Book Description

"This document. is intended to help health departments funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) improve the quality of their HIV counseling, testing, and referral (CTR) data. In addition to providing definitions of the principles, models, and concepts relevant to improving the quality of CTR data, the document describes recommended quality assurance (QA) practices and provides sample tools and templates to facilitate the implementation of QA systems and procedures for processing CTR data. The document also includes recommendations to facilitate staff training, technical assistance, communication, and support to health department staff and service providers in processing CTR data. The goals of effective CTR monitoring and evaluation are to improve the planning and provision of CTR services and ultimately to decrease HIV morbidity and mortality. High-quality data are needed at the local, state, and national levels to effectively monitor and evaluate CTR service delivery. By providing the recommendations in this document, we intend to foster, among CTR program staff, a culture of high-quality data, including practices and policies that build organizational commitment, stakeholder involvement, and staff capacity. The development of the 2009 QA Standards was informed by (1) a comprehensive review of the literature on QA of data and the current CTR guidance; (2) a thorough review of current CTR data practices and interviews with CTR staff from three health departments that have a record of achieving high data quality; (3) a stakeholder consultation regarding the draft, with participation from CDC staff, health department CTR staff, and local service providers; and (4) an implementation pilot with three additional health departments." - p. 1