scholarly journals An Acute Care for Elders Quality Improvement Program for Complex, High-Cost Patients Yields Savings for the System

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 527-533 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maura J Brennan ◽  
Alexander B Knee ◽  
Erin J Leahy ◽  
Michael J Ehresman ◽  
Heidi-Ann Courtney ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Acute Care ◽  
Routine Care ◽  
Improvement Program ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Comorbidity Score ◽  
Comorbidity Burden ◽  
Medical Inpatients ◽  
Comorbidity Scores ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND: Acute Care for Elders (ACE) programs improve outcomes for older adults; however, little is known about whether impact varies with comorbidity severity. OBJECTIVE: To describe differences in hospital-level outcomes between ACE and routine care across various levels of comorbidity burden. DESIGN: Cross-sectional quality improvement study. SETTING: A 716-bed teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Medical inpatients aged ≥70 years hospitalized between September 2014 and August 2017. INTERVENTION: ACE care, including interprofessional rounds, geriatric syndromes screening, and care protocols, in an environment prepared for elders MEASUREMENTS: Total cost, length of stay (LOS), and 30-day readmissions. We calculated median differences for cost and LOS between ACE and usual care and explored variations across the distribution of outcomes at the 25th, 50th, 75th and 90th percentiles. Results were also stratified across quartiles of the combined comorbidity score. RESULTS: A total of 1,429 ACE and 10,159 non-ACE patients were included in this study. The mean age was 81 years, 57% were female, and 81% were white. ACE patients had lower costs associated with care ranging from $171 at the 25th percentile to $3,687 at the 90th percentile, as well as lower LOS ranging from 0 days at the 25th percentile to 1.9 days at the 90th percentile. After stratifying by comorbidity score, the greatest differences in outcomes were among those with higher scores. There was no difference in 30-day readmission between the groups. CONCLUSION: The greatest reductions in cost and LOS were in patients with greater comorbidity scores. Risk stratification may help hospitals prioritize admissions to ACE units to maximize the impact of the more intensive intervention.

The Association of Antibiotic (ATB) exposure prior to immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) treatment on early emergency room and hospitalization utilization: A population-based study.

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (28_suppl) ◽  
pp. 304-304
Author(s):  
Lawson Eng ◽  
Rinku Sutradhar ◽  
Yue Niu ◽  
Ning Liu ◽  
Ying Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Room ◽  
Acute Care ◽  
Therapeutic Option ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Dose Effect ◽  
Care Utilization ◽  
Comorbidity Score ◽  
Logistic Regression Models ◽  
Acute Care Utilization ◽  
The Impact

304 Background: ICIs are becoming a common therapeutic option for many solid tumors. Prior studies have shown that ATB exposure can negatively impact ICI outcomes through gut microbiome changes leading to poorer overall survival; however, less is known about the potential impact of ATB exposure on toxicities from ICI. We undertook a population-based retrospective cohort study in patients receiving ICIs to evaluate the impact of ATB exposure on early acute care use, defined as emergency department visit or hospitalization, within 30 days of initiation of ICI therapy. Methods: Administrative data was utilized to identify a cohort of cancer patients > 65 years of age receiving ICIs from June 2012 to October 2018 in Ontario, Canada. We linked databases deterministically to obtain socio-demographic and clinical co-variates, ATB prescription claims and acute care utilization. Patients were censored if they died within 30 days of initiating ICI therapy. The impact of ATB exposure within 60 days prior to starting ICI on early acute care use was evaluated using multi-variable logistic regression models, adjusted for age, gender, rurality, recent hospitalization within 60 days prior to starting ICI and comorbidity score. Results: Among 2737 patients (median age 73 years), 43% received Nivolumab, 41% Pembrolizumab and 13% Ipilimumab, most commonly for lung cancer (53%) or melanoma (34%). Of these patients, 19% had ATB within 60 days prior to ICI with a median ATB treatment duration of 9 days (SD = 13). 647 (25%) patients had an acute care episode within 30 days of starting ICIs; 182 (7%) patients passed away within 30 days without acute care use and were censored from further analyses. Any ATB exposure within 60 days prior to ICI was associated with greater likelihood of acute care use (aOR = 1.34 95% CI [1.07-1.67] p = 0.01). A dose effect was seen based on weeks of ATB exposure within 60 days prior to ICI (aOR = 1.12 per week [1.04-1.21] p = 0.004) and early acute care use. ATB class analysis identified that exposure to penicillins (aOR = 1.54 [1.11-2.15] p = 0.01) and fluoroquinolones (aOR = 1.55 [1.11-2.17] p = 0.01) within 60 days of starting ICIs were associated with a greater likelihood of acute care use, while there was no significant association between cephalosporin exposure and early acute care use (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Exposure to ATBs, specifically fluoroquinolones and penicillins, prior to ICI therapy is associated with greater likelihood of hospitalization or emergency room visits within 30 days after initiation of ICIs, even after adjustment for relevant co-variates including age, comorbidity score and recent hospitalization prior to ICI initiation. Further studies are required to better understand the mechanisms of recent ATB exposure on early acute care use among patients receiving ICIs.

