scholarly journals Examining Workflow in a Pediatric Emergency Department to Develop a Clinical Decision Support for an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program

2018 ◽  
Vol 09 (02) ◽  
pp. 248-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mustafa Ozkaynak ◽  
Danny Wu ◽  
Katia Hannah ◽  
Peter Dayan ◽  
Rakesh Mistry

Background Clinical decision support (CDS) embedded into the electronic health record (EHR), is a potentially powerful tool for institution of antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) in emergency departments (EDs). However, design and implementation of CDS systems should be informed by the existing workflow to ensure its congruence with ED practice, which is characterized by erratic workflow, intermittent computer interactions, and variable timing of antibiotic prescription. Objective This article aims to characterize ED workflow for four provider types, to guide future design and implementation of an ED-based ASP using the EHR. Methods Workflow was systematically examined in a single, tertiary-care academic children's hospital ED. Clinicians with four roles (attending, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, resident) were observed over a 3-month period using a tablet computer-based data collection tool. Structural observations were recorded by investigators, and classified using a predetermined set of activities. Clinicians were queried regarding timing of diagnosis and disposition decision points. Results A total of 23 providers were observed for 90 hours. Sixty-four different activities were captured for a total of 6,060 times. Among these activities, nine were conducted at different frequency or time allocation across four roles. Moreover, we identified differences in sequential patterns across roles. Decision points, whereby clinicians then proceeded with treatment, were identified 127 times. The most common decision points identified were: (1) after/during examining or talking to patient or relative; (2) after talking to a specialist; and (3) after diagnostic test/image was resulted and discussed with patient/family. Conclusion The design and implementation of CDS for ASP should support clinicians in various provider roles, despite having different workflow patterns. The clinicians make their decisions about treatment at different points of overall care delivery practice; likewise, the CDS should also support decisions at different points of care.

2018 ◽  
Vol 59 (6) ◽  
pp. 1024-1033 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mustafa Ozkaynak ◽  
Blaine Reeder ◽  
Cynthia Drake ◽  
Peter Ferrarone ◽  
Barbara Trautner ◽  
...  

Abstract Background and Objectives Clinical decision support systems (CDSS) hold promise to influence clinician behavior at the point of care in nursing homes (NHs) and improving care delivery. However, the success of these interventions depends on their fit with workflow. The purpose of this study was to characterize workflow in NHs and identify implications of workflow for the design and implementation of CDSS in NHs. Research Design and Methods We conducted a descriptive study at 2 NHs in a metropolitan area of the Mountain West Region of the United States. We characterized clinical workflow in NHs, conducting 18 observation sessions and interviewing 15 staff members. A multilevel work model guided our data collection and framework method guided data analysis. Results The qualitative analysis revealed specific aspects of multilevel workflow in NHs: (a) individual, (b) work group/unit, (c) organization, and (d) industry levels. Data analysis also revealed several additional themes regarding workflow in NHs: centrality of ongoing relationships of staff members with the residents to care delivery in NHs, resident-centeredness of care, absence of memory aids, and impact of staff members’ preferences on work activities. We also identified workflow-related differences between the two settings. Discussion and Implications Results of this study provide a rich understanding of the characteristics of workflow in NHs at multiple levels. The design of CDSS in NHs should be informed by factors at multiple levels as well as the emergent processes and contextual factors. This understanding can allow for incorporating workflow considerations into CDSS design and implementation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S163-S164
Author(s):  
Tiffany Wu ◽  
Susan L Davis ◽  
Susan L Davis ◽  
Brian Church ◽  
George J Alangaden ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Our antimicrobial stewardship program identified high rates of suboptimal metronidazole prescribing for Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) within ambulatory clinics. An outpatient best practice advisory (BPA) was implemented to notify prescribers “Vancomycin or fidaxomicin are preferred over metronidazole for C.difficile infection” when metronidazole was prescribed to a patient with CDI. Methods We conducted an IRB approved quasi-experiment before and after implementation of the BPA on June 3, 2020. Inclusion: Adult patients diagnosed with and treated for a first episode of symptomatic CDI at an ambulatory clinic between 11/1/2019 and 11/30/2020. Exclusion: fulminant CDI. Primary endpoint: guideline-concordant CDI therapy, defined as oral vancomycin or fidaxomicin. Oral metronidazole was considered guideline-concordant if prescribed due to cost barrier. Secondary endpoints: reasons for alternative CDI therapy, patient outcomes, prescriber response to the BPA. Descriptive and bivariate analyses were completed. Results 189 patients were included in the study, 92 before and 97 after the BPA. Median age: 59 years, 31% male, 75% Caucasian, 30% with CDI-related comorbidities, 35% with healthcare exposure, 65% with antibiotic exposure, 44% with gastric acid suppression therapy within 90 days of CDI diagnosis. The BPA was accepted 23 out of 26 times and optimized the therapy of 16 patients in six months. Guideline-concordant therapy increased after implementation of the BPA (72% vs. 91%, p=0.001) (Figure 1). Vancomycin prescribing increased and metronidazole prescribing decreased after the BPA (Figure 2). Reasons for alternative CDI therapy included medication cost, lack of insurance coverage, and non-CDI infection. There was no difference in clinical response or unplanned encounter within 14 days after treatment initiation. Fewer patients after the BPA had CDI recurrence within 14-56 days of the initial episode (27% vs. 7%, p< 0.001). Figure 1. Guideline-concordant CDI therapy Figure 2. Specific CDI therapy Conclusion Clinical decision support increased prescribing of guideline-concordant CDI therapy in the outpatient setting. A targeted BPA is an effective stewardship intervention and may be especially useful in settings with limited antimicrobial stewardship resources. Disclosures Susan L. Davis, PharmD, Nothing to disclose Rachel Kenney, PharmD, Medtronic, Inc. (Other Financial or Material Support, spouse is an employee and shareholder)


