Performance Improvement 2001. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)

01/01/2001

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MISSION: To improve the Nation’s health by assuring equitable access to comprehensive, culturally competent, quality health care for all.

Evaluation Program

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) supports a wide array of very different programs and activities that promote access to needed health care for all, including primary health care centers, the National Health Service Corps, HIV/AIDS programs, maternal and child health activities, health professions training, rural health programs, organ donation and transplantation initiatives, and telehealth activities. To provide underpinning for these efforts, HRSA’s evaluation program is designed to enhance strategic planning, strengthen budget and legislative development, and improve program performance.

HRSA’s evaluation priorities are in the following areas:

  • Performance Measurement and Information Systems–To improve information collection, reporting and use, this area includes assistance, training, and support to increase the agency’s capacity to respond to the requirements of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) and to enhance the data systems that are needed for effective program planning, management and evaluation.
  • Program Implementation and Management–To identify opportunities for improvement in HRSA-supported programs and strategies, this area includes studies that provide information useful in developing, implementing, and modifying program approaches and operations.
  • Program Effectiveness–To determine the outcomes of HRSA-supported programs, studies in this area assess the intermediate and longer-term results or impact of programs in achieving specified goals and objectives.
  • Environmental Assessment–To assess the impact of crosscutting issues on HRSA and its constituencies, this area of study addresses the ways in which major policy initiatives and/or other forces in HRSA’s external environment affect HRSA’s programs, clients, or progress toward achieving strategic goals and objectives.

HRSA also supports activities to enhance the quality of evaluation agency-wide, such as funding short courses in evaluation for staff and expanding agency staff’s access to technical assistance on the conceptualization, design and implementation of evaluation activities. The broad dissemination of evaluation products and results is also an area of emphasis.