SMJ articles in the category "quality improvement"

Original Article

Fostering Collaboration: An Interprofessional Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Workshop for Medical, Physician Assistant, Nursing, and Pharmacy Students

Objectives: Quality improvement and patient safety (QI/PS) education is required for students in undergraduate healthcare training. Interprofessional education provides an excellent collaborative opportunity to teach the core concepts of this topic; however, implementing a successful interprofessional activity often is challenging due to complex curricular and scheduling differences. To meet this…

Posted in: interprofessional education 5 patient safety 24 quality improvement 22

Original Article

Enhancing Interpreter Utilization among Telephone Schedulers Assisting Patients with Non-English-Language Preference

Objectives: Patients with non-English-language preference (NELP) face language barriers that impede effective communication and delivery of high-quality care. Recognizing call centers as pivotal points of contact for patients with NELP, we proposed a quality improvement initiative to evaluate and enhance interpreter utilization among telephone schedulers within a tertiary healthcare system….

Posted in: quality improvement 22

Original Article

Reducing Unnecessary Laboratory Testing: A Quality Improvement Initiative at Wellstar Spalding Medical Center

Objectives: The healthcare industry is grappling with escalating expenses, partially attributed to the inefficient use of medical resources, particularly by ordering unnecessary laboratory tests. Such practices not only increase costs but also result in extended hospital stays, patient discomfort, and potential clinical complications such as iatrogenic anemia. Blood tests, although…

Posted in: high-value care 2 quality improvement 22 resident education 9

Original Article

Evaluation of a Multifaceted Protocol in Reducing Unnecessary Telemetry Monitoring across a Large Healthcare System

Objectives: Telemetry is frequently overused in hospitals. The goal of this study was to evaluate a telemetry protocol aimed at decreasing inappropriate telemetry utilization across four different hospitals within a large healthcare system by modifying the electronic telemetry order to incorporate the 2017 American Heart Association practice guidelines on the…

Posted in: quality improvement 22

Original Article

Improving Fecal Immunochemical Testing Rates for Colon Cancer Screening in the Outpatient Setting

Objectives: The amount of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening using the noninvasive fecal immunochemical test (FIT) at a federally qualified health center, Five Rivers Health Clinic (Dayton, Ohio), has been low historically. Our quality improvement (QI) project aimed to improve CRC screening adherence in eligible patients who opted for FIT. Methods:…

Posted in: colorectal cancer 17 fecal immunochemical test 2 quality improvement 22

Original Article

Improving Critical Value Read-Back Failure Rate by Modifying the Notification Procedure

Objectives: The aim of the study was to determine whether a system process change improved successful read-back of critical values by the appropriate provider.Methods: The study implemented a system process change of switching the “first call” physician from the admitting physician to the most recent document writer. Data were compared…

Posted in: patient safety 24 quality improvement 22

Original Article

Use of Rheumatologic Testing in Patients Who Eventually Receive a Diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Objectives: Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (ACPA) has excellent specificity and prognostic value in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The American College of Rheumatology included ACPA in their 2010 classification criteria for RA, but we hypothesize that primary care physicians (PCPs) underuse ACPA, even when clinical suspicion for RA is…

Posted in: quality improvement 22 rheumatoid arthritis 12

Original Article

Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Increasing Patient Notification of Test Results in an Internal Medicine Resident Continuity Clinic

Objectives: Informing patients of their test results is an important patient safety issue, yet many physicians perform dismally in this regard. Residents often face additional barriers to communicating test results to patients. We wanted to determine whether streamlining the notification process, communicating expectations, and having residents audit their performance would…

Posted in: ambulatory education 2 professionalism 5 quality improvement 22 resident continuity clinic 2

Original Article

Implementation of a New Guideline and Educational Sessions to Reduce Low-Value Continuous Pulse Oximetry Among Hospitalized Patients

Objectives: The use of continuous pulse oximetry (CPOX) is ubiquitous among hospitalized patients, despite limited evidence that it improves clinical outcomes. The objective of this study was to reduce the use of CPOX among hospitalized patients in the nonintensive care unit and nonprogressive care unit settings. Methods: This interventional trial…

Posted in: monitoring 3 quality improvement 22

Original Article

Variation in Use of Prophylactic Antibiotics in Gynecologic Procedures Before and After an Educational Intervention

Objectives: Guidelines for use of prophylactic antibiotics in gynecologic procedures are outlined by the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. There remains, however, a high rate of unindicated administration of antibiotics for surgeries. A retrospective study performed at our institution in 2012–2013 demonstrated that unindicated prophylactic antibiotics were administered over…

Posted in: adverse events 6 antibiotics 6 gynecology 5 quality improvement 22

Original Article

Stroke Hospital Characteristics in the Florida–Puerto Rico Collaboration to Reduce Stroke Disparities Study

