven, including both consumers and providers to define, measure, and improve services. Project phases included: (1) developing service standards for 14 areas of service provided under Title I of the Ryan White CARE Act; (2) creating and implementing a provider/consumer peer site visit instrument to assess agencies' activities in meeting the service standards; and (3) developing a mechanism to improve quality by linking agencies to technical assistance resources in the metropolitan provider community. By involving providers and consumers in evaluation roles, recommendations by peers could serve as the basis for ongoing quality improvement.