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Exploring How Evidence is Used in Care Through an Organizational Ethnography of Two Teaching Hospitals.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Numerous published articles show that clinicians do not follow clinical practice guidelines (CPGs). However, a few studies explore what clinicians consider evidence and how they use different forms of evidence in their care decisions. Many of these existing studies occurred before the advent of smartphones and advanced Web-based information retrieval technologies. It is important to understand how these new technologies influence the ways clinicians use evidence in their clinical practice. Mindlines are a concept that explores how clinicians draw on different sources of information (including context, experience, medical training, and evidence) to develop collectively reinforced, internalized tacit guidelines. OBJECTIVE:The aim of this paper was to explore how evidence is integrated into mindline development and the everyday use of mindlines and evidence in care. METHODS:We draw on ethnographic data collected by shadowing internal medicine teams at 2 teaching hospitals. Fieldnotes were tagged by evidence category, teaching and care, and role of the person referencing evidence. Counts of these tags were integrated with fieldnote vignettes and memos. The findings were verified with an advisory council and through member checks. RESULTS:CPGs represent just one of several sources of evidence used when making care decisions. Some forms of evidence were predominately invoked from mindlines, whereas other forms were read to supplement mindlines. The majority of scientific evidence was accessed on the Web, often through smartphones. How evidence was used varied by role. As team members gained experience, they increasingly incorporated evidence into their mindlines. Evidence was often blended together to arrive at shared understandings and approaches to patient care that included ways to filter evidence. CONCLUSIONS:This paper outlines one way through which the ethos of evidence-based medicine has been incorporated into the daily work of care. Here, multiple Web-based forms of evidence were mixed with other information. This is different from the way that is often articulated by health administrators and policy makers whereby clinical practice guideline adherence is equated with practicing evidence-based medicine.

SUBMITTER: Lander B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6458541 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Exploring How Evidence is Used in Care Through an Organizational Ethnography of Two Teaching Hospitals.

Lander Bryn B Balka Ellen E

Journal of medical Internet research 20190328 3

<h4>Background</h4>Numerous published articles show that clinicians do not follow clinical practice guidelines (CPGs). However, a few studies explore what clinicians consider evidence and how they use different forms of evidence in their care decisions. Many of these existing studies occurred before the advent of smartphones and advanced Web-based information retrieval technologies. It is important to understand how these new technologies influence the ways clinicians use evidence in their clini ...[more]

PMID: 30920371

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Project description:BackgroundAlthough the number of children living with complex care needs (CCN) is increasing worldwide, there is limited data on the experience of fathers caring for children with CCN. This paper reports on findings specific to fathers' experiences of caring for their child with CCN and highlights recommendations provided for parents of children with CCN, service providers, and policymakers. The findings emerged from a larger study designed to examine how Canadian families of children with CCN participate in society.MethodsWe used the qualitative research approach of ethnography and arts-based methodologies (ecomaps and photovoice) as well as purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Four parents were engaged as advisors and twenty-nine fathers participated in interviews (all were married or in a relationship; age range of 28 to 55 years). In line with an ethnographic approach, data analysis involved several iterative steps including comparing data from the first, second, and third set of interviews and refining themes.ResultsOne overarching theme, striving to be there for the child with CCN, was identified. Five supporting themes further exemplified how fathers strived to be there for their child: 1) contributing to the parental team through various roles; 2) building accessibility through adaptation; 3) engaging in activities with the child; 4) expressing admiration and pride in their children; and 5) meaning making. Recommendations for parents included making and nurturing connections and asking for help while recommendations for healthcare and social service providers included communicating authentically with families and listening to parents. Fathers also indicated that leadership and funding for programs of families of children with CCN should be priorities for policymakers.ConclusionsIn addition to documenting fathers' active involvement in their child's care and development, our findings provide new insights into how fathers make participation in everyday life accessible and inclusive for their children. Study findings also point to 1) priority areas for policymakers (e.g., accessible physical environments); 2) factors that are critical for fostering collaborative care teams with fathers; and 3) the need for complex care teams in the adult health care system. Implications for those providing psychosocial support for these families are noted as well as knowledge gaps worthy of future exploration such as the role of diversity or intersectionality in fathering children with CCN.

