Development of an NCD Clinic Plus Evaluation Model to Support Prevention and Care of Non-Communicable Diseases in Health Care Facilities in Thailand

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to develop an evaluation model for the prevention and care of non-communicable diseases (NCD), and to assess the applicability of the model to improve the management the NCD programs at health facilities in Thailand. Data were collected from 896 hospitals which included all regional, general and community hospitals throughout Thailand during the 12-month period from October 2016 to September 2017; and were analyzed by using Pearson correlation coefficient. There were 2 sets of variables collected in the study: (A) the 6 elements of chronic care model (CCM): (1) formation of committed to set policies and strategies, (2) information system, (3) service management arrangement, (4) self-care promotion, (5) decision making support, and (6) connecting services to the communities; and (B) the 15 indicators used for the TCEN (Toward Clinical Excellence Network) availbale in the national Health Data Center database. It was found that there was a positive coorelation between the 6 elements of the CCM and the outcome indicators (r=0.89; p<0.05). The CCM elements and the 15 outcome indicators were also correlated with the quality of NCD clinic plus, with the correlation coefficient of 0.51 and 0.82, respectively. It could be concluded that the eveluation model was suitable for the quality assessment amd monitoring of the NCD program in Thailand. Implementation of the model together with continued improvement are recommended in order to attain the high quality of NCD prevention and care in the country.