Primary Care Commons^™

Churning The Tides Of Care: When Nurse Turnover Makes Waves In Patient Access To Primary Care, Kelley Arredondo, Ashley M Hughes, Houston F Lester, Trang N D Pham, Laura A Petersen, Lechauncy Woodard, Richard Sorelle, Cheng Rebecca Jiang, Frederick L Oswald, Daniel R Murphy, Hilary N Touchett, Joshua Hamer, Sylvia J Hysong

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Team-based primary care (PC) enhances the quality of and access to health care. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) implements team-based care through Patient Aligned Care Teams (PACTs), consisting of four core members: a primary care provider, registered nurse (RN) care manager, licensed vocational nurse, and scheduling clerk. RNs play a central role: they coordinate patient care, manage operational needs, and serve as a patient point of contact. Currently, it is not known how varying levels of RN staffing on primary care teams impact patient outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to empirically assess how the stability of RN staffing within …

Impact Of Covid-19 Lockdown On Patient-Provider Electronic Communications, Michael A Hansen, Rebecca Chen, Jacqueline Hirth, James Langabeer, Roger Zoorob

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: SARS CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) impacted the practice of healthcare in the United States, with technology being used to facilitate access to care and reduce iatrogenic spread. Since then, patient message volume to primary care providers has increased. However, the volume and trend of electronic communications after lockdown remain poorly described in the literature.

METHODS: All incoming inbox items (telephone calls, refill requests, and electronic messages) sent to providers from patients amongst four primary care clinics were collected. Inbox item rates were calculated as a ratio of items per patient encountered each week. Trends in inbox rates were assessed during …

Imprecise Clinical Assessments And Inaccurate Grades: Family Medicine Clerkship Director Perspectives, Arindam Sarkar, Joel J Heidelbaugh, Gage Hallbauer, Nital Appelbaum

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: As application to residency programs becomes increasingly competitive, educational leaders face growing student concern about imprecise clinical assessments and clerkship grades.

METHODS: As part of a large annual survey of family medicine clerkship directors (FMCDs), 10 questions were disseminated in May 2023 about perceived levels of imprecise assessments by faculty. We aimed to determine to what extent respondents felt their institution's evaluation system propagated inaccurate grading.

RESULTS: A total of 52% of 169 FMCDs responded to the survey. Of these, 7% of respondents were completely confident that their preceptors would give two students of identical competence the …

Human Platelet Lysate Enhances In Vivo Activity Of Car-Vδ2 T Cells By Reducing Cellular Senescence And Apoptosis, Feiyan Mo, Chiou-Tsun Tsai, Rong Zheng, Chonghui Cheng, Helen E Heslop, Malcolm K Brenner, Maksim Mamonkin, Norihiro Watanabe

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND AIMS: Vγ9Vδ2 T cells are an attractive cell platform for the off-the-shelf cancer immunotherapy as the result of their lack of alloreactivity and inherent multi-pronged cytotoxicity, which could be further amplified with chimeric antigen receptors (CARs). In this study, we sought to enhance the in vivo longevity of CAR-Vδ2 T cells by modulating ex vivo manufacturing conditions and selecting an optimal CAR costimulatory domain.

METHODS: Specifically, we compared the anti-tumor activity of Vδ2 T cells expressing anti-CD19 CARs with costimulatory endodomains derived from CD28, 4-1BB or CD27 and generated in either standard fetal bovine serum (FBS)- or human platelet …

Asynchronous Online Training Increased Knowledge, Confidence, And Intent To Screen And Treat Substance Use Disorders Among Primary Care Clinicians Practicing In Texas, Roger Zoorob, Sung In Kim-Vences, Jacqueline M Hirth, Kylie Schaper, Larissa Grigoryan, Sandra Gonzalez, Alicia Kowalchuk

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Introduction: Despite increasing prevalence of substance use disorders (SUD), few patients are diagnosed and treated in primary care settings. This study evaluated changes in knowledge, confidence, and intention to implement screening and brief intervention (SBI) and SUD treatment after clinicians participated in an asynchronous online education course.

