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Nephrologist-Facilitated Advance Care Planning for Hemodialysis Patients: A Quality Improvement Project.

ABSTRACT: The Renal Physicians Association's clinical practice guideline recommends that physicians address advance care planning with dialysis patients. However, data are lacking about how best to implement this recommendation.Quality improvement project.Nephrologists caring for patients treated with maintenance hemodialysis at 2 dialysis facilities identified patients who might benefit most from advance care planning using the "surprise" question ("Would I be surprised if this patient died in the next year?").Patients identified with a "no" response to the surprise question were invited to participate in nephrologist-facilitated advance care planning, including completion of a Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST) form.Change in MOLST completion rate and identification of preferences for limits on life-sustaining treatment.Pre- and postintervention code status, MOLST completion rate, and vital status at 1 year.Nephrologists answered "no" to the surprise question for 50 of 201 (25%) hemodialysis patients. Of these, 41 (82%) patients had a full-code status and 9 (18%) had a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) status. Encounters lasted 15 to 60 minutes. Following the encounter, 21 (42%) patients expressed preference for a DNR status and 29 (58%) maintained full-code status (P=0.001). The MOLST completion rate increased from 10% to 90%. One-year survival for patients whose nephrologists answered "no" to the surprise question was 58% compared to 92% for those with a "yes" answer (P<0.001).Sample size and possible nonrepresentative dialysis population.Nephrologist-facilitated advance care planning targeting hemodialysis patients with limited life expectancy led to significant changes in documented patient preferences for cardiopulmonary resuscitation and limits on life-sustaining treatment. These changes demonstrate the benefit of advance care planning with dialysis patients and likely reflect better understanding of end-of-life treatment options.

SUBMITTER: Amro OW

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4921274 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Nephrologist-Facilitated Advance Care Planning for Hemodialysis Patients: A Quality Improvement Project.

Amro Osama W OW Ramasamy Malar M Strom James A JA Weiner Daniel E DE Jaber Bertrand L BL

American journal of kidney diseases : the official journal of the National Kidney Foundation 20160122 1

<h4>Background</h4>The Renal Physicians Association's clinical practice guideline recommends that physicians address advance care planning with dialysis patients. However, data are lacking about how best to implement this recommendation.<h4>Study design</h4>Quality improvement project.<h4>Settings & participants</h4>Nephrologists caring for patients treated with maintenance hemodialysis at 2 dialysis facilities identified patients who might benefit most from advance care planning using the "surp ...[more]

PMID: 26806003

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Project description:BackgroundAdvance care planning (ACP) conversations are associated with improved end-of-life healthcare outcomes and patients want to engage in ACP with their healthcare providers. Despite this, ACP conversations rarely occur in primary care settings. The objective of this study was to implement ACP through adapted Serious Illness Care Program (SICP) training sessions, and to understand primary care provider (PCP) perceptions of implementing ACP into practice.MethodsWe conducted a quality improvement project guided by the Normalization Process Theory (NPT), in an interprofessional academic family medicine group in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. NPT is an explanatory model that delineates the processes by which organizations implement and integrate new work. PCPs (physicians, family medicine residents, and allied health care providers), completed pre- and post-SICP self-assessments evaluating training effectiveness, a survey evaluating program implementability and sustainability, and semi-structured qualitative interviews to elaborate on barriers, facilitators, and suggestions for successful implementation. Descriptive statistics and pre-post differences (Wilcoxon Sign-Rank test) were used to analyze surveys and thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative interviews.Results30 PCPs participated in SICP training and completed self-assessments, 14 completed NoMAD surveys, and 7 were interviewed. There were reported improvements in ACP confidence and skills. NoMAD surveys reported mixed opinions towards ACP implementation, specifically concerning colleagues' abilities to conduct ACP and patients' abilities to participate in ACP. Physicians discussed busy clinical schedules, lack of patient preparedness, and continued discomfort or lack of confidence in having ACP conversations. Allied health professionals discussed difficulty sharing patient prognosis and identification of appropriate patients as barriers.ConclusionsTraining in ACP conversations improved PCPs' individual perceived abilities, but discomfort and other barriers were identified. Future iterations will require a more systematic process to support the implementation of ACP into regular practice, in addition to addressing knowledge and skill gaps.