Project description:ObjectiveThe purpose of the study on the one hand is to see different hospital organization commitment have difference, including the overall score and various dimensions, on the other hand, due to the different hospital type, its function orientation is different, the factors of the doctor organization commitment may also exist differences, so the study of another purpose is to determine for different types of hospital doctor organization commitment the focus and key groups, provide reference for the doctor incentive strategy.MethodsA total of 292 doctors in four large public hospitals in Beijing were investigated. Physicians' perceived organizational commitment was investigated using self-made electronic questionnaires. Data were analyzed by factor analysis, descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, and multiple linear regression.ResultsIn the large public hospital doctor perception of the hospital commitment status, Specialized hospitals had higher overall commitment behavior scores, it is 3.47 ± 0.86; General hospital commitment behavior scored low at 3.39 ± 0.91. In the regression results, department category, working years, administrative position, and entry mode are the influencing factors of the organizational commitment of doctors in general hospitals, while in specialized hospitals, in addition to whether to hold an administrative position, entry mode, and working hours, the influencing factors also include gender, professional title and overseas learning background.ConclusionThere are differences in the perceived organizational commitment by doctors in different types of public hospitals, and different factors influencing their organizational commitment.Hospital type directly influences physicians' organizational commitment and plays a moderating role in influencing other factors. A possible solution is general hospital specialization, encouraging general hospitals to develop the dominant discipline. These findings can help healthcare service hospital executives or government policymakers understand the impact of hospital specialization strategies and develop more efficient medical staff incentive systems.

Project description:OBJECTIVE:To explore how nurses in hospitals enact person-centred fundamental care delivery. BACKGROUND:Effective person-centred care is at the heart of fundamental nursing care, but it is deemed to be challenging in acute health care as there is a strong biomedical focus and most nurses are not trained in person-centred fundamental care delivery. We therefore need to know if and how nurses currently incorporate a person-centred approach during fundamental care. DESIGN:Focused ethnography approach. METHODS:Observations of 30 nurses on three different wards in two Dutch hospitals during their morning shift. Data were collected through passive observations and analysed using framework analysis based on the fundamentals of care framework. The COREQ guideline was used for reporting. RESULTS:Some nurses successfully integrate physical, psychosocial and relational elements of care in patient interactions. However, most nurses were observed to be mainly focused on physical care and did not take the time at their patients' bedside to care for their psychosocial and relational needs. Many had a task-focused way of working and communicating, seldom incorporating patients' needs and experiences or discussing care planning, and often disturbing each other. CONCLUSIONS:This study demonstrates that although some nurses manage to do so, person-centred fundamental care delivery remains a challenge in hospitals, as most nurses have a task-focused approach and therefore do not manage to integrate the physical, relational and physical elements of care. For further improvement, attention needs to be paid to integrated fundamental care and clinical reasoning skills. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE:Although most nurses have a compassionate approach, this study shows that nurses do not incorporate psychosocial care or encourage patient participation when helping patients with their physical fundamental care needs, even though there seems to be sufficient opportunity for them to do so.

