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Marilyn R. Lewis, MA, LCPC
Director of Quality Assurance, Life Crisis Services,
St. Louis, Missouri
Quality Assurance (QA) is not new to Crisis Centers. Of course, we have had many different names for our QA efforts. Program Evaluation, Crisis Worker Screenings, Satisfaction Surveys, Count-of-Calls-Per-Month Reports- just to name a few. These processes are sometimes done in conjunction with others, and sometimes, they are isolated events. Sometimes, they are a routine part of our program management, and sometimes, they are reserved for the sole purpose of elucidating problems.
QA efforts leap to an entirely new level, when they are borne from a sound, underlying theory or philosophy of quality. Processes like the ones mentioned above are methods that, combined, contribute to a more comprehensive approach to Quality Assurance. QA is "all the planned and systematic activities implemented within the quality system that can be demonstrated to provide confidence that a product or service will fulfill requirements for quality. "(Source: American Society for Quality) Quality Control (QC) is not the same as QA. Which more accurately reflects the activities of your crisis center?
There is a three-pronged approach to managing for quality. And, there are seven tools of quality that help crisis centers understand their processes in order to improve them. One tool is a 3-step process that will enable any crisis center to collect, document and distribute data regarding their present programming status. Another empowers those centers to make informed decisions about its goals and objectives for program growth and the continued provision of quality services. There are time-conserving, labor restrictive methods available to Crisis Centers, regardless of your available staff time to commit to QA efforts, budgetary limits or data collection capabilities.
Once you have a guiding QA philosophy to under gird your activities and you are maximizing your use of the appropriate tools necessary to collect and analyze the data, you will need to determine suitable reports to generate for your audience(s). Who is your audience? The answer to that question will greatly impact your reporting.
Implementation is the final hurdle. How will the QA results that may be generated from program or treatment evaluations or satisfaction surveys or utilization reviews be used in the management of your Crisis Centers programs and services? A comprehensive approach to Quality Assurance in Crisis Centers can seamlessly and effectively link the necessary activities for your agency to develop, manage and evaluate the services and programs that individuals, families and other agencies rely on you to provide, day after day.