Understanding and enhancing approaches to quality improvement in small and medium sized private facilities in sub-Saharan Africa

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The private sector is a major and growing source of treatment in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), but there is considerable concern about the safety and quality of care. Recent years have seen fast growth in small and medium sized private clinics, but their regulation is often poor, and relatively little is known about the effectiveness of interventions to improve the quality of care they provide. This project aims to address this evidence gap. The research takes place in the context of an innovative intervention developed by the international NGO PharmAccess that extends the benefits of clinical standards and stepwise certification to small and medium-sized facilities in LMIC, using standards developed with international accreditation bodies. The PharmAccess model seeks to improve the quality of care that facilities provide as well as to shape the broader healthcare and finance markets and policy environment. There are several components to the model. Health facilities are assessed on a set of "SafeCare" structural quality standards, trained on quality improvement and business skills, and assisted in the development of a quality and business improvement plan. They receive regular mentoring visits and are also connected with the PharmAccess Medical Credit Fund, a social investment fund which facilitates access to bank loans to finance implementation of the plan. The aim is to create a series of virtuous circles, with improvements in SafeCare assessment scores signalling improved quality of care to individual and institutional purchasers, thus increasing demand for health services; and improved business performance ensuring further access to credit, and the sustainability of quality gains.The research will begin with an analysis of secondary data collected routinely by PharmAccess in Tanzania and Kenya to date to examine changes in the SafeCare assessment scores over time and factors associated with these changes. We will then undertake a randomised controlled trial to evaluate prospectively the impact on quality of care of the roll out of the PharmAccess model to additional private for-profit and faith-based facilities in Tanzania. The trial will assess the effects of the intervention on the quality of care received by patients through comparison of 120 intervention and 120 control facilities after 2 years of implementation. These data will also be used to assess the relationship between SafeCare assessment scores (which measure availability of inputs such as infrastructure, technology and standard operating procedures) and measures of technical and perceived quality of patient care (which concern the interaction between caregivers and patients). Technical quality will be measured through standardised patients (covert actors) and clinical vignettes (overt role-playing), with perceived quality measured through patient interviews. In addition, in-depth interviews will be conducted in 30 intervention facilities and with 8 implementing staff in Tanzania to assess the perceived benefits and costs of participating in the PharmAccess model, and factors affecting quality improvement and business performance. Finally, 30 national level key informants will be interviewed to explore how the PharmAccess model shapes the market for healthcare and healthcare finance, and the policy environment in both Tanzania and Kenya.The results are expected to make an important contribution to the evidence base on improving private sector care and to the literature on measuring process quality of patient care. The findings will be of substantial benefit to national and international policy makers and programme managers who are interested in private sector healthcare and health systems strengthening more generally, with important implications for all organisations within the health system that require adherence to quality standards (eg, social health insurance programmes, social franchising programmes, regulatory agencies)