Quality Improvement Commons^™

Improving The Accuracy Of Interactive Voice Response (Ivr) Technology For Pediatric Experience Scores, Elizabeth Spaargaren Ms, Mph, Cpxp, Abigail Kozak Mba, Cpxp, Cara Herbener Cpxp, Barbara Lawlor Burke Ma, Cpxp

Patient Experience Journal

The increased use of interactive voice response (IVR) in assessing patient and family experience should be paired with evidence-based practices on how to obtain the most accurate information via this survey mode. We added a brief clarification sentence of the survey scale at the start of the IVR call to improve our experience data both qualitatively and quantitatively. Our setting was an urban pediatric hospital. We gathered lived experiences from our patients, families, and providers to understand and design a change to the IVR survey mode that would reduce survey inaccuracies. Outcome measures were assessed by baseline measurement and post-intervention …

Working Out The Kinks: Creating Solutions To Assist Health Care Workers To Take Vital Signs Through Effective Cable Management, Carl R. Russell Iii, Emily J. Linder, Maya A. Godbole

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service) is a service-learning design program run through Purdue University. It strives to teach students design skills through providing solutions for individuals, communities, and organizations in the surrounding area while mirroring engineering industry standards. BME (Bio-medical Engineering) is a team within EPICS that strives to serve community partners through biomedical applications. Members of a health care team often spend valuable time organizing cables associated with machines used to take patients’ vital signs. Due to time constraints and the fast-paced work environment, these cables may be mismanaged and damaged. The BME team is working on a …

The Correlation Between Transformational Leadership And Mental Health Clinician Burnout, Rebekah E. Shutter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mental health clinicians working in a hospital setting are at a high risk of experiencing burnout due to the stressful demands of their caseloads, compassion fatigue, limited resources, and unsupportive leadership. While there is ample research regarding the cause and effect of burnout on clinicians there is a gap in the literature when it comes to the impact leadership has on mental heath clinician burnout. The purpose of this quantitative, correlational study is to determine if and to what extent there is a correlation between Transformational Leadership and mental health clinician burnout. Participants for this study consisted of 200 mental …

From The First Encounter: A Communication Program For High Volume, High Acuity Patient Care Locations, Shazam Bacchus

Student Scholarly Projects

Effective communication is a true value to healthcare organizations. Far too many communication sessions are detrimental to patient health outcomes. National data and hospital records are proven information to suggest communication is a major barrier to overall patient satisfaction. Organizations struggle to increase market share and patient satisfaction with a likelihood to recommend because of poor communication by physician and nurses. The use of a strategic communication tool like AIDET plus the Promise can influence the improvement of an organization’s quality of care.

This paper examines the use of AIDET plus the Promise as a strategic communication tool. High volume, …

Implementation Of Infant Driven Feeding™ In A Level Ii Nicu, Kelly Gardner

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

In the United States, currently, 1 in 10 babies are born premature. Due to the immaturity of their neurological, gastrointestinal, and cardio-respiratory functions, preterm infants can experience the inability to coordinate sucking, swallowing, and breathing that is essential to oral feed. Cue-based oral feeding methods are designed to give the caregiver the ability to recognize signs of readiness and respond appropriately to the infant cues to adjust the manner in which feeding intervention is performed to match the infant’s current state of physiologic tolerance. The Infant Driven Feeding™ program incorporates scales to assess readiness and quality of the oral feeding, …

Key Healthcare Providers’ Perspectives On The Implementation Of Senior-Friendly Emergency Department Care In Quebec, Deniz Cetin-Sahin, Francine Ducharme, Jane Mccusker, Mona Magalhaes, Nathalie Veillette, Paul-André Lachance, Sylvie Cossette, Alain Vadeboncoeur, Rick Mah, T.T. Minh Vu, Simon Berthelot

Journal of Geriatric Emergency Medicine

Background: Senior-friendly emergency department (ED) care is emerging to address large numbers of older adults in healthcare and implementation is variable.

Objectives: We aimed to explore key healthcare providers’ perspectives on factors affecting implementation of senior-friendly ED care during the first five years of the Senior-Friendly Hospital Initiative in the Province of Quebec, Canada.

