We work with our clients to put in place the essential support structures, policies, resources, and the human and technical capacity needed to conduct research, improve service delivery and achieve health outcomes.
- Disease Management Information System
- Clinical and Operations Research
- Health Systems Assessments
- Service Delivery Systems
Disease Management Information System
MDA’s partner Disease Management Services has developed core technology to support a comprehensive internet-based system for disease management and health information. This system is specially configured to function in urban and rural areas with unsophisticated medical infrastructure and limited supply of trained health workers. It supports adherence to national clinical guidelines, measures quality of care, and tracks clinical outcomes of AIDS patients, assisting clinicians at the point of care. It maps individual patient clinical data elements (including patient demographic data, medical history including current co-morbidities, laboratory information, medications, etc.) to action items derived from clinical guidelines. The added value of the disease management and health information is not in the aggregate clinic-level indicators, but rather in supporting quality of care goals for AIDS patients at the service delivery sites where it is deployed.
The disease management and health information expertise and proprietary methodologies can be customized to existing disease management systems and facilitate a transition to an electronic, rather than paper based system. The introduction of computer hardware and data management software packages facilitates: monitoring of service delivery points to track adherence to clinical and operational protocols, and patient outcomes; linking of databases across disease programs, patients and service provision sites; and, data triangulation and in-depth analysis of outcomes from integration of treatment and prevention.
Clinical and Operations Research
Due to the shortage of qualified clinical trial sites and the high demand for personnel for management of clinical trials, MDA established a program to address opportunities for emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. MDA has created a platform to train professionals specializing in clinical research and clinical trials to enhance clinical research capacity in eastern and southern Africa. Our partners are based in South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe. We collaborate with a broad range of clinical research teams, including single-site and multi-center Phase 3, and Phase 4 clinical trials sites. MDA also develops training programs in operations research for health managers, clinicians, and nurses to improve service delivery.
MDA conducts highly structured assessments to ensure consistency in application and results. Our assessments have included evaluating appropriateness of current and proposed services to the needs and context of target populations, and feasibility of improving quality, efficiency and expanding access to underserved groups. MDA plays close attention to crosscutting issues such as gender, equity, accessibility and integration of services.
MDA designs and manages the implementation of integrated, comprehensive and cost-effective service delivery systems that expand access to quality services and products (i.e. Reproductive health, TB/HIV, Male Circumcision and condoms). Our service delivery plan is developed based on an analysis of quality and performance in service delivery that encompasses provider services, access, uptake, and supporting regulatory framework.