Understanding and enhancing approaches to quality improvement in small and medium sized private facilities in sub-Saharan Africa .

This is an evaluation study that IHI is conducting in collaboration with London school of hygiene and tropical medicine. The research takes place in the context of an innovative intervention developed by the international NGO PharmAccess that extends the benefits of clinical standards and stepwise certification to small and medium-sized facilities in LMIC, using standards developed with international accreditation bodies. The PharmAccess model seeks to improve the quality of care that facilities provide, as well as to shape the broader healthcare and finance markets and policy environment. There are several components to the model. Health facilities are assessed on a set of “SafeCare” structural quality standards, trained on quality improvement and business skills, and assisted in the development of a quality and business improvement plan. The evaluation will be a randomised controlled trial to evaluate prospectively the impact on quality of care of the roll out of the PharmAccess model to additional private for-profit and faith-based facilities in Tanzania.