Project description:Introduction: The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends blood pressure screening at every health care encounter in children younger than 3 years if they have a history of prematurity or other neonatal complications requiring intensive care because these children have an increased risk for hypertension. Methods: A multidisciplinary team conducted a quality improvement initiative to improve blood pressure screening at a single-center outpatient neonatal follow-up clinic. We developed a focused intervention program including a standardized blood pressure measurement protocol, staff training and education, and streamlined documentation. We conducted two Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles from November 2019 to January 2021. The outcome measure was the percentage of patients with a blood pressure measurement. Process measures included the percentage of medical assistants educated on the new protocol, percentage of patients 3 years, and younger old with the first blood pressure measurement taken from the right arm, and the percentage of patients 1 year and younger with 3 documented blood pressures. The balancing measure was staff satisfaction with time to obtain vital signs. We used statistical process control charts and Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Results: At baseline, only 15.3% of patients had documented blood pressure. During the 10-month intervention period, there were 954 patient visits. Overall, blood pressure measurement increased to 54.7% with study interventions. The balancing measure was not negatively impacted. Conclusions: After implementing a program of focused interventions, we substantially improved the frequency of blood pressure measurements and increased adherence to American Academy of Pediatrics screening guidelines. Improved blood pressure screening allows us to identify and evaluate at-risk infants after hospital discharge.
Project description:Importance:The American College of Surgeons Trauma Quality Improvement Program (ACS TQIP) provides feedback to hospitals on risk-adjusted outcomes. The Michigan Trauma Quality Improvement Program (MTQIP) goes beyond the provision of feedback alone, focusing on collaborative quality improvement. It is unknown whether the addition of a collaborative approach to benchmark reporting improves outcomes. Objective:To evaluate the association of hospital participation in the ACS TQIP (benchmark reporting) or the MTQIP (benchmark reporting and collaborative quality improvement) with outcomes compared with control hospitals that did not participate in either program. Design, Setting, and Participants:In this cohort study, data from the National Trauma Data Bank from 2009 to 2015 were used. A total of 2?373?130 trauma patients 16 years or older with an Injury Severity Score of 5 or more were identified from 98 ACS TQIP hospitals, 23 MTQIP hospitals, and 429 nonparticipating hospitals, based on program participation status in 2011. A difference-in-differences analytic approach was used to evaluate whether hospital participation in the ACS TQIP or the MTQIP was associated with improved outcomes compared with nonparticipation in a quality improvement program. Exposures:Hospital participation in MTQIP, a quality improvement collaborative, compared with ACS TQIP participation and nonparticipating hospitals. Main Outcomes and Measures:In-hospital mortality, mortality or hospice, major complications, and venous thromboembolism events were assessed. Results:Of the 2 373 130 included trauma patients, 64.2% were men and 73.0% were white, and the mean (SD) age was 50.7 (21.9) years. After accounting for patient factors and preexisting time trends toward improved outcomes, there was a statistically significant improvement in major complications after (vs before) hospital enrollment in the MTQIP collaborative compared with nonparticipating hospitals (odds ratio [OR], 0.89; 95% CI, 0.83-0.95) or ACS TQIP hospitals (OR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.82-0.94). A similar result was observed for venous thromboembolism (MTQIP vs nonparticipating: OR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.69-0.88; MTQIP vs ACS TQIP: OR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.74-0.95), for which MTQIP targeted specific performance improvement efforts. Hospital participation in both ACS TQIP and MTQIP was associated with improvement in mortality or hospice (ACS TQIP vs nonparticipating: OR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.87-0.93; MTQIP vs nonparticipating: OR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.81-0.96). Hospitals participating in MTQIP achieved the lowest overall risk-adjusted mortality in the postenrollment period (4.2%; 95% CI, 4.1-4.3). Conclusions and Relevance:This study demonstrates that hospital participation in a regional collaborative quality improvement program is associated with improved patient outcomes beyond benchmark reporting alone while promoting compliance with processes of care.
Project description:PurposeThe aim of this study was to conduct epidemiologic investigations on the pattern of the lesion and differences between treatment modalities in terms of recurrence by reviewing follow-up records to form a basis for planning patient follow-up visits.Materials and methodsIn this retrospective, single-center cohort study, 266 patients diagnosed with odontogenic keratocyst between 1993 and 2013 were included. Medical records and radiographic images were analyzed for age distribution, occurrence site and size, treatment modalities, and recurrence.ResultsThe average age at first diagnosis was 33.1 years, and the male to female ratio was 1.33:1.00. The highest rate of incidence was in the third decade followed by the fourth, second, and fifth decades. The incidence in the maxilla was 34%, and 66% in the mandible. Mandibular ramus was most commonly involved. Lesions between 3 and 6 crowns were the most common, and the rate of recurrence increased with size. Enucleation after decompression had higher rate of recurrence (35.8%) than enucleation (27.1%), but there was no statistical significance.ConclusionThe recurrence of odontogenic kerotocyst (OKC) was significantly associated with large size, multilocular form, and surgical procedure. A 10-year follow-up period is recommended to determine any recurrence of OKC.