Methods: We conducted a descriptive qualitative study of four urban EDs. Key healthcare providers involved in care within the ED or after discharge to the community were purposefully selected. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted in participants’ preferred language, English or French. Recorded interviews were transcribed. A …

Emergency Medicine Provider Comfort With Physician Orders For Life Sustaining Treatment (Polst) Advanced Directive, Katherine Briggie, Kaitlin Sweeney, Shannon Findlay, Hao Wang, Juan Pagan-Ferrer, Dan Miller, Sangil Lee

Journal of Geriatric Emergency Medicine

Background

Emergency departments (ED) across the United States see many patients with advanced disease nearing the end of life. ED providers make many important decisions that impact a patient’s hospital course, including resuscitation decisions. When patients’ preferences are not known, treatment in the ED frequently defaults to maximally aggressive care. The Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST) form has been shown to lead to more goal-concordant care for these patients by providing detailed instructions regarding end-of-life interventions, made by the patient and/or medical decision maker.

Methods

In this needs assessment study, we aimed to determine the level of awareness …

Staff Matters: Do You Have Quiet Quitters In Your Practice?, Jodi Schafer Sphr, Shrm-Scp

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

In the post-COVID workplace, "quiet quitting" has become a concerning issue where employees meet basic job requirements but lack motivation. This behavior includes a reluctance to take on extra tasks or provide input. To address it, communicate with the affected employees, inquire about their well-being, and assess whether the cause is work-related or personal. Fostering appreciation, connection to the practice's goals, and open feedback can help re-engage employees. Regular one-on-one meetings promote relationships and demonstrate care for their success, improving morale and engagement.

How To Survive College As An Acoa: The Effectiveness Of University Resources On Helping Acoas Socially And Psychologically Succeed During Their Academic Career, Kelly Buchan

Senior Theses

In 2019, 14.5 million people ages 12 and older had Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), but only 10% received treatment (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism [NIAAA], 2022). Parental drinking problems can directly affect children, or “Adult Children of Alcoholics.” Of the few studies targeting ACoAs, results show that ACoAs not only have higher risks of mental illness, but they also have lower GPAs and social health (Schroeder & Kelley, 2008). Thus, this study assessed the extent to which perceptions of the college drinking environment are related to higher depression rates in ACoAs, certain drinking motivations, and reluctance to use …

The Effect Of The Care Transitions Intervention On Ed Revisits And Outpatient Clinic Follow-Up Among Older Adults Who Live Alone, Clara V. Kuranz, Rebecca K. Green, Angela Gifford, Gwen C. Jacobsohn, Thomas V. Caprio, Amy L. Cochran, Jeremy T. Cushman, Courtney M.C. Jones, Amy J. H. Kind, Michael Lohmeier, Manish N. Shah

Journal of Geriatric Emergency Medicine

INTRODUCTION: Older adults frequently return to an emergency department (ED) within 30 days of an initial visit. In this study, we examined the effectiveness of an adapted Care Transitions Intervention (CTI) at reducing risk of ED revisits within 30 days for older adults who live alone. We also explored the interaction between receiving help with healthcare needs and receiving the CTI on the risk of 30-day ED revisits.

METHODS: We conducted a subgroup analysis of community-dwelling older (age≥60 years) ED patients who reported living alone as part of a randomized controlled trial of CTI effectiveness following discharge home from one …

Research To Accelerate Practice Change In Geriatric Emergency Medicine, Susan Hastings

Journal of Geriatric Emergency Medicine

This is the Keynote Address for the First American Geriatrics Society Geriatric Emergency Department Special Interest Group

Risk And Incidence Of Head And Neck Cancers In Veterans Living With Hiv And Matched Hiv-Negative Veterans, Angela L Mazul, Christine M Hartman, Yvonne M Mowery, Jennifer R Kramer, Donna L White, Kathryn E Royse, Suchismita Raychaudhury, Vlad C Sandulache, Sarah T Ahmed, Jose P Zevallos, Peter A Richardson, Andrew G Sikora, Elizabeth Y Chiao

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Persons living with HIV/AIDS have a higher incidence of virus-related and tobacco/alcohol-related cancers. This study is the first to estimate the effect of HIV versus HIV-negative veterans on the risk of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma incidence in a large retrospective cohort study.

