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Voluntary peer review as innovative tool for quality improvement in the intensive care unit--a retrospective descriptive cohort study in German intensive care units.

ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION: Quality improvement and safety in intensive care are rapidly evolving topics. However, there is no gold standard for assessing quality improvement in intensive care medicine yet. In 2007 a pilot project in German intensive care units (ICUs) started using voluntary peer reviews as an innovative tool for quality assessment and improvement. We describe the method of voluntary peer review and assessed its feasibility by evaluating anonymized peer review reports and analysed the thematic clusters highlighted in these reports. METHODS: Retrospective data analysis from 22 anonymous reports of peer reviews. All ICUs - representing over 300 patient beds - had undergone voluntary peer review. Data were retrieved from reports of peers of the review teams and representatives of visited ICUs. Data were analysed with regard to number of topics addressed and results of assessment questionnaires. Reports of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT reports) of these ICUs are presented. RESULTS: External assessment of structure, process and outcome indicators revealed high percentages of adherence to predefined quality goals. In the SWOT reports 11 main thematic clusters were identified representative for common ICUs. 58.1% of mentioned topics covered personnel issues, team and communication issues as well as organisation and treatment standards. The most mentioned weaknesses were observed in the issues documentation/reporting, hygiene and ethics. We identified several unique patterns regarding quality in the ICU of which long-term personnel problems und lack of good reporting methods were most interesting Conclusion: Voluntary peer review could be established as a feasible and valuable tool for quality improvement. Peer reports addressed common areas of interest in intensive care medicine in more detail compared to other methods like measurement of quality indicators.

SUBMITTER: Kumpf O

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4270273 | biostudies-other | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Voluntary peer review as innovative tool for quality improvement in the intensive care unit--a retrospective descriptive cohort study in German intensive care units.

Kumpf Oliver O Bloos Frank F Bause Hanswerner H Brinkmann Alexander A Deja Maria M Marx Gernot G Kaltwasser Arnold A Dubb Rolf R Muhl Elke E Greim Clemens-A CA Weiler Norbert N Chop Ines I Jonitz Günther G Schaefer Henning H Felsenstein Matthias M Liebeskind Ursula U Leffmann Carsten C Jungbluth Annemarie A Waydhas Christian C Pronovost Peter P Spies Claudia C Braun Jan-Peter JP

German medical science : GMS e-journal 20141215

<h4>Introduction</h4>Quality improvement and safety in intensive care are rapidly evolving topics. However, there is no gold standard for assessing quality improvement in intensive care medicine yet. In 2007 a pilot project in German intensive care units (ICUs) started using voluntary peer reviews as an innovative tool for quality assessment and improvement. We describe the method of voluntary peer review and assessed its feasibility by evaluating anonymized peer review reports and analysed the ...[more]

PMID: 25587245

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Project description:BackgroundLittle is known about importance and implementation of end-of-life care (EOLC) in German intensive care units (ICU). This survey analyses preferences and differences in training between "medical" (internal medicine, neurology) and "surgical" (surgery, anaesthesiology) residents during intensive care rotation.MethodsThis is a point-prevalence study, in which intensive care medicine course participants of one educational course were surveyed. Physicians from multiple ICU and university as well as non-university hospitals and all care levels were asked to participate. The questionnaire was composed of a paper and an electronic part. Demographic and structural data were prompted and EOLC data (48 questions) were grouped into six categories considering importance and implementation: category 1 (important, always implemented), 2 (important, sometimes implemented), 3 (important, never implemented) and 4-6 (unimportant, implementation always, sometimes, never). The trial is registered at the "Deutsches Register für klinische Studien (DRKS)", Study number DRKS00026619, registered on September 10th 2021, www.drks.de .ResultsOverall, 194/ 220 (88%) participants responded. Mean age was 29.7 years, 55% were female and 60% had scant ICU working experience. There were 64% medical and 35% surgical residents. Level of care and size of ICU differed significantly between medical and surgical (both p < 0.001). Sufficient implementation was stated for 66% of EOLC questions, room for improvement (category 2 and 3) was seen in 25, and 8% were classified as irrelevant (category 6). Areas with the most potential for improvement included prognosis and outcome and patient autonomy. There were no significant differences between medical and surgical residents.ConclusionsEven though EOLC is predominantly regarded as sufficiently implemented in German ICU of all specialties, our survey unveiled still 25% room for improvement for medical as well as surgical ICU residents. This is important, as areas of improvement potential may be addressed with reasonable effort, like individualizing EOLC procedures or setting up EOLC teams. Health care providers as well as medical societies should emphasize EOLC training in their curricula.

Project description:Critically ill intensive care unit (ICU) patients commonly develop severe muscle wasting and impaired muscle function, leading to delayed recovery, with subsequent increased morbidity and financial costs, and decrease quality of life of survivors. Acute Quadriplegic Myopathy (AQM) is one of the most common neuromuscular disorders associated with ICU-acquired muscle weakness. Although there are no available treatments for the ICU-acquired muscle weakness, it has been demonstrated that early mobilization can improve its prognosis and functional outcomes. This study aims at improving our understanding of the effects of passive mechanical loading on skeletal muscle structure and function by using a unique experimental rat ICU model allowing analyses of the temporal sequence of changes in mechanically ventilated and pharmacologically paralyzed animals at durations varying from 6 h to 14 days. Results show that passive mechanical loading alleviated the muscle wasting and the loss of force-generation associated with the ICU intervention, resulting in a doubling of the functional capacity of the loaded vs. unloaded muscles after a 2-week ICU intervention. We demonstrated that the improved maintenance of muscle structure and function is likely a consequence of a reduced oxidative stress, and a reduced loss of the molecular motor protein myosin. A complex temporal gene expression pattern, delineated by microarray analysis, was observed with loading-induced changes in transcript levels of sarcomeric proteins, muscle developmental processes, stress response, ECM/cell adhesion proteins and metabolism. Thus, the results from this study show that passive mechanical loading alleviates the severe negative consequences on muscle structure and function associated with mechanical silencing in ICU patients, strongly supporting early and intense physical therapy in immobilized ICU patients. This study aims to unravel the effects of passive mechanical loading on skeletal muscle structure and function in an experimental rat ICU model at duration varying between 6h and 14 days. A total of 23 experimental female Sprague-Dawley rats were included in this study. The experimental rats were anaesthetized, treated with the neuromuscular blocking agent (NMBA) M-NM-1-cobrotoxin, mechanically ventilated and monitored for durations varying from 6h to 4 days (n=13), from 5 to 8 days (n=4), and from 9 to 14 days (n=6). The left leg of the animal was activated for 6 hours at the shortest duration and 12 hours per day at durations 12 hours and longer throughout the experiment, using a mechanical lever arm that produced a continuous passive maximal ankle joint flexions-extensions at a speed of 13.3 cycles per minute. Muscle biopsies were obtained from gastrocnemius muscle (proximal part) immediately after euthanasia, were quickly frozen in liquid propane cooled by liquid nitrogen, and stored at -80M-BM-0C. RNA was extracted.

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Voluntary peer review as innovative tool for quality improvement in the intensive care unit--a retrospective descriptive cohort study in German intensive care units.

Publications

Voluntary peer review as innovative tool for quality improvement in the intensive care unit--a retrospective descriptive cohort study in German intensive care units.

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