Reporting Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections: Denominator Matters

2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 635-640 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc-Oliver Wright ◽  
Maureen Kharasch ◽  
Jennifer L. Beaumont ◽  
Lance R. Peterson ◽  
Ari Robicsek
Keyword(s):  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Urinary Tract ◽  
Quality Improvement Initiative ◽  
Infection Rates ◽  
Improvement Program ◽  
Nursing Unit ◽  
Accepted Practice ◽  
Device Associated Infection ◽  
Tract Infections ◽  
The Impact

Objective.To evaluate two different methods of measuring catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) rates in the setting of a quality improvement initiative aimed at reducing device utilization.Design, Setting, and Patients.Comparison of CAUTI measurements in the context of a before-after trial of acute care adult admissions to a multicentered healthcare system.Methods.CAUTIs were identified with an automated surveillance system, and device-days were measured through an electronic health record. Traditional surveillance measures of CAUTI rates per 1,000 device-days (R1) were compared with CAUTI rates per 10,000 patient-days (R2) before (T1) and after (T2) an intervention aimed at reducing catheter utilization.Results.The device-utilization ratio declined from 0.36 to 0.28 between T1 and T2 (P< .001), while infection rates were significantly lower when measured by R2 (28.2 vs 23.2, P = .02). When measured by R1, however, infection rates trended upward by 6% (7.79 vs. 8.28, P = .47), and at the nursing unit level, reduction in device utilization was significantly associated with increases in infection rate.Conclusions.The widely accepted practice of using device-days as a method of risk adjustment to calculate device-associated infection rates may mask the impact of a successful quality improvement program and reward programs not actively engaged in reducing device usage.

Abstract 186: Improving Identification and Assessment of Readmission Risk for Acute Myocardial Infarction and Heart Failure Patients Following Implementation of a National Quality Improvement Program

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ty J Gluckman ◽  
Nancy M Albert ◽  
Robert L McNamara ◽  
Gregg C Fonarow ◽  
Adnan Malik ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Myocardial Infarction ◽  
Heart Failure ◽  
Acute Myocardial Infarction ◽  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Improvement Program ◽  
Patient Level ◽  
Transition Care ◽  
National Quality ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Readmission Risk

Background: Optimal transition care represents an important step in mitigating the risk of early hospital readmission. For many hospitals, however, resources are not available to support transition care processes, and hospitals may not be able to identify patients in greatest need. It remains unknown whether a coordinated quality improvement campaign could help to increase a) identification of at-risk patients and b) use of a readmission risk score to identify patients needing extra services/resources. Methods: The American College of Cardiology Patient Navigator Program was designed as a 2-year (2015-2017) quality improvement campaign to assess the impact of transition-care interventions on transition care performance metrics for patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and heart failure (HF) at 35 acute care hospitals. All sites were active participants in the NCDR ACTION Registry. Facilities were free to choose their transition care priorities, with at least 3 goals established at baseline. Pre-discharge identification of AMI and HF patients and assessment of their respective readmission risk were 4 of the 36 metrics tracked quarterly. Performance reports were provided regularly to the individual institutions. Sharing of best practices was actively encouraged through webinars, a listserv, and an online dashboard with display of blinded performance for all 35 hospitals. Results: At baseline, 31% (11/35) and 23% (8/35) of facilities did not have a process for prospectively identifying AMI and HF patients, respectively. At 2 years, the rate of not having processes decreased to 8% (3/35) and 3% (1/35), respectively. Among hospitals able to identify AMI and HF patients, there was high patient-level identification performance from the outset (91% for AMI and 86% for HF at baseline), with added improvement over 2 years (+2.2% for AMI and +9.3% for HF). At baseline, processes to assess readmission risk for AMI and HF patients were only completed by 26% (9/35) and 31% (11/35) of facilities, respectively. At 2 years, AMI and HF readmission risk assessment rose to 80% (28/35) and 86% (30/35), respectively. Similar improvements were noted at the patient-level, with 34% (52% --> 86%) and 16% (75% --> 91%) absolute 2-year increases in the percentage of AMI and HF patients undergoing assessment of readmission risk, respectively. Conclusions: Implementation of a quality improvement campaign focused on care transition can substantially improve prospective identification of AMI and HF patients and assessment of their readmission risk. It remains to be determined whether process improvement lead to reduction in 30-day readmission and/or improvement in other clinically important outcome measures.

