The Development of Pathum Thani’s Quality Management Model for Causes-of-Death Data

Abstract

     This action research aimed to study the development of Pathum Thani’s quality management model for cause-of-death data. A sample of 100 participants in this research was specifically selected from information system administrators at general hospitals, community hospitals and district public health offices, as well as those involved in data collection and recording at sub-district health promoting hospitals, public health centers, Ob-Oon clinics and the Pathum Thani Provincial Health Office. Quantitative data were collected using questionnaire, while qualitative data were obtained through observation logs and summary of the activities carried out during the period from January 2016 to May 2018, a total of 2 years and 5 months. Activities for the development included articipatory planning meetings, competency development, monitoring, evaluation, knowledge sharing and retrieval of data. Statistics used include percentage, mean and
standard deviation, whereas the content analysistechnique was utilized for qualitative data.The results of this research are as follows.
     1. In terms of characteristics, the majority of participants were female aged between 20 and 29 years (59.00%), single (60.00%), graduated with a bachelor’s degree (89.00%), hold the position of public health technical officer (58.00%), had 6-10 years of experience handling cause-of-death data (35.00%), have been assigned the responsibility to manage cause-of-death data (100.00%), had been monitored/followed up on cause-of-death data (85.00%), and had attended training courses or acknowledged clarification on cause-ofdeath data (78.00%).
     2. Pathum Thani’s quality management model for cause-of-death data comprises three elements, including 1) Input: Preparation(study context, problems), 2) Process: Implementation(set up a committee, run participatory meetings, formulate plans), and 3) Output:human resources development, monitoring, retrieval of data. The development of this process has resulted in a model for cause-of-death records called Pathum Model’ 60 which helps equip those involved in quality management of cause-of-death data with greater knowledge and significantly improves data quality in terms of accuracy, completeness

and timeliness. As a result, unknown causes of death decreased from 46.08 to 7.93% which pass the criteria for data quality determined not to exceed 25.0%.
     In conclusion, the development of quality management model for cause-of-death data through participatory planning, competency development, monitoring, evaluation, knowledge sharing and retrieval of data has resulted in increased efficiency. Therefore, it is recommended that the quality management model should be further applied to other data sets.