Evaluation of a quality-monitoring program for services provided by a Non-Governmental-Organization.

Objective. To evaluate the effect of a quality-monitoring program on the oc currence of sentinel events and on attitudes and behaviors of personnel's r esponses in a Non-Governmental-Organization (NGO). Material and methods. Be tween 1998 and 1999, a quasi-experimental design of the before-after type w as conducted in 13 NGO clinics. Analysis of changes in attitudes and behavi ors consisted in differences of means and analysis of variance between grou ps. Results. The number of sentinel events decreased from 32 events detecte d before the quality-monitoring program to only 2 after it. Attitudes and b ehaviors improved, with differences of means of + 1.1 and +1.2 (p<0.05), Co nclusions. The quality-monitoring program achieved the expected effects. It is noteworthy that attitudes and behaviors to prevent the occurrence of se ntinel events were more prevalent after the intervention.