title: Readiness to adopt a performance measurement system for substance abuse treatment: Findings from the Service Quality Measures initiative.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A performance measurement system - the Service Quality Measures (SQM) initiative - has been developed to monitor the quality of South Africa (SA)'s substance abuse treatment services. Identifying factors associated with readiness to adopt this system may inform strategies to facilitate its robust implementation.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine factors associated with readiness to adopt a performance measurement system among SA substance abuse treatment providers.
  
  
  METHODS
  We surveyed 81 treatment providers from 13 treatment sites in the Western Cape, SA. The survey examined awareness, resources, organisational climate, leadership support and readiness to adopt the SQM system. Regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with readiness to adopt this system.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Readiness to adopt the SQM initiative was high (M=5.64, standard deviation 1.63). In bivariate analyses, caseload size (F=3.73 (degrees of freedom (df)=3.70), p=0.015), awareness (r=0.78, p&lt;0.0001), leadership support (r=0.70, p&lt;0.0001), resources (r=0.65, p&lt;0.0001), openness to change (r=0.372, p=0.001), and external pressure to change were associated with readiness to adopt the SQM. In multivariate analyses, only awareness of the SQM initiative (B=0.34, standard error (SE) 0.08, t=4.4, p&lt;0.0001) and leadership support (B=0.45, SE 0.11, t=4.0, p&lt;0.0001) were significantly associated with readiness to adopt this system.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  While treatment providers report high levels of readiness to adopt the SQM system, findings show that the likelihood of adoption can be further increased through improved provider awareness and enhanced leadership support for this health innovation.
authors.affiliation: Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town; Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa. bmyers@mrc.ac.za.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Myers
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Petersen Williams
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Govender
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Manderscheid
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Koch