METHODS: The authors constructed a retrospective cohort study using patient data from 1999 to 2016 from the National Veterans Administration Corporate Data Warehouse and the VA Central Cancer Registry. This cohort study included 45,052 veterans living with HIV/AIDS and 162,486 HIV-negative patients matched by age, sex, and index visit (i.e., HIV diagnosis date or clinic …

How Did The Dietary Habits Of Patients With Chronic Medical Conditions Change During Covid-19?, Sahil K. Patel, Adarsh Gupta

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

CONTEXT: Previous studies have examined the changes in the dietary habits of general populations during the COVID-19 pandemic but have not focused on specific populations such as those with chronic medical conditions (CMCs). Prior to major vaccination efforts, 96.1% of deaths were attributed to patients with preexisting CMCs, thus it is important to examine how this population has endured changes.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to identify differences in dietary habits, lifestyle habits, and food attitudes between those with CMCs compared to the populations without chronic medical conditions (non-CMCs) since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS: An …

Efficacy Of Various Interventions For Achieving Target Hba1c Levels For Patients With Type Ii Diabetes Mellitus And On Exogenous Insulin, Caitlin S. Welch, Archie Troxel

Longitudinal Scholar's Project

Objective: To learn the rates at which patients at UT Family Medicine–St. Francis (UTFM–SF) with type II diabetes mellitus are being prescribed recommended medications—namely metformin, sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, and glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP1RAs)—whether these rates correspond to the severity of hyperglycemia (as indicated by HbA1C level). A secondary goal of the study was to investigate if HbA1C levels are being checked at recommended intervals.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted using records of patients seen at the clinic in the previous four years between the ages of 18 and 65 who had visits with ICD …

Geriatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship Journal Club: Operational Changes For Recognizing Prevalent Delirium And Preventing Incident Delirium, Natalie M. Elder

Journal of Geriatric Emergency Medicine

N/A

Addressing Complex Primary Care Needs For An Older Man Recently Released From Incarceration With Multiple Emergency Department Visits., Saffia Bajwa, Ariba Khan, Michael L. Malone

Journal of Geriatric Emergency Medicine

Purpose: Older prisoners being released into the community need to be placed in a system to help them transition from living in prison to living in a free society. They must adapt in order to find housing, community services, medical, dental and psychiatric care. When the complex social needs of these persons are not fully met, the emergency department is used as a safety net.

Methods and Findings: This paper describes a patient who had multiple emergency department visits which was his routine method of seeking medical care.

Health Care Policy Implications: We believe that public health policy requiring …

Establishing A Sustainable Occupational Therapy Student-Led Pro Bono Clinic At The University Of Saint Augustine In Austin, Texas, Daija Chumley

Student Capstone Papers

Under-resourced and underserved communities across the United States experience significant health disparities. These communities lack access to valuable services resulting in health inequities that impinge on their health, quality of life, and engagement in meaningful occupations. There is a need for occupational therapy to provide valuable services to the under-resourced and underserved community to address the historical inequity that impacts their overall quality of life. Universities have the potential to fulfill the gaps within these communities by establishing a pro bono clinic. The purpose of this capstone project is to establish a sustainable occupational therapy pro bono clinic at the …

Improving Outreach With Stroke Patients After Discharge, Marsha Belen

Master's Projects and Capstones

Problem: The 90-day mRS post discharge call project aimed to improve the outreach in stroke patients treated with thrombolytics alone or in combination with mechanical endovascular reperfusion (MER) therapy. An audit of calls was completed and revealed a gap that a number of patients were not reached or did not receive a call attempt. Having a higher outreach provides useful feedback on the patient’s progress within 90-days of being discharged in relation to the effectiveness of the stroke treatment received according to the mRS.