Project description:BackgroundThe Institute for Healthcare Improvement identifies medication reconciliation as the shared responsibility of nurses, pharmacists, and physicians, where each has a defined role. The study aims to assess the clinical impact of pharmacy-led medication reconciliation performed on day one of hospital admission to the internal medicine service.MethodsThis is a pilot prospective study conducted at two tertiary care teaching hospitals in Lebanon. Student pharmacists who were properly trained and closely supervised, collected the medication history, and pharmacists at the corresponding sites performed the reconciliation process. Interventions related to the unintended discrepancies were relayed to the medical team. The main outcome was the number of unintended discrepancies identified. The time needed for medication history, and the information sources used to complete the Best Possible Medication History were also assessed. The unintended discrepancies were classified by medication class and route of medication administration, by potential severity, and by proximal cause leading to the discrepancy. For the bivariate and multivariable analysis, the dependent variable was the incidence of unintended discrepancies. The "total number of unintended discrepancies" was dichotomized into yes (? 1 unintended discrepancy) or no (0 unintended discrepancies). Independent variables tested for their association with the dependent variable consisted of the following: gender, age, creatinine clearance, number of home medications, allergies, previous adverse drug reactions, and number of information sources used to obtain the BPMH. Results were assumed to be significant when p was <?0.05.ResultsDuring the study period, 204 patients were included, and 195 unintended discrepancies were identified. The most common discrepancies consisted of medication omission (71.8%), and the most common agents involved were dietary supplements (27.7%). Around 36% of the unintended discrepancies were judged as clinically significant, and only 1% were judged as serious. The most common interventions included the addition of a medication (71.8%) and the adjustment of a dose (12.8%). The number of home medications was significantly associated with the occurrence of unintended discrepancies (ORa?=?1.11 (1.03-1.19) p?=?0.007).ConclusionsPharmacy-led medication reconciliation upon admission, along with student pharmacist involvement and physician communication can reduce unintended discrepancies and improve medication safety and patient outcomes.

Project description:BackgroundCybersecurity incidents are a growing threat to the health care industry in general and hospitals in particular. The health care industry has lagged behind other industries in protecting its main stakeholder (ie, patients), and now hospitals must invest considerable capital and effort in protecting their systems. However, this is easier said than done because hospitals are extraordinarily technology-saturated, complex organizations with high end point complexity, internal politics, and regulatory pressures.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to develop a systematic and organizational perspective for studying (1) the dynamics of cybersecurity capability development at hospitals and (2) how these internal organizational dynamics interact to form a system of hospital cybersecurity in the United States.MethodsWe conducted interviews with hospital chief information officers, chief information security officers, and health care cybersecurity experts; analyzed the interview data; and developed a system dynamics model that unravels the mechanisms by which hospitals build cybersecurity capabilities. We then use simulation analysis to examine how changes to variables within the model affect the likelihood of cyberattacks across both individual hospitals and a system of hospitals.ResultsWe discuss several key mechanisms that hospitals use to reduce the likelihood of cybercriminal activity. The variable that most influences the risk of cyberattack in a hospital is end point complexity, followed by internal stakeholder alignment. Although resource availability is important in fueling efforts to close cybersecurity capability gaps, low levels of resources could be compensated for by setting a high target level of cybersecurity.ConclusionsTo enhance cybersecurity capabilities at hospitals, the main focus of chief information officers and chief information security officers should be on reducing end point complexity and improving internal stakeholder alignment. These strategies can solve cybersecurity problems more effectively than blindly pursuing more resources. On a macro level, the cyber vulnerability of a country's hospital infrastructure is affected by the vulnerabilities of all individual hospitals. In this large system, reducing variation in resource availability makes the whole system less vulnerable-a few hospitals with low resources for cybersecurity threaten the entire infrastructure of health care. In other words, hospitals need to move forward together to make the industry less attractive to cybercriminals. Moreover, although compliance is essential, it does not equal security. Hospitals should set their target level of cybersecurity beyond the requirements of current regulations and policies. As of today, policies mostly address data privacy, not data security. Thus, policy makers need to introduce policies that not only raise the target level of cybersecurity capabilities but also reduce the variability in resource availability across the entire health care system.