2013 ◽  
Vol 04 (04) ◽  
pp. 556-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.M. Warhurst ◽  
S.S. Smith ◽  
E.G. Cox ◽  
A.S. Crumby ◽  
K.R. Nichols ◽  
...  

SummaryObjective: Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) help meet quality and safety goals with regard to antimicrobial use. Prior to CPOE implementation, the ASP at our pediatric tertiary hospital developed a paper-based order set containing recommendations for optimization of dosing. In adapting our ASP for CPOE, we aimed to preserve consistency in our ASP recommendations and expand ASP expertise to other hospitals in our health system.Methods: Nine hospitals in our health system adopted pediatric CPOE and share a common domain (Cerner Millenium™). ASP clinicians developed sixty individual electronic order sets (vendor reference PowerPlans™) to be used independently or as part of larger electronic order sets. Analysis of incidents reported during CPOE implementation and medication variances reports was used to determine the effectiveness of the ASP adaptation.Results: 769 unique PowerPlans™ were used 15,889 times in the first 30 days after CPOE implementation. Of these, 43 were PowerPlans™ included in the ASP design and were used a total of 1149 times (7.2% of all orders). During CPOE implementation, 437 incidents were documented, 1.1% of which were associated with ASP content or workflow. Additionally, analysis of medication variance following CPOE implementation showed that ASP errors accounted for 2.9% of total medication variances.Discussion: ASP content and workflow accounted for proportionally fewer incidents than expected as compared to equally complex and frequently used CPOE content.Conclusions: Well-defined ASP recommendations and modular design strengthened successful CPOE implementation, as well as the adoption of specialized pediatric ASP expertise with other facilities.Citation: Webber EC, Warhurst HM, Smith SS, Cox EG, Crumby AS, Nichols KR. Conversion of a single-facility pediatric antimicrobial stewardship program to multifacility application with computerized provider order entry and clinical decision support. Appl Clin Inf 2013; 4: 556–568 http://dx.doi.org/10.4338/ACI-2013-07-RA-0054


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S60-S60
Author(s):  
Andrew B Watkins ◽  
Trevor C Van Schooneveld ◽  
Craig Reha ◽  
Jayme Anderson ◽  
Kelley McGinnis ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Our Antimicrobial Stewardship Program (ASP) instituted review of patients on antibiotics with procalcitonin (PCT) < 0.25 mcg/L in 2012. In 2018, a clinical decision support (CDS) tool was implemented as part of a “daily checklist” for frontline pharmacists to assist in this patient review. We sought to validate the effectiveness of this tool for pharmacist-led PCT-based antibiotic stewardship. Methods A retrospective cohort design was used to assess antibiotic de-escalation after PCT alert in patients on antibiotics for lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI). Secondary outcomes included antibiotic use and length of stay (LOS) in patients with PCT interventions vs those without. Results From 1/2019 to 11/2019, 652 of 976 (66.8%) PCT alerts were addressed by pharmacists. Of these, 331 were in patients with a respiratory-related diagnosis at discharge and 165 alerts were in patients on antibiotics specifically for LRTI over 119 encounters. Pharmacists made or attempted interventions after 34 (20.6%) of these alerts, with narrowing spectrum or converting to oral therapy being the most common interventions. Antibiotics were completely stopped in 4 of these interventions (11.8%). Patients with pharmacist intervention had 125 fewer antibiotic days of therapy (DOT) in the hospital, and changes were made to an additional 56 DOT (narrower therapy, IV to PO, dose optimization) following the alert. Two cases (5.9%) subsequently had therapy escalated within 48 hours. Vancomycin was the most commonly discontinued antibiotic with an 85.3% use reduction in patients with interventions compared to 27.4% discontinuation in patients with no documented intervention (p=0.0156). Alerts eligible for de-escalation but with no pharmacist intervention represented 140 DOT. LOS was similar in patients from both groups (median 6.4 days vs. 7 days, p=0.81). Conclusion Interventions driven by a CDS tool for pharmacist-driven antimicrobial stewardship in patients with normal PCT resulted in fewer DOT and significantly higher rates of vancomycin discontinuation. Additional interventions could have potentially prevented 140 DOT. We feel refinement of this tool can lead to more meaningful CDS, reduce alert fatigue, and likely increase intervention rates. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures


2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (10) ◽  
pp. 679-684 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riane J. Ghamrawi ◽  
Alexander Kantorovich ◽  
Seth R. Bauer ◽  
Andrea M. Pallotta ◽  
Jennifer K. Sekeres ◽  
...  

