The National HIV/AIDS Strategy focuses on important public health outcomes to be achieved by 2025, including reducing new HIV infections, increasing access to care, improving health outcomes for people with HIV, reducing HIV-related health disparities, and achieving a more coordinated national response. The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP), administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s HIV/AIDS Bureau, is the largest federal program focusing exclusively on HIV/AIDS care, serving more than half of all persons diagnosed with HIV in the U.S. RWHAP recipients are under increasing pressure to respond to these national priorities and implement clinical quality management programs that demonstrate improved outcomes. The purpose of this cooperative agreement is to promote the adoption and implementation of quality improvement methodologies, tools, and techniques by RWHAP Part A through Part D recipients and subrecipients, as required by the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009. The New York State Department of Health proposes to build on its work to date and continue the expansion of the following programmatic areas: a) provide innovative quality improvement trainings to RWHAP recipients through a range of innovative training modalities responsive to the changing needs of RWHAP providers and clients; b) provide targeted and time-limited technical assistance; c) establish national quality improvement learning collaboratives that address key priorities to end the HIV epidemic, including a focus on those individuals diagnosed with HIV who have never been in HIV care; and d) effectively disseminate quality improvement resources to RWHAP providers. The goal of the Center for Quality Improvement & Innovation (CQII), formerly known as the National Quality Center (NQC), is to support the implementation of quality improvement principles, methodologies, and tools. This proposal is submitted in collaboration with Universi
ty of California San Francisco (UCSF), nationally at the forefront of providing rigorous HIV research; National Alliance of State & Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD) representing public health officials; Northwestern University, a leader in multidisciplinary health outcomes management; Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), a national improvement leader to advance better outcomes in health care across the world; University of New Mexico – Project ECHO, an innovative distance-coaching platform that promotes team-based interdisciplinary professional development; and AIDS Education and Training Center National Coordinating Resource Center (AETC NCRC). Building upon already strong institutional ties with the RWHAP community and its demonstrated ability to establish national coalitions to improve HIV care, CQII is perfectly situated to further advance quality improvement knowledge and skills among HIV providers, having served as the incumbent of the current cooperative agreement for the past 20 years. The combined complementary experiences of all partners bring state-of-the-art expertise to building capacity and improving the effectiveness of clinical quality management of RWHAP recipients and subrecipients in order to improve patient care, health outcomes, and patient satisfaction for people with HIV across the U.S.