Disease-specific Quality Indicators Research Articles

Antibiotic Prescription Rates For Respiratory Tract Infections Treated In The Outpatient Sector Based On Routine Data From A German Health Insurance Company

Acute uncomplicated upper respiratory tract infections (RTIs) are common reasons for antibiotic prescriptions in the outpatient sector, although>90% are of viral origins and mostly self-limiting. Germany has a low antibiotic prescription rate compared to other European countries, but there are regional differences. Disease-specific quality indicators (QI) developed by the European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption Network (ESAC-Net) address the prescription rates (target <20%) and choice of antibiotic (target>80%) in a general practitioner population. The aim of this analysis was to operationalise the ESAC-Net-QI using secondary data from a health insurance company at the level of diseases and healthcare facilities, as well as to analyse areas for improvement. The underlying database comprises the panel physician billing, hospital and prescription data in accordance with German law (§§ 295, 300 and 301 SGB V) of the Barmer health insurance company for the year 2022. Categorical features are presented as frequency and percentage. Maximum specificity was aimed, hence potentially risky disease courses were excluded. The overall RTI prescription rate of antibiotics was 25% in 2022 before applying inclusion and exclusion criteria (1,197,568/4,720,786). After applying the algorithm, the prescription rate for all RTI cases dropped to 6% (80,786/1,365,646). When specific RTI indications are considered, 35% (13,465/38,913) of acute bronchitis and acute sinusitis cases (4,971/14,051) received an antibiotic prescription each. At the facility level, 38% of practices (1,396/3,705) treating acute bronchitis and 41% of practices (539/1,300) treating acute sinusitis achieved the target of<20% antibiotic prescriptions. Only 29% of all RTI cases with antibiotic prescriptions (23,733/80,786) received a first-choice antibiotic. Our analysis indicates that the ESAC-Net-QI for RTIs can be calculated at case and facility levels using routine health insurance data. For specific RTIs, there were indications of improvement potential in the frequency and selection of prescribed antibiotics.

Disease-Specific Quality Indicators for Outpatient Antibiotic Prescribing for Respiratory Infections (ESAC Quality Indicators) Applied to Point Prevalence Audit Surveys in General Practices in 13 European Countries.

Up to 80% of antibiotics are prescribed in the community. An assessment of prescribing by indication will help to identify areas where improvement can be made. A point prevalence audit study (PPAS) of consecutive respiratory tract infection (RTI) consultations in general practices in 13 European countries was conducted in January-February 2020 (PPAS-1) and again in 2022 (PPAS-4). The European Surveillance of Antibiotic Consumption quality indicators (ESAC-QI) were calculated to identify where improvements can be made. A total of 3618 consultations were recorded for PPAS-1 and 2655 in PPAS-4. Bacterial aetiology was suspected in 26% (PPAS-1) and 12% (PPAS-4), and an antibiotic was prescribed in 30% (PPAS-1) and 16% (PPAS-4) of consultations. The percentage of adult patients with bronchitis who receive an antibiotic should, according to the ESAC-QI, not exceed 30%, which was not met by participating practices in any country except Denmark and Spain. For patients (≥1) with acute upper RTI, less than 20% should be prescribed an antibiotic, which was achieved by general practices in most countries, except Ireland (both PPAS), Croatia (PPAS-1), and Greece (PPAS-4) where prescribing for acute or chronic sinusitis (0-20%) was also exceeded. For pneumonia in adults, prescribing is acceptable for 90-100%, and this is lower in most countries. Prescribing for tonsillitis (≥1) exceeded the ESAC-QI (0-20%) in all countries and was 69% (PPAS-1) and 75% (PPAS-4). In conclusion, ESAC-QI applied to PPAS outcomes allows us to evaluate appropriate antibiotic prescribing by indication and benchmark general practices and countries.