Methods: A self-selected sample of primary care clinicians in Texas participated in online SBI and SUD education March 2021-July 2023. Baseline and post-training surveys evaluated changes in knowledge, confidence, and intent to implement SBI and SUD treatment. Changes were compared using paired t-tests. Multivariable linear regression examined factors potentially associated with confidence and …

An Electronic Health Record Model For Predicting Risk Of Hepatic Fibrosis In Primary Care Patients, Aaron P Thrift, Theresa H Nguyen Wenker, Kyler Godwin, Maya Balakrishnan, Hao T Duong, Rohit Loomba, Fasiha Kanwal, Hashem B El-Serag

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: One challenge for primary care providers caring for patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is to identify those at the highest risk for clinically significant liver disease.

AIM: To derive a risk stratification tool using variables from structured electronic health record (EHR) data for use in populations which are disproportionately affected with obesity and diabetes.

METHODS: We used data from 344 participants who underwent Fibroscan examination to measure liver fat and liver stiffness measurement [LSM]. Using two approaches, multivariable logistic regression and random forest classification, we assessed risk factors for any hepatic fibrosis (LSM > 7 kPa) and significant hepatic …

Challenges And Implications For Substance Use And Mental Healthcare Among Under-Resourced Women In The Covid-19 Era, Maria C Mejia, Alicia Kowalchuk, Sandra J Gonzalez, Muktha Nair, Lisa Webb, Nadine Scamp

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated disparities in mental healthcare and substance use disorder (SUD) treatment access, especially in under-resourced communities. This study aimed to comprehend the experiences of under-resourced women with SUD during the pandemic, their knowledge and attitudes toward it, and its impact on substance use and treatment access.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study included 66 under-resourced women receiving medically managed withdrawal treatment at a community residential SUD center. Data collection occurred between November 2021 and August 2022, utilizing a 75-item instrument covering COVID-19 exposure and its impact on health, substance use, treatment access, vaccination status, beliefs, and knowledge. Descriptive …

Factors Associated With Intention To Implement Sbi And Sud Treatment: A Survey Of Primary Care Clinicians In Texas Enrolled In An Online Course, Alicia Kowalchuk, Tiffany G Ostovar-Kermani, Kylie Schaper, Larissa Grigoryan, Jacqueline M Hirth, Maria Carmenza Mejia, Kiara K Spooner, Roger J Zoorob

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Substance use disorder (SUD) presents a range of public health challenges and consequences. Despite the prevention potential of screening and brief intervention (SBI) in the primary care setting, implementation is low. The purpose of this study was to assess associations of primary care clinicians' knowledge of SBI and SUD treatment, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control with intention to incorporate SBI and SUD treatment into regular clinical practice.

METHODS: This online survey was administered to primary care clinicians who practice in Texas between March 1, 2021, and February 5, 2023. Survey questions were mapped to factors in the Theory …

Storylines Of Family Medicine Xii: Family Medicine And The Healthcare System, William B Ventres, Leslie A Stone, Jeannette E South-Paul, Kendall M Campbell, Aerial R Petty, Hima Ekanadham, Kurt C Stange, Rebecca S Etz, William L Miller, Robert L Ferrer, Marianna Kong, Thomas Bodenheimer, Roger Strasser, Sharon C M Reece, Joshua Freeman, John M Westfall

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Storylines of Family Medicine is a 12-part series of thematically linked mini-essays with accompanying illustrations that explore the many dimensions of family medicine, as interpreted by individual family physicians and medical educators in the USA and elsewhere around the world. In ‘XII: Family medicine and the future of the healthcare system’, authors address the following themes: ‘Leadership in family medicine’, ‘Becoming an academic family physician’, ‘Advocare—our call to act’, ‘The paradox of primary care and three simple rules’, ‘The quadruple aim—melding the patient and the health system’, ‘Fit-for-purpose medical workforce’, ‘Universal healthcare—coverage for all’, ‘The futures of family …

Lack Of Knowledge Of Antibiotic Risks Contributes To Primary Care Patients' Expectations Of Antibiotics For Common Symptoms, Lindsey A Laytner, Barbara W Trautner, Susan Nash, Roger Zoorob, Jennifer O Okoh, Eva Amenta, Kiara Olmeda, Juanita Salinas, Michael K Paasche-Orlow, Larissa Grigoryan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Patient expectations of receiving antibiotics for common symptoms can trigger unnecessary use. We conducted a survey (n = 564) between January 2020 to June 2021 in public and private primary care clinics in Texas to study the prevalence and predictors of patients' antibiotic expectations for common symptoms/illnesses. We surveyed Black patients (33%) and Hispanic/Latine patients (47%), and over 93% expected to receive an antibiotic for at least 1 of the 5 pre-defined symptoms/illnesses. Public clinic patients were nearly twice as likely to expect antibiotics for sore throat, diarrhea, and cold/flu than private clinic patients. Lack of knowledge of potential risks …

