Quality Improvement
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services define Quality Improvement (QI) as the following:
“[Quality Improvement is] the framework used to systematically improve care. Quality improvement seeks to standardize processes and structure to reduce variation, achieve predictable results, and improve outcomes for patients, healthcare systems, and organizations.”
Central to ARCH's mission is the improvement of the health of our communities through strengthening and supporting the efforts of our member health centers, with the overarching goal to provide access to quality health care for all. Member health centers are fully engaged in continuous QI work, a process ARCH supports by sharing best practices, coordinating a peer network of QI leaders, and compiling and sharing results of quality outcome data to illuminate how and where improvements can be made.
Even as the pandemic unfolded and care shifted to telemedicine, the following QI achievements were marked in 2020:
82% of eligible health centers met their target for patients having a colorectal cancer screening
73% of eligible health centers met their target for diabetic patients with their HbA1c in good control
64% of eligible health centers met their target for patients with hypertension having their blood pressure well controlled
64% of eligible health centers met their target for children under the age of 15 months having a well child visit
What’s Next:
ARCH will continue its Quality Improvement activities, supporting our member health centers with a focus on best practices in telehealth services and improving cancer screening and other preventative care rates. In an effort to improve equitable access for our communities to all aspects of healthcare, we will coordinate training and technical support for our members as they develop and implement health center-specific Health Equity Plans.