Hierarchical causal variance decomposition for institution and provider comparisons in healthcare

Disease-specific quality indicators are used to compare institutions and health care providers in terms of processes or outcomes relevant to treatment of a particular condition. In the context of surgical cancer treatments, the performance variations can be due to hospital and/or surgeon level differences, creating a hierarchical clustering. We consider how the observed variation in care received at patient level can be decomposed into that causally explained by the hospital performance, surgeon performance within hospital, patient case-mix, and unexplained (residual) variation. For this purpose, we derive a four-way variance decomposition, with particular attention to the causal interpretation of the components. For estimation, we use inputs from a mixed-effect model with nested random hospital/surgeon-specific effects, and a multinomial logistic model for the hospital/surgeon-specific patient populations. We investigate the performance of our methods in a simulation study and demonstrate them through analysis of administrative data on kidney cancer care in Ontario.

Classical and disease-specific quality indicators in glioma surgery-Development of a quality checklist to improve treatment quality in glioma patients.

There is a pressing demand for more accurate, disease-specific quality measures in the field of neurosurgery. Aiming at most adequately measuring and reflecting the quality of glioma therapy, we developed a novel quality indicator bundle in form of a checklist for all patients that are treated operatively for glioma. On the basis of possible glioma-specific quality indicators retrieved from the literature and quality guidelines, a multidisciplinary team developed a checklist containing 13 patient-need-specific outcome measures. Subsequently, the checklist was prospectively applied to a total of 78 patients compared with a control group consisting of 322 patients. A score was generated based on the maximum of quality measures achieved. Significant improvements in quality after prospectively introducing the checklist were achieved for supplemental physical and occupational therapy during inpatient stay (89.4% vs 100%, P = .002), consultation of a social worker during inpatient stay (64% vs 92.3%, P < .001), psycho-oncological screening (14.3% vs 70.5%, P < .001), psycho-oncological consultation (31.1% vs 82.1%, P < .001), and consultation of the palliative care team (20% vs 40%, P = .031). Overall, after introduction of the checklist one-third (n = 23) of patients reached best-practice measures in all categories, and over half of the patients (n = 44) achieved above 90% with respect to the outcome measures. Aiming at ensuring comprehensive, consistent, and timely care of glioma patients, the implementation of the checklist for routine use in glioma surgery represents an efficient, easily reproducible, and powerful tool for significant improvements.

Constructing inverse probability weights for institutional comparisons in healthcare.

In comparing quality of care between hospitals, disease-specific quality indicators measure structural, process, or outcome elements related to the care of a particular condition. Such comparisons can be framed in terms of causal contrasts, answering the question of whether a patient (or a population of patients on average) would receive different care if treated at the care level of a different hospital. Fair comparisons have to be adjusted for patient case-mix, which is equivalent to controlling for confounding by the patient-level factors, including demographic factors, comorbidities, and disease progression. The methodological choice for such comparisons is usually between direct and indirect standardization methods. In this article, we discuss the alternative of inverse probability weighting as a tool for standardization in hospital comparisons. This involves fitting multinomial logistic hospital assignment models and using these to construct the inverse probability weights. The challenge in the present context is the presence of large number of hospitals being compared, many of which have a small patient volume. We propose methods to include small categories in the weighted analysis, as well as metrics and visualizations for checking the positivity/overlap and covariate balance in constructing such weights. The methods are illustrated in a running example using linked administrative data on surgical treatment of kidney cancer patients in Ontario.

Effect of the Patient-Centered Medical Home on Racial Disparities in Quality of Care.

