Lessons Learned Notes on Quality Assurance
For most community-based agencies the purpose of investing time, money and energy into program evaluation is not to conduct scientific investigations, or to address macro level or policy questions, but to ensure the highest quality service to their own clients, in other words, quality assurance (QA)…
For most community-based agencies the purpose of investing time, money and energy into program evaluation is not to conduct scientific investigations, or to address macro level or policy questions, but to ensure the highest quality service to their own clients, in other words, quality assurance (QA).
For the most part, QA is synonymous with terms such as Total Quality Management (TQM), Quality Management (QM), Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI), and Quality Control (QC).
Essentially, quality assurance is a four-step process that can address BOTH program delivery and program impact questions:
Once quality assurance (QA) is integrated into a program’s operating routine, positive feedback loop is established that helps everyone involved in the program learn continuously about what is working, and what needs improvement.
- Step 1: Choose program performance indicators (aspects of program delivery and impact that are important to measure)
- Step 2: Set performance targets (also called benchmarks) for each of these indicators
- Step 3: Monitor program performance to see if it meets these targets
- Step 4: Make any necessary adjustments in program delivery based on that feedback and, if necessary, review performance targets.
