HIV Quality of Care Program Overview

The New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute is committed to promoting the quality of HIV clinical care and supportive services for people living with HIV/AIDS in New York State. The Quality of Care Program endeavors to:

• Accelerate measurable and continuous progress toward effective and consumer-centered HIV services, standards of care, and service delivery in alignment with the mission of the AIDS Institute, the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, and New York State Department of Health standards and guidelines for the care of people living with HIV/AIDS
• Facilitate improvement of HIV clinical care and supportive services to achieve positive health outcomes for people living with HIV/AIDS in New York State

To achieve these critical ends, the Quality of Care Program champions a quality management model that incorporates three core elements: continuous performance measurement; robust quality improvement activities; and quality management programs, which are defined as the structure, functions, and processes that support improvement activities. Through coaching, technical assistance, and the establishment of clinical indicators, the Quality of Care Program assists New York State HIV care providers in developing sustainable, independent quality management programs.

Current areas of focus for the Quality of Care Program include improving rates of viral load suppression, patient retention, and comprehensive mental health screenings, prioritizing health equity, and enhancing the use of clinical information systems to generate data to improve care. Refinement of measurement strategies to enhance clinical outcomes is also a major priority for the Quality of Care Program, as is ensuring the capacity of all New York State HIV programs to self-report their annual HIV performance data. To this end, The Quality of Care Program guides clinics through the process of creating clinic specific Organization HIV Treatment Cascades.

Quality Management

The capacity to continuously improve HIV treatment, care, and supportive services depends on a quality management infrastructure with the following features:

• Active support and guidance by clinical leadership and senior administration
• A written quality management plan
• Physician, clinical and non-clinical staff leadership and consumer involvement in the quality management program