The Global Health and Development Group at Imperial College, London (GHD, formerly NICE International) sent representatives to the “National and International Healthcare Quality Forum / Second Latin American Forum on Healthcare Quality and Safety” held in Mexico City, October 26-28, 2016.

Francis Ruiz of GHD, along with Professor Stephen Campbell of the University of Manchester, and Professor Daniel Keenan (Chair, NICE Indicator Advisory Committee), participated in a panel session focused on “Developing Evidence Based Indicators to Drive Quality in Healthcare”. Professors Campbell and Keenan discussed quality improvement initiatives within the UK NHS including the role of NICE and the impact of the Quality and Outcomes Framework in primary care. Francis Ruiz ended the panel session by describing the recent Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID)-funded project, led by GDD, to support national quality indicator development in Mexico. The focus of this project was on developing a sustainable and robust methodology for indicator development, which will ultimately be led by the General Directorate of Quality and Health Education of the Secretaría de Salud, in collaboration with relevant government and public bodies. It began with a situational analysis of the existing system, including an assessment of the current availability of data to support the development of contextually relevant and viable quality indicators. The project culminated with the production of a manual for the development of a core set of national level quality indicators, setting out the processes and methods to be followed and the responsibilities of different institutions in supporting the creation of evidence-based indicators. Francis Ruiz concluded his presentation by noting that the capacity for robust quality improvement initiatives in Mexico already exists; the bigger challenge relates to overcoming system fragmentation and the associated tendency to duplicative and inefficient activities. The government of Mexico is committed to strengthening their existing quality indicator and monitoring system; it is hoped that this work and the manual produced by the GHD team for the Secretaría de Salud will support its ambition to create evidence-informed indicators within the context of a transparent and deliberative decision-making process.

The presentation delivered by Francis Ruiz is available here.