NIATx200: Organizational Attributes Related to Participation

The third NIATx200 session presentation provides the opportunity to understand characteristics that explain organizational willingness to participate in quality improvement. Depending on the results of randomization, change activities may require considerable staff time and resources. We will present results on organizations' willingness to enroll in the study and be randomized; and once enrolled, the level of commitment to these efforts, as measured by staff participation hours. A two-part demand model first describes features of the 648 eligible sites in five states (MA, MI, NY, OR, WA), and 201 participating and randomized sites and then estimates the probability that eligible organizations agreed to enroll in the study. The second part of the model explores organizational characteristics that predicted level of participation within each study arm. Findings show that agencies with higher annual admissions and with specific service and client characteristics were more likely to agree to be randomized. Among those randomized, state location and management support for change as measured by the Organizational Change Manager influenced baseline participation. The presentation will further explore the influence of organizational characteristics on participation over the course of the study. One preliminary implication of these findings is that it may be difficult for smaller organizations to engage in organized quality improvement efforts. The importance of state-specific features in understanding firm behavior is consistent with the regulatory environments of substance abuse service delivery systems. The findings are consistent with the organizational behavior and systems change literature, but warrant future research on determinants of successful organizational change.