DECEMBER 14, 2011
HS-STAR project organized a 2-day workshop in Tsaghkadzor, Armenia on December 10-11 to discuss with key stakeholders the actual issues of sustainability and institutionalization of healthcare quality improvement processes in Armenia.
More than 40 representatives involved and responsible for healthcare quality assurance processes in Armenian, including Deputy Health Minister, heads of the Ministry of Health Departments, marz Health and Social Security Departments (HSSDs) and marz Quality Improvement Boards (QIBs) participated in the workshop.
The goal of the workshop was to introduce, discuss and agree on the following actual issues for sustainability of quality of care processes in Armenia:
- Results of the Feedback Study to Assess Implementation of the Quality of Care Processes Introduced with Support from USAID PHCR and NOVA/NOVA 2 Projects.
- Draft regulation of clinical standardization in Armenia.
- Draft overarching framework of healthcare quality management in Armenia.
In his opening speech the Deputy Minister Alexander Ghukasyan thanked HS-STAR for productive collaboration. He stressed that the partnership with USAID has started during the PHCR program. Since that USAID projects provided huge support to the Armenian healthcare system. “Health quality is one of the most essential aspects of healthcare, and we hope to achieve some clarifications in our programs as a result of this workshop,”- emphasized Deputy Minister. HS-STAR Chief of Party Robert Hagan also stressed the importance of healthcare. “The quality of medical institutions services is essential for the safety of patients. Even in today’s world we often witness inadequate treatment and loss of lives,”- accentuated the COP,- “In this regard, our project offers its support to the Ministry of Health to minimize malfunctions in healthcare system.”
Tiffany Lillie, Monitoring & Evaluation consultant, presented the findings of the Rapid Feedback Study to assess implementation of the quality of care processes introduced with support of USAID PHCR and NOVA/NOVA 2 projects. Certain additional suggestions were made by group participants, and the overall agreement about the major recommendations for improving sustainability and institutionalization of quality of care processes introduced with support of the USAID projects was reached on the first day of the workshop. The second part of the first day was devoted to Clinical Standardization –-facilitated by Karen Avagyan, the head of MOH QM division. Following his presentation on draft regulation on Clinical Standardization, the participants expressed their concerns and discussed the challenges of the Clinical Standardization System establishment. Among other issues, the alternative options for establishment of the ‘home’ for clinical standardization and the need for the EBM center establishment/strengthening were also discussed.
The second day of the QI workshop was devoted to introduction and discussion of the draft Armenia Healthcare Quality Overarching Framework. The presentation was made about the fundamentals, major areas and functions of healthcare quality management along with the involved stakeholders’ roles and responsibilities. The presentation was followed by the group discussion where the participants used the opportunity to express their concerns about various aspects of quality improvement at different levels of healthcare system, and to share their views about what needs to be done in order to make the quality management processes more effective and efficient.
HS-STAR staff will take all recommendations, considerations and suggestions into account in further elaboration of the Healthcare Quality Overarching Framework and establishment of the Clinical Standardization System, and will keep on supporting the Ministry of Health in detecting, preparing and implementing necessary activities to improve the quality of care in the Armenian health system.
QoC Feedback Study_PHCR NOVA_Final Report_11-2011
