Medical Specialties Commons^™

Use Of Best Practice Alerts To Improve Adherence To Evidence-Based Screening In Pediatric Diabetes Care, Daniel Desalvo, Sara K. Bartz, Blair Mockler, Rona Y. Sonabend

Journal of Nursing & Interprofessional Leadership in Quality & Safety

Background: Youth with type 1 diabetes (T1D) are at increased risk for comorbid autoimmune conditions and long-term complications. To help with early identification of these complications, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) has published evidence-based screening guidelines. The aim of our quality improvement intervention was to improve and sustain adherence to the ADA recommended screening guidelines to >90% for youth with T1D in the Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH) Diabetes Center by utilizing best practice alerts (BPA) within the electronic medical record (EMR).

Methods: In accordance with the ADA Standards of Care screening guidelines for youth with T1D, we analyzed the database …

Improving Nurse Anesthetist Intraoperative Handoff Process By Developing And Implementing An Evidence-Based, Facility-Specific Cognitive Aid, Jason Silva, Myron Arnaud

Journal of Nursing & Interprofessional Leadership in Quality & Safety

Miscommunication or non-transfer of pertinent patient information during intraoperative handoffs between anesthesia providers creates patient safety risks. An evidence-based facility-specific cognitive aid was developed and introduced to nurse anesthetists in an anesthesiology department of a large academic hospital with the aim of improving the intraoperative patient handoff process. The program used a handoff cognitive aid that addressed five pertinent patient information points. A secondary measure was evaluation of provider satisfaction. Twenty-four nurse anesthetists utilized the handoff cognitive aid during handoffs in the course of a 4-week pilot program. Eighty-eight nurse anesthetist handoffs were observed (23 with and 65 without the …