Improving the patient experience while optimizing clinic efficiency: A multi-state intervention to improve access to and quality of reproductive health care

Publicly funded health care services need to maintain comparable if not better standards of care as those in the private sector in order to be sustainable. The purpose of this session will be to demonstrate how reproductive health services can be improved to increase access, quality, and efficiency of care delivery to the most disadvantaged men and women in the nation. This session will describe an intervention conducted in Title X clinics in Region VIII states (Colorado, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming) to improve clinic efficiency while improving patient and staff satisfaction. Title X family planning clinics receive funding to provide access to reproductive health services to allow disadvantaged men and women to determine the number and spacing of their children. Title X clinics are subject to rigorous clinical and administrative standards and guidelines that promote equity, quality, and access. Over the past six years, JSI-Denver has implemented a process that integrates a variety of quality improvement programs and tailors it to the unique Title X setting. Over the past two years, the Office of Population Affairs has funded an evaluation of this intervention to determine its impact on a number of measures addressing access, quality, and fiscal sustainability. This session will describe unique qualities of Title X clinics that impact clinic efficiency and the Clinic Efficiency intervention. The session will also present data demonstrating improvements in care for vulnerable patients while optimizing fiscal sustainability at 15 sites undergoing the Clinic Efficiency process.