Context: The Neuro Coordinator was responsible for making the 90-day post discharge call and worked in …

Improving The Delivery Of Discharge Instructions On The Postpartum Unit By Increasing The Nurses' Knowledge, Judy Anne Settles

Master's Projects and Capstones

Abstract

The field of nursing prides itself on two critical functions: safety and patient education. One of the mechanisms for both education and safety is the discharge process. Improvements in the discharge process have been shown to increase patient comprehension and safety. This study is grounded in the (Barach & Johnson, 2006) healthcare organizational framework called the 5 Ps microsystems assessment to explore the impacts and improvements in the discharge instruction process on a postpartum unit in a large organization. It was found that HCAHPS scores regarding discharge instructions were 55-60%, which is below what is considered satisfactory. Utilizing the …

No One Should Have To Give Birth Alone: An Analysis Of The Efficacy Of Community-Based Doula Programs Serving Ethnic Minorities In San Francisco, Maria Margaret Nelson

Master's Projects and Capstones

Adverse birth outcomes for both the parent and the child disproportionately affect people of color. Evidence demonstrates that one of the ways to mitigate these negative consequences is through the utilization of a doula, a trained birth companion that is not a medical provider but whose role it is to physically and emotionally support the patient through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Community-based doula programs, where the doula is of the same cultural background as the client, are particularly effective in improving birth outcomes in communities of color by providing culturally competent care and helping to navigate a healthcare system that …

Navigating Care Transitions For Older Adults In The Emergency Department When A Social Worker Is Unavailable, Rebecca Weeks, Kathy Sawasky, Adam Perry, Michael Malone

Journal of Geriatric Emergency Medicine

Some Emergency Departments do not have social worker staffing to assess high- risk older adults who have been identified. This is of particular concern in during care transitions for older patients who are at risk for poor health outcomes. We describe triggers for the emergency provider to recognize older patients at high risk and bundles of appropriate services and community supports to mitigate risk.

Intervention To Increase Home Preparation For Colonoscopies, Joshua Victor Stone

Master's Projects and Capstones

Abstract

Problem: Inpatient colonoscopies are costly to healthcare systems and inconvenient for eligible patients. The cost for a two-night inpatient bed is currently $4800.00 currently. The department manager led a five-month quality improvement project that was initiated in one 180-bed community medical center in Northern California to increase outpatient options, reduce the census and decrease the admission rate.

Context: Overburdened medical facilities often miss the opportunity to utilize ambulatory procedures due to competing operational priorities. In this setting, the Care Without Delay (CWD) department microsystem addresses barriers that impact operational throughput, efficiency, and unnecessary admissions.

Intervention: A …

Understanding Intelligent Non-Adherence By Measuring The Differences In Knowledge, Attitudes, Beliefs, And Behaviors Of Self-Care In Heart Failure Patients, Marco Mimbela

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Background and Purpose of the Study: Research shows that six in ten U.S. adults have a chronic disease and four in ten have two or more (CDC, 2018). Of all chronic diseases, heart failure is the leading cause of hospitalization and mortality in the U.S. (Kilgore, Patel, Kielhorn, Maya, & Sharma, 2017). Luckily, this condition can be managed through various self-care practices. Although healthcare providers are educating their patients on these self-care practices, patients are making a conscious decision to non-adhere. This phenomenon is known as intelligent non-adherence and is mostly affected by an individual’s level of knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, …

Provider Attitude Towards Postpartum Sexual Health, Katie Shearer, Pallavi Khanna

Longitudinal Scholar's Project

Background: The prevalence of female sexual dysfunction (FSD) worldwide is estimated to be 41%. FSD is even more prevalent in postpartum patients. There are significant barriers to addressing FSD in a busy clinic, and the use of a standardized screening questionnaire could be used to improve outcomes during postpartum appointments.

Methodology: Providers that care for postpartum patients at Regional One Health in Memphis, TN, were asked to complete an anonymous survey online. General knowledge and practices of providers were assessed.

