A female doctor examines a woman patient at a mobile health clinic in Pakistan
caption A female doctor examines a woman patient at a mobile health clinic in Pakistan. Image: DFID/Russell Watkins (CC BY 2.0)

Quality in Universal Health Care

The aim of the Quality in Universal Health Care Thematic Working Group (TWG) is to create a global community of health consumers, practitioners, policymakers, payers and researchers who share a common interest in promoting quality of health and health care as a key contributor to the goals of universal health care.

This TWG is a ‘one-stop shop’ for all events, activities and resources related to quality in healthcare to support researchers and implementers to access the latest cutting-edge research and innovations in health systems improvement.

Objectives

  • Develop and research quality infrastructure and activities to translate policy into effective large-scale programming.
  • Provide structured opportunities for the creation, research and dissemination of knowledge in the design, implementation, scale-up, measurement and evaluation of quality of health and health care.
  • Provide access to open source materials and specific opportunities for capacitation of the work force to research and implement quality in health and health care.

Activities

News and views

News and views

Access the latest blog posts and news items from the Quality in Universal Health Care TWG.

Read more

Facilitators

Lisa Hirschhorn

Lisa Hirschhorn

Co-Chair

M. Rashad Massoud

M. Rashad Massoud

Co-Chair

Jannah Wigle

Jannah Wigle

Coordinator

Lisa Hirschhorn

Lisa Hirschhorn

Co-Chair

Dr Lisa Hirschhorn MD, MPH is Professor of Medical Social Sciences and Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Northwestern University Feinberg Medical School. Dr Hirschhorn started her career as Director of HIV Services at Dimock Community Health Center in Roxbury and Senior Clinical Advisor for HIV at JSI Research and Training, moving to become Director of Monitoring, Evaluation and Quality for Partners in Health and, most recently, Director of Implementation and Improvement Science at Ariadne Labs. Trained in primary care, infectious disease and public health, she is a leader in implementation and improvement science focused on evaluating and spreading effective approaches to improve the quality, equity and delivery of services in the USA and low and middle-income countries (LMICs). She is deeply involved in capacity building in the fields of quality improvement, implementation science and monitoring and evaluation.

M. Rashad Massoud

M. Rashad Massoud

Co-Chair

Dr Massoud is a physician executive and public health specialist internationally recognized for his leadership in global health care improvement. He is Chief Medical and Quality Officer/ Senior Vice President for University Research Co. LLC, heading its Quality and Performance Institute. He directs the USAID Applying Science to Strengthen and Improve Systems (ASSIST) project, which is operating simultaneously in 30 countries applying improvement science to deliver better results in global health priority areas. In previous work, he was Senior Vice President at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) in Cambridge, MA. In voluntary capacities he is the President-Elect for the Alumni Association of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He is a member of the Palestinian Health Policy Forum. In July 2016, he chaired the Salzburg Global Seminar: 'How do We Learn about Improving Health Care'.

Jannah Wigle

Jannah Wigle

Coordinator

Jannah Wigle is a PhD Candidate at the University of Toronto, Canada, completing her doctorate in Social and Behavioral Health Sciences, and the collaborative program in global health. Her research is exploring youth participation in reproductive health policymaking in Malawi. Jannah has worked in the design, implementation and evaluation of reproductive, maternal and newborn health programs that focus on improving quality of care and strengthening health systems in sub-Saharan Africa and other LMICs.

Publications and resources

Quality Improvement Resources

USAID Assist Project

Twenty five essential quality improvement (QI) resources from the USAID ASSIST Project.

This supplement demonstrates the implications of poor medicine access and highlights recent innovations to improve access to essential medicines by presenting new research findings from LMICs.

This review uses a policy transfer theoretical framework to present a structured analysis of the development of hospital accreditation in LMICs.

The study assesses the effects of medicine availability and stock-outs on health care utilization in Dodoma region, Tanzania.

This narrative systematic review, undertaken in 2018, sought to identify all peer-reviewed publications dealing with concepts relating to universal health coverage through a political economy framing.

'Accelerating Universal Health Coverage'

Bulletin of the World Health Organization Bulletin, Volume 98

The special theme of this issue of the journal is universal health coverage, linked to the Prince Mahidol Award Conference in Bangkok, Thailand.