The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act of 2006 requires clinical quality management (QM) programs as a condition of grant awards. The QM expectations for Ryan White Program Part B grantees include:
1) Assist direct service medical providers funded through the CARE Act in assuring that funded services adhere to established HIV clinical practice standards and Public Health Services Guidelines to the extent possible;
2) Ensure that strategies for improvements to quality medical care include vital health-related supportive services in achieving appropriate access and adherence with HIV medical care; and
3) Ensure that available demographic, clinical and health care utilization information is used to monitor the spectrum of HIV-related illnesses and trends in the local epidemic.
Mission
The mission of the RW Part B Clinical Quality Management Program is to ensure the highest quality of medical care and supportive services for people living with HIV/AIDS in Georgia.
Vision
The vision of the QM Program is to ensure a seamless system of comprehensive HIV services that provide a continuum of care and eliminates health disparities across jurisdictions for people living with HIV/AIDS in Georgia. This will be accomplished by:
- Assessing the extent to which HIV health services provided to clients under the grant are consistent with the most recent DHHS guidelines for the treatment of HIV disease and related opportunistic infections.
- Developing strategies for ensuring that such services are consistent with the guidelines for improvement in the access to and quality of HIV health services.
- Continuously implementing a statewide quality management plan.
- Improving access to AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) and Health Insurance Continuation Program (HICP) services by improving the application and recertification processing.
- Improving alignment across funded agencies by monitoring core performance measures across RW Program Part B funded agencies.
- Improving alignment across services through standardization of case management.
- Improving alignment across RW Programs by expanding quality related collaboration.
Publications/Guidelines
- AIDSInfo: Guidelines for the Treatment of HIV/AIDS, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Training
Part B QM staff members provide quality improvement related training and technical assistance for Ryan White funded providers throughout Georgia. To date they have conducted training on the following topics: how to develop a quality management plan, the fundamentals of quality management, and performance measurement.
The National Quality Center (NQC) developed internet-based quality improvement learning modules, which are free and readily available for self-paced learning. These tutorials are online at the NQC,Quality Academy. The Part B QM staff highly recommends that all persons working with Ryan White funded programs complete these tutorials.
Links
- AIDS Education and Training Centers (AETC) Program: Training and education programs for healthcare providers treating persons living with HIV/AIDS
- AIDSInfo: Guidelines for the Treatment of HIV/AIDS, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) Performance Measures: Core performance measures for adult and adolescent HIV care
- National Quality Center: Quality improvement technical assistance, tools, measures, and training
If there are any questions, please do not hesitate to call the Georgia Ryan White Part B Clinical Quality Management Team Lead, Sandra Metcalf, at 404-657-3113 or email at Sandra.Metcalf@dph.ga.gov.
Page Last Updated 07/26/2018