Results: 79% of respondents answered that they felt very comfortable assessing for postpartum sexual health, and 88% …

Global Child And Family-Centered Care Fellowship, Education And Mentorship For Pediatric Healthcare Professionals: A Literature Review, Ashley Zheng, Bobbijo Pansier

Patient Experience Journal

Child- and family-centered care (FCC) is increasingly accepted and implemented to optimize the healthcare experience for patients, their families, and healthcare professionals. Standish Foundation for Children, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, has designed and piloted a fellowship to educate pediatric healthcare professionals in FCC & psychosocial care via an inquiry and mentorship model in Tbilisis, Georgia. This review aimed to evaluate and synthesize existing literature on psychosocial and FCC mentorship for pediatric healthcare professionals in four parts: ongoing need, effects on healthcare professionals, effects on children and their families and/or caregivers, and in cross-country healthcare settings. Reviewers searched open-source databases for articles …

Comparison Of Routine Health Screening Rates Between Two Emr Systems, Lauren M. Cancio, Caleb J. Berta

Longitudinal Scholar's Project

An EMR, electronic medical record, system refers to the software widely adopted by medical practitioners to reduce the use of hard-copy files, and improve the documentation, storage, and retrieval of patient information. Some EMR systems can generate automatic alerts reminding providers when patients are due for certain preventive services or meet the criteria for various screening measures. Epic, one of the leading EMR systems in use today, contains this additional feature. The screening recommendations built into Epic are derived from a committee of USPSTF, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, medical experts whose focus is to improve patient health across the …

Multicomponent Approach To Delirium Prevention In The Acute Care Setting: An Evidence-Based Quality Improvement Project., Kelley James

Doctor of Nursing Practice Papers

Background: Acutely ill, hospitalized individuals are at an increased likelihood of developing delirium. Between 30-35% of those patients admitted to the hospital will develop delirium, and as a result, these individuals will face an increased risk of mortality, adverse medical events, restraint usage, and incur a more extended hospitalization. The literature supports early screening utilizing the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) tool and nurse-driven, multicomponent interventions to aid in preventing its development.

Environment: This project was implemented in a long-term, acute care facility specializing in patients requiring long-term mechanical ventilation, advanced wound care, pulmonary and respiratory care, and the rehabilitation of …

Neonatal Developmental Care Makes Sense: Implementation Of An Evidence-Based Guideline For Developmentally Appropriate Multi-Modal Positive Sensory Exposures., Nicole Moseley Jaeger

Doctor of Nursing Practice Papers

Background: There is increasing awareness of the contribution of the neonatal intensive care (NICU) environment and the importance of developmental care (DC) interventions to long-term outcomes in high-risk infants. Care at the project site reflected that given at many hospitals, where positive sensory experiences and negative sensory mitigation are done but inconsistently. There was not a guideline in place for DC interventions.

Setting: The project site housed a newly renovated single-family room (SFR) NICU with 12 licensed Level II beds and ability to flex to 19 beds. Neonates at gestational ages ≥28 weeks, requiring critical care for a …

Real-World Matching Performance Of Deidentified Record-Linking Tokens, Elmer V Bernstam, Reuben Joseph Applegate, Alvin Yu, Deepa Chaudhari, Tian Liu, Alex Coda, Jonah Leshin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to evaluate tokens commonly used by clinical research consortia to aggregate clinical data across institutions.

METHODS: This study compares tokens alone and token-based matching algorithms against manual annotation for 20,002 record pairs extracted from the University of Texas Houston's clinical data warehouse (CDW) in terms of entity resolution.

RESULTS: The highest precision achieved was 99.9% with a token derived from the first name, last name, gender, and date-of-birth. The highest recall achieved was 95.5% with an algorithm involving tokens that reflected combinations of first name, last name, gender, date-of-birth, and social security number.

DISCUSSION: To protect …

The Patient-Centered Medical Home And The Value Of Heightened Care Coordination: A Systematic Literature Review, Garrett L. Vetter

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

Health care spending in the United States continues to increase at a pace that far exceeds inflation. Representing a greater proportion of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) than any other country, costs associated with health care services in the U.S. lend support to growing concern regarding the sustainability of current systems. Furthermore, the fragmented nature of the current landscape often presents challenges to the provision of high-quality and efficient care. Satisfaction among both patients and health care providers, alike, suffers under the weight of increasing regulatory burden, the lack of integrated medical records systems, and growing complexity among health …