Situations Predisposing Primary Care Patients To Use Antibiotics Without A Prescription In The United States, Lindsey A Laytner, Barbara W Trautner, Susan Nash, Fabrizia Faustinella, Roger Zoorob, Kiara Olmeda, Michael K Paasche-Orlow, Larissa Grigoryan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Patients' situations can impact their intentions to use antibiotics without medical guidance (non-prescription use) in the future. This survey determines the prevalence of intended (future) use of non-prescription antibiotics for 13 predefined situations and identifies the sociodemographic characteristics associated with intended use for these types of situations.

METHODS: Patient surveys (N = 564) were conducted from January 2020 to June 2021 in the waiting rooms of 6 safety-net primary care clinics and 2 emergency departments in a private healthcare system. We used principal component analysis to identify 3 situational summary factors: barriers to a doctor visit, accessibility of non-prescription …

Association Of The Covid-19 Pandemic With Women, Infants, And Children (Wic) Receipt Among Pregnant Individuals: United States, 2016-2022, Savannah Busch, Jennifer A Andersen, Don E Willis, Pearl Anna Mcelfish, Sharon Reece, Dominique Dubois, Clare C Brown

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Objectives. To evaluate the effect of COVID-19 on Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) receipt among pregnant individuals overall and by race/ethnicity.

Methods. We measured changes in WIC receipt among Medicaid-covered births (n = 10 484 697) from the US National Center for Health Statistics Natality Files (2016–2022). Our interrupted time series logistic model included a continuous monthly variable, a binary post-COVID variable, and a continuous slope shift variable. We additionally fit separate models for each race/ethnicity relative to White individuals, using interaction terms between the time series variables and race/ethnicity.

Results. We found decreases in …

Study Protocol: Maintaining Preventive Care During Public Health Emergencies Through Effective Coordination, Sylvia J Hysong, Traber Davis Giardina, Jennifer Freytag, Richard Sorelle, Daniel R Murphy, Jeffrey A Cully, Yvonne H Sada, Amber B Amspoker

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Screening lies at the heart of preventive care. However, COVID-19 dramatically disrupted routine screening efforts, resulting in excess mortality not directly attributable to COVID-19. Screening rates during COVID varied markedly by facility and clinical condition, suggesting susceptibilities in screening and referral process workflow. To better understand these susceptibilities and identify new practices to mitigate interrupted care, we propose a qualitative study comparing facilities that exhibited high, low, and highly variable performance (respectively) in screening rates before and during the pandemic. We will be guided by Weaver et al.'s multi-team systems (MTS) model of coordination, using cancer and mental health …

Current Programs And Incentives To Overcome Rural Physician Shortages In The United States: A Narrative Review, Kelley Arredondo, Hilary N Touchett, Sundas Khan, Matthew Vincenti, Bradley V Watts

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Access to healthcare continues to be a top priority and prominent challenge in rural communities, with 20% of the total U.S. population living in rural areas while only 10% of physicians practice in rural areas. In response to physician shortages, a variety of programs and incentives have been implemented to recruit and retain physicians in rural areas; however, less is known about the types and structures of incentives that are offered in rural areas and how that compares to physician shortages. The purpose of our study is to conduct a narrative review of the literature to identify and compare current …

Electronic Health Records' Support For Primary Care Physicians' Situation Awareness: A Metanarrative Review, April Savoy, Himalaya Patel, Daniel R Murphy, Ashley N D Meyer, Jennifer Herout, Hardeep Singh

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVE: Situation awareness (SA) refers to people's perception and understanding of their dynamic environment. In primary care, reduced SA among physicians increases errors in clinical decision-making and, correspondingly, patients' risk of experiencing adverse outcomes. Our objective was to understand the extent to which electronic health records (EHRs) support primary care physicians (PCPs)' SA during clinical decision-making.

