TY - JOUR AU - Hedt-Gauthier, Bethany L. AU - Tenthani, Lyson AU - Mitchell, Shira AU - Chimbwandira, Frank M. AU - Makombe, Simon AU - Chirwa, Zengani AU - Schouten, Erik J. AU - Pagano, Marcello AU - Jahn, Andreas PY - 2012 DA - 2012/07/09 TI - Improving data quality and supervision of antiretroviral therapy sites in Malawi: an application of Lot Quality Assurance Sampling JO - BMC Health Services Research SP - 196 VL - 12 IS - 1 AB - High quality program data is critical for managing, monitoring, and evaluating national HIV treatment programs. By 2009, the Malawi Ministry of Health had initiated more than 270,000 patients on HIV treatment at 377 sites. Quarterly supervision of these antiretroviral therapy (ART) sites ensures high quality care, but the time currently dedicated to exhaustive record review and data cleaning detracts from other critical components. The exhaustive record review is unlikely to be sustainable long term because of the resources required and increasing number of patients on ART. This study quantifies the current levels of data quality and evaluates Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS) as a tool to prioritize sites with low data quality, thus lowering costs while maintaining sufficient quality for program monitoring and patient care. SN - 1472-6963 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-12-196 DO - 10.1186/1472-6963-12-196 ID - Hedt-Gauthier2012 ER -