About the MAQ Initiative
Subcommittees
Management and Supervision (M & S) Subcommittee
Co-Chairs: Lynn Bakamjian (EngenderHealth)
Wayne Stinson (MSH)
Diana Silimperi (URC)
Thada Bornstein (URC)
The goal of the M & S Subcommittee is to identify and assess formal performance management mechanisms for identifying and solving problems, especially at the FP/RH provider level.
Outputs:
- Served as the inspiration and impetus (through the organization of an initial meeting, and then in an advisory capacity) for the Population Reports issue on Family Planning Programs: Improving Quality (Series J, Number 47, November 1998).
- Produced a paper in the MAQ Series: Managing Programs to Maximize Access and Quality: Lessons Learned from Field Programs (MAQ Paper Series, Vol. 1 No. 3, 2000). This paper was based on a series of sub-committee meetings and input from CA's to identify lessons in developing quality improvement programs in family planning/reproductive health and primary health service delivery programs.
- Produced a slide set on Management and Supervision for the MAQ Exchange, based on the sub-committee discussions and an electronic forum managed by the M&S committee (with technology assistance from MSH) on Supervision.
- Produced a "white paper" on supervision best practices. This paper is in final production and is based on a series of sub-committee meetings held during the past two years. The paper entitled, Making Supervision Supportive and Sustainable: New Approaches to Old Problems, documents the field experiences of various efforts to test ways to improve provider performance through supervision.
- Conducted a meeting on Knowledge Management, September 6, 2002, to identify CA practices on knowledge sharing and management and to identify factors that enhance and hinder these efforts. This meeting served as the launch of a task force to produce a paper on best practices. Although this won't be the domain of the M&S sub-committee going forward (to be led by Ward Rinehart, CCP), select members of the M&S committee will actively participate in this effort.
Activities to come:
- With the completion of a paper on supervision, the M&S Committee is considering leadership as its next area of focus.
See also Leading Changes in Practices to Improve Health, Volume 13, No. 3 of The Manager, MSH's management quarterly. This issue explores ways health managers can lead a five-phase process to make significant changes in clinical and management practices, even without strategic or structural interventions from higher organizational levels. The accompanying case scenario may be used for staff development and training.
Meeting Minutes:
