141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

283992
: Leveraging family planning data at the regional and grantee level to support performance improvement

Wednesday, November 6, 2013 : 9:30 AM - 9:50 AM

Kathleen Desilets, BA, Graduate Certificate in Public Health , DHHS/OASH/Region I Family Planning, Boston, MA
Abstract: In New England, Region 1 Title X family planning providers have collected and analyzed client and encounter-level data describing the users of family planning clinics and the services they receive for over 20 years. This presentation will demonstrate the power of encounter-level data and how it is used in Region 1 to measure and monitor performance and to inform quality assurance and program planning efforts. A set of variables from each clinic encounter is compiled into a centralized regional system overseen by a collaborative data committee composed of representatives from each grantee. The data gathered is used to fulfill national reporting requirements, but it also enables grantees and federal staff assigned to Region 1 to monitor trends in real time by producing customized reports detailing a specific aspect of Title X service delivery, such as the demographic characteristics of the population groups served, the clinical services provided, and the patterns in contraceptive use. Grantees are able to monitor the performance of their subcontractors at the clinic level, while federal program monitors use the data to measure efficiency, identify gaps in delivery, and compare performance across the Region. Examples will include an examination of trends in Chlamydia screening rates and contraceptive methods (LARC) over time. Sharing such data among providers at the regional or grantee level leads to the identification of strong performers and the sharing of techniques to enhance service delivery across the Region.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Program planning
Provision of health care to the public

Learning Objectives:
Demonstrate the use of a regional data system to monitor performance within a system of family planning providers and the use of data sharing to inform improved performance Describe the use of client and encounter-level data to explore variations in performance with regard to LARC provision and Chlamydia screening and to inform quality improvement discussion. This abstract is part of the pre-arranged panel submission entitled "The Changing Landscape In Family Planning: Standards of Care, Surveillance, and Performance Improvement"

Keywords: Reproductive Health, Quality Assurance

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have worked in the family planning program for over 20 years, starting at a community service sites, moving to being the manager of the State of NH program which had 11 subgrantees and over 50 sites, to working in the federal program at the Regional Level. During over half of that time, I have been a member of the Region I data committee which oversees the operation of a regional data system.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.