METHOD: We conducted a metanarrative review of papers in selected academic databases, including CINAHL and MEDLINE. Eligible studies included original peer-reviewed research published between January 2012 and August 2020 on PCP-EHR interactions. We iteratively queried, screened, and summarized literature focused on EHRs supporting PCPs' …

Agreement Between Patient’S Description Of Abdominal Symptoms Of Possible Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer And General Practitioner Consultation Notes: A Qualitative Analysis Of Video-Recorded Uk Primary Care Consultation Data, Victoria Hardy, Juliet Usher-Smith, Stephanie Archer, Rebecca Barnes, John Lancaster, Margaret Johnson, Matthew Thompson, Jon Emery, Hardeep Singh, Fiona M Walter

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Introduction: Abdominal symptoms are common in primary care but infrequently might be due to an upper gastrointestinal (UGI) cancer. Patients' descriptions may differ from medical terminology used by general practitioners (GPs). This may affect how information about abdominal symptoms possibly due to an UGI cancer are documented, creating potential missed opportunities for timely investigation.

Objectives: To explore how abdominal symptoms are communicated during primary care consultations, and identify characteristics of patients' descriptions that underpin variation in the accuracy and completeness with which they are documented in medical records.

Methods and analysis: Primary care consultation video recordings, transcripts and medical records …

Climate Change As A Social Determinant Of Health: An Interactive Case-Based Learning Activity, Arindam Sarkar, Nital P Appelbaum, Rathi Asaithambi, Connie Tran, Doris Lin, Anjali Aggarwal, Stephanie Nguyen

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

INTRODUCTION: Despite consensus on climate change's impact on humans, medical schools have not widely adopted inclusion of environmental topics into their mandatory curriculum. This educational activity explicitly addresses climate change as one of the environmental determinants of health (EDH).

METHODS: We developed a required, 1-hour module for all first-year medical students. This interactive, case-based, small-group activity was incorporated into a curriculum within an advising program but could be run independently. Before and after the session, participants completed evaluations assessing knowledge gains and attitude shifts.

RESULTS: Of 183 first-year students, 155 completed both pre- and postmodule surveys. Participants' rating increased on …

Clinical Hypoxemia Score For Outpatient Child Pneumonia Care Lacking Pulse Oximetry In Africa And South Asia, Holly B Schuh, Shubhada Hooli, Salahuddin Ahmed, Carina King, Arunangshu D Roy, Norman Lufesi, Asmd Ashraful Islam, Tisungane Mvalo, Nabidul H Chowdhury, Amy Sarah Ginsburg, Tim Colbourn, William Checkley, Abdullah H Baqui, Eric D Mccollum

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Pulse oximeters are not routinely available in outpatient clinics in low- and middle-income countries. We derived clinical scores to identify hypoxemic child pneumonia.

METHODS: This was a retrospective pooled analysis of two outpatient datasets of 3-35 month olds with World Health Organization (WHO)-defined pneumonia in Bangladesh and Malawi. We constructed, internally validated, and compared fit & discrimination of four models predicting SpO

RESULTS: 12,712 observations were included. The independent and composite LASSO models discriminated moderately (both C-statistic 0.77) between children with a SpO

CONCLUSIONS: In the absence of pulse oximeters, both LASSO models better identified outpatient hypoxemic pneumonia cases …

Reward Sensitivity Predicts The Response To Cognitive Behavioral Therapy For Children With Autism And Anxiety, Matthew J Hollocks, Jeffrey J Wood, Eric A Storch, An-Chuen Cho, Connor M Kerns, Philip C Kendall

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Objective: Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for anxiety in youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, research has yet to examine what cognitive characteristics may influence treatment response. The current study investigated decision-making ability and social cognition as potential (a) predictors of differential treatment response to two versions of CBT and (b) moderators of the effect of treatment condition.

Method: The study included 148 children (mean age = 9.8 years) with interfering anxiety and a diagnosis of ASD who were enrolled in a randomized clinical trial comparing two versions of CBT for anxiety (standard and adapted for ASD). …

What Can We Learn From Covid-19?: Examining The Resilience Of Primary Care Teams, Ashley M Hughes, Kelley Arredondo, Houston F Lester, Frederick L Oswald, Trang N D Pham, Cheng Jiang, Sylvia J Hysong

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic continues to place an unprecedented strain on the US healthcare system, and primary care is no exception. Primary care services have shifted toward a team-based approach for delivering care in the last decade. COVID-19 placed extraordinary stress on primary care teams at the forefront of the pandemic response efforts. The current work applies the science of effective teams to examine the impact of COVID-19-a crisis or adverse event-on primary care team resilience.

