Factors Affecting the Implementation of Continuous Quality Improvement in Health Facilities in Southern Nation and Nationalities Peoples Region (SNNPR), Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Continuous quality improvement (CQI) has become an important aspect of healthcare organizations. The objective of this study was to identify contributing factors for implementing continuous quality improvement projects in health facilities for the better delivery of healthcare service in the region of South Nation and Nationalities Peoples Region (SNNPR), Ethiopia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from April to May 2018 in health facilities within two districts (woredas) located in SNNPR. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate analyses were used. During the analysis, a P-value less than 0.05 and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to assess the significance of the associations. RESULTS: A total of 144 health professionals participated in the study. The majority of the respondents (75%) were male and 35% reported that their respective health facilities have implemented continuous quality improvement projects. More than half of the leaders (51.4%) were not receptive to new ideas and the majority of leaders were not encouraging learning (62.5%) or engaged in the quality improvement project implementation process (66%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that 84% of the health facilities were implementing a continuous quality improvement project (AOR=0.138 (0.029−0.652)). Similarly, client satisfaction was 90% (AOR=0.101 (0.019−0.522)) and the percentage of staff who believe that the quality improvement project contributed to the improvement of work at their respective health facility was 80% (AOR=0.181 (0.047−0.696)). CONCLUSION: The following variables, “Leaders receptiveness to new ideas”, “Leaders share information/data about health facility service delivery status”, “Health facility has a quality improvement project plan”, “Staff know using indicators to tell progress about service delivery”, and “Health facility assess client satisfaction level” were found to be independent predictors of continuous quality improvement (CQI) project implementation.