Document Detail


Improved clinical outcomes combining house staff self-assessment with an audit-based quality improvement program.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  20556534     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
BACKGROUND: There is a focus on integrating quality improvement with medical education and advancement of the American College of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) core competencies.
OBJECTIVE: To determine if audits of patients with unexpected admission to the medical intensive care unit using a self-assessment tool and a focused Morbidity and Mortality (M&M) conference improves patient care.
DESIGN: Charts from patients transferred from the general medical floor (GMF) to the medical intensive care unit (ICU) were reviewed by a multidisciplinary team. Physician and nursing self-assessment tools and a targeted monthly M&M conference were part of the educational component.
PARTICIPANTS: Physicians and nurses participated in root cause analysis.
MEASURES: Records of all patients transferred from a general medical floor (GMF) to the ICU were audited. One hundred ninety-four cases were reviewed over a 10-month period.
RESULTS: New policies regarding vital signs and house staff escalation of care were initiated. The percentage of calls for patients who met medical emergency response team/critical care consult criteria increased from 53% to 73%, nurse notification of a change in a patient's condition increased from 65% to 100%, nursing documentation of the change in the patients condition and follow-up actions increased from 65% percent to a high of 90%, the number of cardiac arrests on a GMF decreased from 3.1/1,000 discharges to 0.6/1,000 discharges (p = 0.002), and deaths on the Medicine Service decreased from 34/1,000 discharges to 24/1,000 discharges (p = 0.024).
CONCLUSION: We describe an audit-based program that involves nurses, house staff, a self-assessment tool and a focused M&M conference. The program resulted in significant policy changes, more rapid assessment of unstable patients and improved hospital outcomes.
Authors:
Linda Kirschenbaum; Susannah Kurtz; Mark Astiz
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Comparative Study; Journal Article     Date:  2010-06-17
Journal Detail:
Title:  Journal of general internal medicine     Volume:  25     ISSN:  1525-1497     ISO Abbreviation:  J Gen Intern Med     Publication Date:  2010 Oct 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2010-09-21     Completed Date:  2011-08-16     Revised Date:  2012-05-07    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  8605834     Medline TA:  J Gen Intern Med     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  1078-82     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Saint Vincents Hospital, New York Medical College, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, NY 10075, USA. lkirschenbaum@Lenoxhill.net
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Clinical Audit / standards*,  trends
Humans
Intensive Care Units / standards,  trends
Internship and Residency / standards*,  trends
Quality Assurance, Health Care / standards,  trends
Quality Improvement / standards*,  trends
Self-Assessment*
Treatment Outcome
Comments/Corrections

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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