Project description:BackgroundEach year over five million people develop chronic non-malignant pain and can experience healthcare as an adversarial struggle. The aims of this study were: (1) to bring together qualitative evidence syntheses that explore patients' experience of living with chronic non-malignant pain and develop conceptual understanding of what it is like to live with chronic non-malignant pain for improved healthcare; (2) to undertake the first mega-ethnography of qualitative evidence syntheses using the methods of meta-ethnography.MethodsWe used the seven stages of meta-ethnography refined for large studies. The innovation of mega-ethnography is to use conceptual findings from qualitative evidence syntheses as primary data. We searched 7 bibliographic databases from inception until February 2016 to identify qualitative evidence syntheses that explored patients' experience of living with chronic non-malignant pain.ResultsWe identified 82 potential studies from 556 titles, screened 34 full text articles and included 11 qualitative evidence syntheses synthesising a total of 187 qualitative studies reporting more than 5000 international participants living with chronic pain. We abstracted concepts into 7 conceptual categories: (1) my life is impoverished and confined; (2) struggling against my body to be me; (3) the quest for the diagnostic 'holy grail'; (4) lost personal credibility; (5) trying to keep up appearances; (6) need to be treated with dignity; and (7) deciding to end the quest for the grail is not easy. Each conceptual category was supported by at least 7 of the 11 qualitative evidence syntheses.ConclusionsThis is the first mega-ethnography, or synthesis of qualitative evidence syntheses using the methods of meta-ethnography. Findings help us to understand that the decision to end the quest for a diagnosis can leave patients feeling vulnerable and this may contribute to the adversarial nature of the clinical encounter. This knowledge demonstrates that treating a patient with a sense that they are worthy of care and hearing their story is not an adjunct to, but integral to health care.

Project description:ImportanceLittle empirical work has been performed on whether teaching hospitals are more expensive when considering total costs of care for an acute care episode.ObjectiveTo compare total standardized costs at 30 days by hospital teaching status for common conditions.Design, setting, and participantsThis cross-sectional study assessed the costs of hospitalizations among US Medicare beneficiaries 65 years and older at major, minor, and nonteaching hospitals from January 1, 2014, to November 30, 2015, for 15 medical conditions and 6 surgical procedures. Data analysis was performed from February 26, 2019, to April 16, 2019.ExposuresHospital teaching status (major, minor, and nonteaching hospitals).Main outcomes and measuresThe primary outcome was 30-day total standardized costs to Medicare for hospitalizations for all 21 conditions in aggregate as well as stratified by medical and surgical condition categories. Secondary outcomes included 30-day spending for individual components of care (index hospitalization, physician services, readmission, and outpatient and post-acute care services) as well as total standardized costs at 90 days.ResultsThe sample consisted of 1 249 006 hospitalizations at 3064 hospitals (232 [7.6%] major teaching, 837 [27.3%] minor teaching, and 1995 [65.1%] nonteaching hospitals). Treatment at a major teaching hospital was associated with lower total 30-day adjusted standardized costs ($18 605 vs $18 793 at minor teaching hospitals and $18 873 at nonteaching hospitals; difference between major and nonteaching hospitals: -$268; 95% CI, -$456 to -$80; P = .005). Treatment at a major teaching hospital was associated with higher spending for the index hospitalization ($8529 vs $8370 at minor teaching hospitals and $8180 at nonteaching hospitals; difference between major and nonteaching hospitals: $349; 95% CI, $308-$390; P < .001) but lower physician costs ($677 vs $725 at minor teaching hospitals and $728 at nonteaching hospitals; difference: -$50; 95% CI, -$60 to -$41; P < .001). Furthermore, post-acute care costs at 30 days were lowest at major teaching hospitals ($6015 vs $6239 for minor teaching hospitals and $6260 for nonteaching hospitals; difference: -$245; 95% CI, -$375 to -$115; P < .001). Thirty-day total costs were lower at major teaching hospitals compared with nonteaching hospitals for 12 of the 21 individual conditions examined. There was no difference in costs by teaching status at 90 days ($24 982 at major teaching hospitals vs $24 959 at minor teaching hospitals vs $25 044 at nonteaching hospitals; difference: -$61; 95% CI, -$310 to $188; P = .63).Conclusions and relevanceMedicare patients treated at major teaching hospitals had lower Medicare spending at 30 days and similar costs at 90 days compared with Medicare patients at nonteaching hospitals. These findings appear to raise doubts that care at teaching hospitals is necessarily more expensive than care at nonteaching hospitals.

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Exploring How Evidence is Used in Care Through an Organizational Ethnography of Two Teaching Hospitals.

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Exploring How Evidence is Used in Care Through an Organizational Ethnography of Two Teaching Hospitals.

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