METHODS: Little empirical research has been done testing the theory of team resilience during an extremely adverse crisis event in an applied team setting. …

Human Papillomavirus Dose Reminder Preferences Among Parents From A Diverse Clinical Sample: A Qualitative Study, Jacqueline M Hirth, Kayla A Eboreime, Leslie E Cofie, Richard E Rupp, Abbey B Berenson

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Reminders are an important method for encouraging patients to return for follow-up visits, such as for successive doses of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. However, patients may have preferences for different types of reminders. This study examined which reminder methods parents of pediatric patients found most useful and their thoughts on how the reminders helped them to complete their children's HPV vaccine series. This qualitative study was conducted on a purposively sampled group of parents who participated in a multi-level intervention intended to improve uptake and completion of the HPV vaccine series. Parents who agreed to participate were interviewed by …

Stakeholder Engagement In Eight Comparative Effectiveness Trials In African Americans And Latinos With Asthma, Tiffany Dy, Winifred J Hamilton, C Bradley Kramer, Andrea Apter, Jerry A Krishnan, James W Stout, Stephen J Teach, Alex Federman, John Elder, Tyra Bryant-Stephens, Rebecca J Bruhl, Shawni Jackson, Kaharu Sumino

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: The effects of stakeholder engagement, particularly in comparative effectiveness trials, have not been widely reported. In 2014, eight comparative effectiveness studies targeting African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos with uncontrolled asthma were funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) as part of its Addressing Disparities Program. Awardees were required to meaningfully involve patients and other stakeholders. Using specific examples, we describe how these stakeholders substantially changed the research protocols and in other ways participated meaningfully as full partners in the development and conduct of the eight studies.

METHODS: Using the method content analysis of cases, we identified themes regarding the …

Prevalence And Predictors Of Urine Culture Contamination In Primary Care: A Cross-Sectional Study, Michael A Hansen, Marissa Valentine-King, Roger Zoorob, Matthew Schlueter, Jennifer L Matas, Samuel E Willis, Lisa C K Danek, Kenneth L Muldrew, Mohammad Zare, Forrest Hudson, Robert L Atmar, Andrew Chou, Barbara W Trautner, Larissa Grigoryan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial resistance is a global health threat. To slow resistance and preserve antibiotics, stewardship interventions are increasingly promoted and mandated. Urine cultures are the most common microbiological test in the outpatient setting. Contamination most likely occurs during urine collection from surrounding vaginal, perineal, and epidermal flora. Sample contamination can lead to incorrect diagnosis, unnecessary or inappropriate treatment, poor patient outcomes, and higher costs. Therefore, ensuring proper collection of urinary samples serves as a prime diagnostic stewardship target, one that international nursing societies increasingly endorse as an opportunity for nurse involvement.

OBJECTIVES: Determine the prevalence, predictors, and antibiotic prescribing associated …

Envisioning Future Urinary Tract Infection Diagnostics, Robin Patel, Christopher R Polage, Jennifer Dien Bard, Larissa May, Francesca M Lee, Valeria Fabre, Mary K Hayden, Sarah D B Doernberg, David A Haake, Barbara W Trautner, Larissa Grigoryan, Ephraim L Tsalik, Kimberly E Hanson

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common bacterial infections in the United States and are a major driver of antibiotic use, both appropriate and inappropriate, across healthcare settings. Novel UTI diagnostics are a strategy that might enable better UTI treatment. Members of the Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group Laboratory Center and the Infectious Diseases Society of America Diagnostics Committee convened to envision ideal future UTI diagnostics, with a view towards improving delivery of healthcare, patient outcomes and experiences, and antibiotic use, addressing which types of UTI diagnostics are needed and how companies might approach development of novel UTI diagnostics.

A Survey On Self-Medication For The Prevention Or Treatment Of Covid-19 And Distrust In Healthcare Of Veterans In A Primary Care Setting In The United States, Eva Amenta, Larissa Grigoryan, Laura Dillon, Casey Hines-Munson, John Van, Barbara Trautner

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic brought the public overwhelming and conflicting information. Rates of trust in healthcare professionals have been declining among laypersons over the past five decades. In this setting, we sought to evaluate the use of medications, both with or without a prescription, to prevent and treat SARS-CoV-2 as well as trust in healthcare among patients in a primary care clinic.

DESIGN: We surveyed 150 veterans in primary care clinic waiting rooms at a large southwestern tertiary care Veterans Affairs hospital. This survey was performed in March-November 2021.