Project description:BackgroundPatients undergoing hemodialysis have a high mortality rate and yet underutilize palliative care and hospice resources. The Shared Decision Making-Renal Supportive Care (SDM-RSC) intervention focused on goals of care conversations between patients and family members with the nephrologist and social worker. The intervention targeted deficiencies in communication, estimating prognosis, and transition planning for seriously ill dialysis patients. The intervention showed capacity to increase substantially completion of advance care directives. The HIGHway Project, adapted from the previous SDM-RSC, scale up training social workers or nurses in dialysis center in advance care planning (ACP), and then support them for a subsequent 9-month action period, to engage in ACP conversations with patients at their dialysis center regarding their preferences for end-of-life care.MethodsWe will train between 50-60 dialysis teams, led by social workers or nurses, to engage in ACP conversations with patients at their dialysis center regarding their preferences for end-of-life care. This implementation project uses the Knowledge to Action (KTA) Framework within the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) to increase adoption and sustainability in the participating dialysis centers. This includes a curriculum about how to hold ACP conversation and coaching with monthly teleconferences through case discussion and mentoring. An application software will guide on the process and provide resources for holding ACP conversations. Our project will focus on implementation outcomes. Success will be determined by adoption and effective use of the ACP approach. Patient and provider outcomes will be measured by the number of ACP conversations held and documented; the quality and fidelity of ACP conversations to the HIGHway process as taught during education sessions; impact on knowledge and skills; content, relevance, and significance of ACP intervention for patients, and Supportive Kidney Care (SKC) App usage. Currently HIGHway is in the recruitment stage.DiscussionEffective changes to advance care planning processes in dialysis centers can lead to institutional policy and protocol changes, providing a model for patients receiving dialysis treatment in the US. The result will be a widespread improvement in advance care planning, thereby remedying one of the current barriers to patient-centered, goal-concordant care for dialysis patients.Trial registrationThe George Washington University Protocol Record NCR213481, Honoring Individual Goals and Hopes: Implementing Advance Care Planning for Persons with Kidney Disease on Dialysis, is registered in ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05324878 on April 11th, 2022.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) on hemodialysis have limited life expectancy, yet their palliative care needs often go unmet. The aim of this study was to identify barriers and facilitators for implementation of "Shared Decision Making and Renal Supportive Care" (SDM-RSC), an intervention to improve advance care planning (ACP) for patients with ESKD on hemodialysis. METHODS:The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) was the organizing framework for this study. CFIR is a theory-based implementation framework consisting of five domains (Intervention Characteristics, Inner Setting, Outer Setting, Characteristics of Individuals, and Process), each of which has associated constructs. Potential barriers and facilitators to implementation of the SDM-RSC intervention were identified through observation of study procedures, surveys of social workers nephrologists, study participants, and family members, and assessment of intervention fidelity. RESULTS:Twenty-nine nephrologists and 24 social workers, representing 18 outpatient dialysis units in Massachusetts (n?=?10) and New Mexico (n?=?8), were trained to conduct SDM-RSC intervention sessions. A total of 102 of 125 patient enrolled in the study received the intervention; 40 had family members present. Potential barriers and facilitators to implementation of the SDM-RSC intervention were identified in each of the five CFIR domains. Barriers included complexity of the intervention; challenges to meeting with patients on non-dialysis days; difficulties scheduling intervention sessions due to nephrologists' and social workers' caseloads; perceived need for local policy change regarding ACP; perceived need for additional ACP training for social workers and nephrologists; and lack of endorsement of the intervention by some staff members. Facilitators included: training for social workers, national dialysis chain leadership engagement and the institution of social worker/nephrologist clinic champions. CONCLUSIONS:ACP for patients on hemodialysis can have a positive impact on end-of-life outcomes for patients and their families but does not take place routinely. The barriers to effective implementation of interventions to improve ACP identified in this study might be addressed by: adapting the intervention for local contexts with input from clinicians, dialysis staff, patients and families; providing nephrologists and social workers additional training prior to delivering the intervention; and developing policy that routinizes ACP for hemodialysis patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION:Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02405312. Registered 04/01/2015.

Project description:Admissions for exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) present a significant proportion of patients in the acute medical take. The British Thoracic Society (BTS) provides guidelines for time specific interventions, that should be delivered to those with an acute exacerbation of COPD through the admission care bundle. These include correct diagnosis, correct assessment of oxygenation, early administration of treatment, recognition of respiratory failure, and specialist review. Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (GHNHSFT) chose improvement in acute COPD care to be a local Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) scheme, which enables commissioners to reward excellence by linking a proportion of English healthcare providers' income to the achievement of local quality improvement goals. The effects of initiatives put in place by senior clinicians had waned, and further improvements were required to meet the CQUIN target. The aim of the scheme was to improve compliance with the BTS guidelines and CQUIN scheme for patients admitted with an exacerbation of COPD. Specific bundle paperwork to be used for all patients admitted to the Trust with an exacerbation of COPD was introduced to the Trust in June 2014, with training and education of medical staff at that time. This had improved compliance rates from 10% to 63% by September 2014. Compliance with each intervention was audited through the examination of notes of patients admitted with an exacerbation of COPD. Compliance rates had plateaued over the last three months, and so a focus group involving junior medical staff met in September 2014 to try to increase awareness further, in order to drive greater improvements in care, and meet the CQUIN requirements. Their strategies were implemented, and then compliance with the CQUIN requirements was reaudited as described above. The December 2014 audit results showed a further improvement in overall COPD care, with 73% of patients receiving all elements of the COPD admission care bundle, versus 63% in September 2014. Appropriate blood gas analysis, nebuliser administration, and respiratory review also improved. Prescription of steroids and antibiotics remained static, with 96% of patients receiving these treatments within four hours in the emergency department (ED). The only criteria which showed a decline was appropriate oxygen prescription, which dipped from 97% to 87%. After the effect of initial strategies plateaued, this quality improvement project facilitated a further increase in compliance with the CQUIN targets, both improving patient care, and safeguarding continued CQUIN funding. There is further work to be done to maintain and support further improvement in standards, and to encourage use of the COPD admission bundle paperwork for documentation purposes.

Dataset Information

Nephrologist-Facilitated Advance Care Planning for Hemodialysis Patients: A Quality Improvement Project.

Publications

Nephrologist-Facilitated Advance Care Planning for Hemodialysis Patients: A Quality Improvement Project.

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