Adapting Improvement Collaborative Methodology to Developing Country Settings

Challenge
Using a model developed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement for application in the health care systems of industrialized countries, URC adapts the improvement collaborative approach to developing country settings. The improvement collaborative is a methodology which involves improvement teams from different clinics, hospitals, and other levels of the health system working together on common aims to improve particular aspects of the system. They share their experiences as they test changes for improvement and then apply the successful changes on a wider scale.

Results

• Since 1998, URC implemented over 80 improvement collaboratives with USAID support to address a wide variety of health issues in developing countries
• In 2009, URC did a study reviewing data from more than 1300 teams that participated in 27 collaboratives from 1998–2008. Researchers analyzed 135 measures of provider performance and patient outcomes related to services for maternal, newborn, and child health, HIV/AIDS, family planning, malaria and tuberculosis
• The collaboratives studied achieved performance levels of 80% or higher, regardless of baseline levels, for 88% of the measures studied, and performance levels of 90% or higher, regardless of baseline levels for 76% of the measures studied.