METHODS: The survey asked about respondents' demographics, use of medications, …

An Evidence-Based, Structured, Expert Approach To Selecting Essential Indicators Of Primary Care Quality, Sylvia J Hysong, Kelley Arredondo, Ashley M Hughes, Houston F Lester, Frederick L Oswald, Laura A Petersen, Lechauncy Woodard, Edward Post, Shelly Deperalta, Daniel R Murphy, Jason Mcknight, Karin Nelson, Paul Haidet

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this article is to illustrate the application of an evidence-based, structured performance measurement methodology to identify, prioritize, and (when appropriate) generate new measures of health care quality, using primary care as a case example. Primary health care is central to the health care system and health of the American public; thus, ensuring high quality is essential. Due to its complexity, ensuring high-quality primary care requires measurement frameworks that can assess the quality of the infrastructure, workforce configurations, and processes available. This paper describes the use of the Productivity Measurement and Enhancement System (ProMES) to compile a …

Analysis Of Recurrent Urinary Tract Infection Management In Women Seen In Outpatient Settings Reveals Opportunities For Antibiotic Stewardship Interventions, Marissa A Valentine-King, Barbara W Trautner, Roger J Zoorob, George Germanos, Michael Hansen, Jason L Salemi, Kalpana Gupta, Larissa Grigoryan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVES: We characterized antibiotic prescribing patterns and management practices among recurrent urinary tract infection (rUTI) patients, and we identified factors associated with lack of guideline adherence to antibiotic choice, duration of treatment, and urine cultures obtained. We hypothesized that prior resistance to nitrofurantoin or trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX), shorter intervals between rUTIs, and more frequent rUTIs would be associated with fluoroquinolone or β-lactam prescribing, or longer duration of therapy.

METHODS: This study was a retrospective database study of adult women with

RESULTS: Among 214 patients with 566 visits, 61.5% of prescriptions comprised first-line agents of nitrofurantoin (39.7%) and TMP-SMX (21.5%), followed by …

The Five Ds Of Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship For Urinary Tract Infections, Melanie C Goebel, Barbara W Trautner, Larissa Grigoryan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Urinary tract infections (UTI) are one of the most common indications for antibiotic prescriptions in the outpatient setting. Given rising rates of antibiotic resistance among uropathogens, antibiotic stewardship is critically needed to improve outpatient antibiotic use, including in outpatient clinics (primary care and specialty clinics) and emergency departments. Outpatient clinics are in general a neglected practice area in antibiotic stewardship programs, yet most antibiotic use in the United States is in the outpatient setting. This article provides a comprehensive review of antibiotic stewardship strategies for outpatient UTI in the adult population, with a focus on the "five Ds" of stewardship …

Case-Based Audit And Feedback Around A Decision Aid Improved Antibiotic Choice And Duration For Uncomplicated Cystitis In Primary Care Clinics, Larissa Grigoryan, Roger Zoorob, George Germanos, Mohamad Sidani, Matthew Horsfield, Fareed Khan, Mohammad Zare, Melanie Goebel, Robert Atmar, Barbara Trautner

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVES: The objective of our study was to evaluate the impact of a multifaceted stewardship intervention on adherence to the evidence-based practice guidelines on treatment of uncomplicated cystitis in primary care. We hypothesised that our intervention would increase guideline adherence in terms of antibiotic choice and duration of treatment.

DESIGN: A preintervention and postintervention comparison with a contemporaneous control group was performed. During the first two study periods, we obtained baseline data and performed interviews exploring provider prescribing decisions for cystitis at both clinics. During the third period in the intervention clinic only, the intervention included a didactic lecture, a …

Improving Student Confidence With Electronic Health Record Order Entry, Arindam Sarkar, Anjali Aggarwal, Larissa Grigoryan, Susan G Nash, Nidhi Mehrotra, Roger J Zoorob, William Y Huang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

INTRODUCTION: Despite near-universal utilization of electronic health records (EHRs) by physicians in practice, medical students in most ambulatory settings gain limited experience with placing EHR orders. In this study, an individual preceptor site investigated the usefulness of a targeted curriculum in improving students' EHR confidence and clinical reasoning skills.

METHODS: Family medicine clerkship students assigned to one community health center were invited to participate in this prospective, survey-based study. In their first week, students observed a preceptor performing EHR tasks. For the remainder of the 4-week clerkship, students utilized decision support tools, assigned a working diagnosis, entered unsigned orders in …