National performance measures within a changing environment: how a federal agency developed and improved the measurement for HIV care and treatment.

The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must ensure that access to high quality care is provided through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWP). The RWP is committed to improving the quality of care and services to reduce mortality and improve quality of life for people living with HIV. This commitment is evidenced by the comprehensive range of efforts taken by the HHS, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) to address the quality of care, treatment and other services across all programs funded by the RWP. To assure high quality care, HRSA/HAB engages in many quality initiatives, with the development of performance measures as a central core of its overall activities. The HRSA/HAB defined a solid foundation for the measures development process, which has been refined over time, facilitating the timely release and use of performance measures by the HIV service provider community.