Background: Information technology, including clinical decision support systems (CDSS), have an increasingly important and growing role in identifying opportunities for antimicrobial stewardship–related interventions. Objective: The aim of this study was to describe and compare types and outcomes of CDSS-built antimicrobial stewardship alerts. Methods: Fifteen alerts were evaluated in the initial antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) review. Preimplementation, alerts were reviewed retrospectively. Postimplementation, alerts were reviewed in real-time. Data collection included total number of actionable alerts, recommendation acceptance rates, and time spent on each alert. Time to de-escalation to narrower spectrum agents was collected. Results: In total, 749 alerts were evaluated. Overall, 306 (41%) alerts were actionable (173 preimplementation, 133 postimplementation). Rates of actionable alerts were similar for custom-built and prebuilt alert types (39% [53 of 135] vs 41% [253 of 614], P = .68]. In the postimplementation group, an intervention was attempted in 97% of actionable alerts and 70% of interventions were accepted. The median time spent per alert was 7 minutes (interquartile range [IQR], 5-13 minutes; 15 [12-17] minutes for actionable alerts vs 6 [5-7] minutes for nonactionable alerts, P < .001). In cases where the antimicrobial was eventually de-escalated, the median time to de-escalation was 28.8 hours (95% confidence interval [CI], 10.0-69.1 hours) preimplementation vs 4.7 hours (95% CI, 2.4-22.1 hours) postimplementation, P < .001. Conclusions: CDSS have played an important role in ASPs to help identify opportunities to optimize antimicrobial use through prebuilt and custom-built alerts. As ASP roles continue to expand, focusing time on customizing institution specific alerts will be of vital importance to help redistribute time needed to manage other ASP tasks and opportunities.


Author(s):  
Esther Nadeau ◽  
Adam Mercier ◽  
Julie Perron ◽  
Mélanie Gilbert ◽  
Vincent Nault ◽  
...  

Background: Outcomes associated with physician responses to recommendations from an antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) at an individual patient level have not yet been assessed. We aimed to compare clinical characteristics and mortality risk among patients for whom recommendations from an ASP were accepted or refused. Methods: A prospective cohort study was performed with hospitalized adults who received intravenous or oral antimicrobials at a 677-bed academic centre in Canada in 2014–2017. We included patients with an alert produced by a clinical decision support system (CDSS) for whom a recommendation was made by the pharmacist to the attending physician. The outcome was 90-day in-hospital all-cause mortality. Results: We identified 3,197 recommendations throughout the study period, of which 2,885 (90.2%) were accepted. The median length of antimicrobial treatment was significantly shorter when a recommendation was accepted (0.26 versus 1.78 days; p < 0.001). Refusal of a recommendation was not associated with mortality (odds ratio 1.32; 95% confidence interval, 0.93 to 1.89; p = 0.12). The independent risk factors associated with in-hospital mortality were age, Charlson Comorbidity Index score, admission to a critical care unit, duration between admission and recommendation, and issuance of a recommendation on a carbapenem. Conclusions: The duration of antimicrobial treatment was significantly shorter when a recommendation originating from a CDSS-assisted ASP program was accepted. Future prospective studies including potential residual confounding variables, such as the source of infection or physiological derangement, might help in understanding whether CDSS-assisted ASP will have a direct impact on patient mortality.


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (9) ◽  
pp. 762-768 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman Lance Downing ◽  
Joshua Rolnick ◽  
Sarah F Poole ◽  
Evan Hall ◽  
Alexander J Wessels ◽  
...  

BackgroundSepsis remains the top cause of morbidity and mortality of hospitalised patients despite concerted efforts. Clinical decision support for sepsis has shown mixed results reflecting heterogeneous populations, methodologies and interventions.ObjectivesTo determine whether the addition of a real-time electronic health record (EHR)-based clinical decision support alert improves adherence to treatment guidelines and clinical outcomes in hospitalised patients with suspected severe sepsis.DesignPatient-level randomisation, single blinded.SettingMedical and surgical inpatient units of an academic, tertiary care medical centre.Patients1123 adults over the age of 18 admitted to inpatient wards (intensive care units (ICU) excluded) at an academic teaching hospital between November 2014 and March 2015.InterventionsPatients were randomised to either usual care or the addition of an EHR-generated alert in response to a set of modified severe sepsis criteria that included vital signs, laboratory values and physician orders.Measurements and main resultsThere was no significant difference between the intervention and control groups in primary outcome of the percentage of patients with new antibiotic orders at 3 hours after the alert (35% vs 37%, p=0.53). There was no difference in secondary outcomes of in-hospital mortality at 30 days, length of stay greater than 72 hours, rate of transfer to ICU within 48 hours of alert, or proportion of patients receiving at least 30 mL/kg of intravenous fluids.ConclusionsAn EHR-based severe sepsis alert did not result in a statistically significant improvement in several sepsis treatment performance measures.


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