Project description:OBJECTIVE We aimed to describe the effect of education provided by a clinical pharmacy specialist at a patient's follow-up appointment after discharge, and to assess caregiver satisfaction. METHODS A single-center, quality improvement study was conducted. A standardized data collection tool was created to characterize interventions made by clinical pharmacy specialists during an outpatient clinic appointment scheduled shortly after discharge. Pediatric patients with cancer who met the following criteria were included: 1) initial diagnosis without receiving chemotherapy, 2) first course of chemotherapy after initial diagnosis or relapsed disease, and 3) post-hematopoietic stem cell transplantation or cellular therapy. A survey was provided to families after the follow-up discharge appointment to assess the caregiver's satisfaction of the new process. RESULTS From January to May 2021, a total of 78 first-time discharge appointments were completed. The most common reason for follow-up was discharge after first course of chemotherapy (77%). The average duration of each appointment was 20 minutes (range, 5–65). The clinical pharmacy specialist made an intervention during 85% of appointments. The most common intervention made during the visit was reinforcement of medications (31%). Thirteen surveys were completed by caregivers; 100% of the caregivers reported the follow-up appointment was helpful. Additionally, they reported the most useful resource provided at discharge was the medication calendar (85%). CONCLUSIONS Investing clinical pharmacy specialist time with patients and caregiver after discharge appears to have a meaningful effect on patient care. Caregivers report this process is helpful in better understanding their child's medications.
Project description:Biomarker analysis for colorectal cancer has been shown to be reliable in Europe with 97% of samples tested by EQA participants to be correctly classified. This study focuses on errors during the annual EQA assessment. The aim was to explore the causes and actions related to the observed errors and to provide feedback and assess any improvement between 2016 and 2017. An electronic survey was sent to all laboratories with minimum one genotyping error or technical failure on ten tumor samples. A workshop was organized based on 2016 survey responses. Improvement of performance in 2017 was assessed for returning participants (n?=?76), survey respondents (n?=?13) and workshop participants (n?=?4). Survey respondents and workshop participants improved in terms of (maximum) analysis score, successful participation, and genotyping errors compared to all returning participants. In 2016, mostly pre- and post-analytical errors (both 25%) were observed caused by unsuitability of the tumor tissue for molecular analysis. In 2017, most errors were due to analytical problems (50.0%) caused by methodological problems. The most common actions taken (n?=?58) were protocol revisions (34.5%) and staff training (15.5%). In 24.1% of issues identified no action was performed. Corrective actions were linked to an improved performance, especially if performed by the pathologist. Although biomarker testing has improved over time, error occurrence at different phases stresses the need for quality improvement throughout the test process. Participation to quality improvement projects and a close collaboration with the pathologist can have a positive influence on performance.
Project description:ObjectiveThis study examined the long-term impact on stigma concerns of two quality improvement (QI) interventions for depression in primary care.MethodsData were from a nine-year follow-up of 805 participants in Partners in Care, a group-level randomized trial comparing patients enrolled in interventions with enhanced resources for therapy (QI-therapy) (N=284) or medication management (QI-meds) (N=267) with those in usual care (N=254). Participants were asked about stigma in regard to friends, health insurance, and employers.ResultsIndividuals in QI-therapy were significantly less likely than those in usual care and QI-meds to report concerns about friends learning about a history of depression (odds ratio [OR]=.66 and .65, respectively), and those in QI-meds were more likely than those in QI-therapy and usual care to have concerns about getting insurance (OR=1.42 and 1.68, respectively).ConclusionsQuality improvement programs for depression can raise or lower stigma concerns, depending on program design and resources for specific treatments.
Project description:Neonatal follow-up (NFU) clinics play an essential role in the multidisciplinary care of preterm patients. Despite the inherent value of NFU clinics, many clinical programs report poor compliance with follow-up visits. Preterm infants followed with difficulty in the long-term have higher rates of disability and lower IQ scores, even after adjustment of significant perinatal and sociodemographic variables. This quality improvement study aimed to improve the show rate for preterm infants from 60% to 80% at the initial 6-month adjusted age visit by implementing a multilevel education bundle.MethodsParticipants included neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) physicians, physician extenders, registered nurses, and parents of preterm patients admitted to the NICU who qualified for NFU. Our 75-bed NICU is the regional perinatal center within an urban free-standing children's hospital. Our bundle included NICU provider education, discharge planning, and parent education. A tracking system was developed to identify qualifying patients to streamline workflow.ResultsThe monthly first visit show rate improved from 60% to 76% during the intervention period. Seventy-five percent of families who received parent education presented for their initial visit, compared to 51% of families who did not receive parent education. In anonymous surveys of families who presented for their initial visits, 95% indicated that bedside education played the most important role in appointment attendance. Interdisciplinary rounds are crucial for reaching all families before discharge.ConclusionImplementing a multidimensional in-hospital education bundle and tracking system is feasible and can improve NFU clinic show rates, but may require dedicated personnel for sustainability.