South Carolina had high Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) rates among its residents and long clinic wait-times for the affected population to receive STD treatment. To solve these problems, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control staff participated in a quality improvement (QI) training with PHF QI expert Grace Duffy and used QI tools and techniques to help create a new service delivery method in which an asymptomatic person could bypass a full appointment and simply be tested for a STD. Not only did this increase patient satisfaction and create more patient treatment appointments, it also increased employee morale.

 

 

Watch the video below to learn how South Carolina began its QI journey and experienced immediate positive results. To learn more, view the video about how this QI project led to a department-wide culture shift.