Impact of COVID-19 Outpatient Management, Quality Improvement and IPC Training Programs on Healthcare Workers and Patient Satisfaction in Ghana

Abstract Background The quality of healthcare in Ghana like many other countries has been described both anecdotally and empirically as suboptimal inspite of the many efforts. Unfortunately, many frontline healthcare leaders and providers do not also have the required knowledge, skills and competence to improve the quality-of-care outcomes. This study sought to build the capacity of health care leaders and frontline health care providers in quality improvement and COVID-19 case management. Methods The study was conducted in a secondary healthcare facility in Accra, Ghana. A paired t-test was used to evaluate the impact of phase two of the interventions on participants’ knowledge on person centered care and quality improvement (QI). The project had a 3-phased multi-pronged set of interventions deployed at the study site to attain the set objectives. Phase one of the project involved constituting a 7-member project technical committee while phase 2 involved the implementation of the project activities including the deployment of the web-based client experience system. In addition, there was the hospital-wide training of health care workers (HCWs) in person centered care; and training of the quality focal persons and the hospital’s Rapid Response Team (RRT). Phase 3 involved exploring mechanisms to ensure sustainability of the gains. Results Client satisfaction improved from 77% in December, 2022 to 88% (95% CI = 85.4% - 89.7%) by 31st December, 2023. Generally, there was a significant (P < .001) increase in knowledge with respect to all the knowledge assessments. Overall, there was an increase in knowledge from 32.62% (95%CI = 30.87 to 34.39) to 58.72% (95%CI = 56.62 to 60.81) and the difference was statistically significant (26.09%; 95%CI = 23.77 to 28.41). The main outcomes of the study were to improve client satisfaction and knowledge of healthcare providers in healthcare quality, people centered care (PCC), COVID-19 case management and infection prevention and control (IPC). Conclusion There was a significant increase in knowledge among all the participants in all the training and capacity building (people centered care; COVID-19 Case Management & IPC; and quality and patient safety) programs; and client satisfaction.