Objectives: Although disparities in stroke care and outcomes have been well documented nationally, state-based registries to monitor acute stroke care in Florida (FL) and Puerto Rico (PR) have not been established. The FL-PR Collaboration to Reduce Stroke Disparities (CReSD) was developed to evaluate race-ethnicity and regional disparities in stroke care…

Posted in: health disparities 19 quality improvement 22 race and ethnicity 3

Original Article

Dissemination Approaches to Participating Primary Care Providers in a Quality Improvement Program Addressing Opioid Use in Central Appalachia

Objectives: Practice-based research networks (PBRNs) have been described as new clinical laboratories for primary care research and dissemination. PBRNs, however, have struggled to disseminate research results in a meaningful way to participating providers and clinics. Methods: The Central Appalachia Inter-Professional Pain Education Collaborative was developed to work with PBRN clinics…

Posted in: Chronic pain 4 opioid 6 practice-based research networks 2 quality improvement 22

Original Article

CME Article: Personalized Reminders Increase Screening for Stroke Risk in Children with Sickle Cell Anemia

Objectives: Transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD) effectively identifies children with sickle cell anemia (SCA) who are at increased risk of stroke. We evaluated a low-cost quality improvement (QI) intervention to increase the proportion of children screened by TCD. Methods: We measured the proportion of children with SCA receiving appropriate TCD screening…

Posted in: quality improvement 22 screening 33 sickle cell anemia 6 Stroke 16

Original Article

House Staff Participation in Patient Safety Reporting: Identification of Predominant Barriers and Implementation of a Pilot Program

Objectives: Patient safety event (PSE) reporting is a critical element for healthcare organizations that are striving for continuous quality improvement. Although resident physicians routinely provide the majority of direct patient care, the level of their participation in PSE reporting historically has been low. In addition, as part of the Accreditation…

Posted in: adverse events 6 medical education 73 quality improvement 22

Original Article

Was This Readmission Preventable? Qualitative Study of Patient and Provider Perceptions of Readmissions

Objectives: Readmissions are a costly, burdensome, and potentially preventable occurrence in the healthcare system. With the renewed national focus on the cost and quality of health care, readmissions have become a major target for improvement; however, in general, the viewpoints of patients and healthcare providers have not been considered in…

Posted in: health services research 10 hospital medicine 15 patient readmission 3 qualitative research 4 quality improvement 22

Original Article

Feedback on Bounce Backs: Real-Time Notification of Readmissions and the Impact on Readmission Rates and Physician Perceptions

Objectives: Readmissions are an increasing area of focus for quality improvement initiatives. Widely variable estimates exist on preventability and impact of multipronged readmission interventions. Given the rotating nature of attending physicians in academic centers, physicians often are unaware of readmissions. We present a before-and-after (uncontrolled) trial evaluating timely feedback of…

Posted in: hospitalist 6 patient safety 24 Prevention 18 Quality Health Care 17 quality improvement 22 Special Issue 75

Original Article

Incorporating Patient Satisfaction Metrics in Assessing Multidisciplinary Breast Cancer Care Quality

Objectives: The Medical University of South Carolina implemented a patient-centered multidisciplinary breast clinic program (MDBC) in August 2012. In this study, patient satisfaction with the MDBC care delivery model and communication with healthcare providers was examined to inform the refinement of the MDBC program. Methods: During the first 10 months…

Posted in: breast cancer 44 patient safety 24 patient satisfaction 12 Quality Health Care 17 quality improvement 22 Special Issue 75

Review Article

Improving Healthcare Quality in the United States: A New Approach

Improving the quality of health care has been a focus of health reformers during the last 2 decades, yet meaningful and sustainable quality improvement has remained elusive in many ways. Although a number of individual institutions have made great strides toward more effective and efficient care, progress has not gone…

Posted in: Healthcare Reform 2 patient safety 24 Quality Health Care 17 quality improvement 22 Special Issue 75

Original Article

Project BOOST Implementation: Lessons Learned

Objectives: Enhancing care coordination and reducing hospital readmissions have been a focus of multiple quality improvement (QI) initiatives. Project BOOST (Better Outcomes by Optimizing Safe Transitions) aims to enhance the discharge transition from hospital to home. Previous research indicates that QI initiatives originating externally often face difficulties gaining momentum or…

Posted in: care transitions 3 hospital discharge 3 quality improvement 22 readmission 6 rehospitalization 3

Review

Physician Perspective on Propoxyphene as a Potentially Inappropriate Medication in Tennessee

Medicare Part D data from the Quality Improvement Organization’s 9th Statement of Work drug safety indicator project under the direction of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services define the potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) list for Tennessee. These data reveal propoxyphene as the main contributor to the state’s PIM rate….

Posted in: adverse effects 5 elderly 20 medicare 3 physicians 13 prescribing 3 prescription 2 quality improvement 22 Tennessee 5
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