scholarly journals American Heart Association COVID-19 CVD Registry Powered by Get With The Guidelines

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather M. Alger ◽  
Christine Rutan ◽  
Joseph H. Williams ◽  
Jason G. Walchok ◽  
Michele Bolles ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Improvement ◽  
American Heart Association ◽  
American Heart ◽  
Heart Association ◽  
Research Community ◽  
Improvement Program ◽  
Data Resource ◽  
Clinical Records ◽  
Get With The Guidelines ◽  
The Impact

Background: In response to the public health emergency created by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, American Heart Association volunteers and staff aimed to rapidly develop and launch a resource for the medical and research community to expedite scientific advancement through shared learning, quality improvement, and research. In <4 weeks after it was first announced on April 3, 2020, AHA’s COVID-19 CVD Registry powered by Get With The Guidelines received its first clinical records. Methods and Results: Participating hospitals are enrolling consecutive hospitalized patients with active COVID-19 disease, regardless of CVD status. This hospital quality improvement program will allow participating hospitals and health systems to evaluate patient-level data including mortality rates, intensive care unit bed days, and ventilator days from individual review of electronic medical records of sequential adult patients with active COVID-19 infection. Participating sites can leverage these data for onsite, rapid quality improvement, and benchmarking versus other institutions. After 9 weeks, >130 sites have enrolled in the program and >4000 records have been abstracted in the national dataset. Additionally, the aggregate dataset will be a valuable data resource for the medical research community. Conclusions: The AHA COVID-19 CVD Registry will support greater understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular disease and will inform best practices for evaluation and management of patients with COVID-19.

Intraoperative Fragmentation and Retention of Endovascular Devices: Clinical Consequences and Preventative Strategies

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 118-125
Author(s):  
Kendal M. Endicott ◽  
Charles B. Drucker ◽  
Hakan Orbay ◽  
Joseph J. DuBose ◽  
Khanjan Nagarsheth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Nursing Education ◽  
Endovascular Procedures ◽  
Unmet Need ◽  
Improvement Program ◽  
Service Training ◽  
Clinical Consequences ◽  
Visual Reference ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Endovascular Devices

Background: Expanded applications and increasing volumes of complex endovascular procedures have increased the risk of unintended intraoperative fragmentation and retention of catheters and sheaths. We describe a series of retained or fragmented endovascular devices, a quality improvement program to address this unmet need for improved detection of catheter fragmentation, and the results of this program. Methods: Cases utilizing endovascular devices that resulted in a retained catheter fragment were identified and analyzed during divisional quality improvement review. One consistent area of concern was operating room (OR) staff unfamiliarity with verifying the integrity of an endovascular device. In response, a slide-based training protocol of focused, endovascular nursing education was implemented. Following perceived lack of improvement after this approach, we developed a handheld visual reference display of the tips of common catheters and sheaths. Staff was surveyed before and after intervention to assess the educational value of the display and the impact on staff device familiarity. Results: All 4 described cases resulted in an unplanned return to the OR for retrieval of the fragmented catheter or sheath. No thromboembolic complications were observed, although associated intra-arterial thrombus was noted in 2 cases. Thirty-four OR nurses were polled to trial the visual reference display initiative, with 70% of those reporting primary surgical assignments outside of cardiovascular ORs. Introduction of the new visual reference display improved staff confidence in their ability to identify a broken device (2.4-3.7, P < .001). This improvement was most significant in OR staff with primary assignments in noncardiovascular services. Conclusion: Current OR standard operating procedures fail to address the potential for unintentionally retained catheters and wires during endovascular procedures. Our novel visual reference display of common endovascular items rather than conventional in-service training improved the ability of staff to identify device fragmentation at the time of the index procedure.

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