Measuring and Improving Results (continued)

Objective 2: Increasing Patient Satisfaction

To help meet Objective 2, Increasing Patient Satisfaction, you can review and use the AIHA Performance Indicator Reference Sheet. This document includes a plan for data collection, as well as a plan for data analysis, reporting, review and more. Click the link above to access this file.

Evaluation

The term “evaluation” refers to a periodic process of gathering data and then analyzing or ordering it in such a way that the resulting information can be used to determine whether an organization is effectively carrying out planned activities, and the extent to which it is achieving its stated objectives and anticipated results. After your Primary Healthcare Center has been established for a time, you will want to evaluate it to assess its effectiveness. (AIHA recommends three to five years for an evaluation commensurate with routine monitoring that is steering the direction of your center.)

Listed below are some of the key measurable results that evaluators discovered in AIHA Primary Healthcare programs—five health-oriented outcomes and one health/social gain—that you may want to consider in evaluating your own Primary Healthcare Center.

AIHA Primary Healthcare Centers Measurable Results

1. Strengthened demand for care: Partnerships have increased demand for healthy lifestyles and quality care. Patients and communities have changed their care-seeking behavior toward greater demand for disease prevention knowledge and skills; voluntary enrollment in partnership-sponsored Primary Healthcare clinics; increased use of primary care providers for primary health contact; increased “maintenance visits” in chronic conditions; early pregnancy visits; psychiatric and behavioral counseling; and visits for social support and counseling.

2. Improved access to care: Improved access to care was achieved primarily through the establishment of 28 model Primary Healthcare Centers and an estimated 270 replication sites; expansion of primary care into new areas of personal and public health; and integration of primary healthcare into the socioeconomic fabric by adjusting local care packages to community-level social, environmental, and occupational risks.

3. Rationalized utilization of care: Partnerships have significantly enriched content of the provider/patient encounter by developing a more versatile approach to general medical exam, well-baby exam, general psychiatric/psychological exam, unconfirmed pregnancy, prenatal, and post-partum examinations. The numbers of primary care encounters have also grown, reflecting increased supply and quality of pregnancy care, health education activities, screening programs, chronic disease management services, and social counseling and support. By improving primary healthcare services, partnerships have reoriented clinical volume from specialty consultations and inpatient care toward primary care.

4. Improved quality of care: As a result of the use of modern practice guidelines, strengthened diagnostic capacity, and advanced curative response, early detection rates and treatment outcomes have improved for breast cancer, cervical cancer, diabetes, hypertension-related conditions, psycho-behavioral disorders, dental caries. Additionally, specific vulnerable populations, such as women of reproductive age, adult males, and IDPs/refugees are receiving much-needed care. Increased patient satisfaction with partnership-sponsored clinics has been reported in all consumer surveys.

5. Delivered a health/social gain: While many Primary Healthcare Centers reported insufficient time for measuring observable health gains, others provided tangible evidence of the following health/social improvements: reduced mortality and long-term disability in provider catchment areas as a whole and from specific causes such as cervical and breast cancer, hypertension, neonatal and perinatal conditions, and occupational injuries; reduced work and school absenteeism, particularly attributable to asthma and hypertension; reduced disease incidence, e.g., high blood pressure in women, STIs, dental caries, helminthes, and nosocomial infections; lower acuity due to increased early detection of breast and cervical cancer and modernized control of major chronic conditions; elimination of excessive use of antibiotics, particularly in URI treatment; secession of smoking and drug use.

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