Research demonstrates that the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) is associated with improved clinical outcomes and quality of care, and the populations that can most benefit from this model require long-term management, e.g., persons with chronic illness and behavioral health conditions. However, different populations may not benefit equally from the PCMH, and empirical evidence about the effects of this model on racial disparities is limited. Estimate the association between enrollment in National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)-recognized PCMHs and racial disparities in quality of care for adults with major depressive disorder (MDD) and comorbid medical conditions. Applying a quasi-experimental instrumental variable design to account for differential selection into the PCMH, we used generalized estimating equations to determine the probability of receiving eight disease-specific quality measures. Medicaid enrollees in three states not dually enrolled in Medicare, ages 18-64 with MDD and > 1 other chronic condition. A subgroup analysis was conducted for enrollees with comorbid diabetes. Enrollment in an NCQA-recognized PCMH. Disease-specific quality indicators for MDD (e.g., antidepressant use, receipt of psychotherapy), and for diabetes, (e.g.A1c testing, LDL-C testing, retinal exams, and medical attention for nephropathy). PCMH enrollment was associated with an increase in the overall likelihood of receiving six of eight recommended services and a decrease in the likelihood of receiving any psychotherapy (4.94 percentage points, p < 0.01) and retinal exams (5.51 percentage points, p < 0.05). Although both groups improved, PCMH enrollment was associated with an exacerbation of the Black-white disparity in adequate antidepressant use by 4.20 percentage points (p < 0.01). While PCMH enrollment may improve the overall quality of care, the effect is inconsistent across racial groups and not always associated with reductions in racial disparities in quality.

Causal variance decompositions for institutional comparisons in healthcare.

There is increasing interest in comparing institutions delivering healthcare in terms of disease-specific quality indicators (QIs) that capture processes or outcomes showing variations in the care provided. Such comparisons can be framed in terms of causal models, where adjusting for patient case-mix is analogous to controlling for confounding, and exposure is being treated in a given hospital, for instance. Our goal here is to help identify good QIs rather than comparing hospitals in terms of an already chosen QI, and so we focus on the presence and magnitude of overall variation in care between the hospitals rather than the pairwise differences between any two hospitals. We consider how the observed variation in care received at patient level can be decomposed into that causally explained by the hospital performance adjusting for the case-mix, the case-mix itself, and residual variation. For this purpose, we derive a three-way variance decomposition, with particular attention to its causal interpretation in terms of potential outcome variables. We propose model-based estimators for the decomposition, accommodating different link functions and either fixed or random effect models. We evaluate their performance in a simulation study and demonstrate their use in a real data application.

Antibiotic Prescribing Quality in Out-of-Hours Primary Care and Critical Appraisal of Disease-Specific Quality Indicators

Outpatient antibiotic use in Belgium is among the highest in Europe. The most common reason for an encounter in out-of-hours (OOH) primary care is an infection. In this study, we assessed all consultations from July 2016 to June 2018 at five OOH services. We described antibiotic prescribing by diagnosis, calculated disease-specific antibiotic prescribing quality indicators’ (APQI) values and critically appraised these APQI. We determined that 111,600 encounters resulted in 26,436 (23.7%) antibiotic prescriptions. The APQI diagnoses (i.e., bronchitis, upper respiratory infection, cystitis, tonsillitis, sinusitis, otitis media, and pneumonia) covered 14,927 (56.7%) antibiotic prescriptions. Erysipelas (1344 (5.1%)) and teeth/gum disease (982 (3.7%)) covered more prescriptions than sinusitis or pneumonia. Over 75% of patients with tonsillitis and over 50% with bronchitis, sinusitis, and otitis media were prescribed an antibiotic. Only for otitis media the choice of antibiotic was near the acceptable range. Over 10% of patients with bronchitis or pneumonia and over 25% of female patients with an acute cystitis received quinolones. The APQI cover the diagnoses for only 57% of all antibiotic prescriptions. As 5.1% and 3.7% of antibiotic prescriptions are made for erysipelas and teeth/gum disease, respectively, we propose to add these indications when assessing antibiotic prescribing quality in OOH primary care.

Antibiotic prescribing quality for children in primary care: an observational study.

Overuse and inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics is driving antibiotic resistance. GPs often prescribe antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) in young children despite their marginal beneficial effects. To assess the quality of antibiotic prescribing for common infections in young children attending primary care and to investigate influencing factors. An observational, descriptive analysis, including children attending primary care sites in England and Wales. The Diagnosis of Urinary Tract infection in Young children study collected data on 7163 children aged <5 years, presenting to UK primary care with an acute illness (<28 days). Data were compared with the European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption Network (ESAC-Net) disease-specific quality indicators to assess prescribing for URTIs, tonsillitis, and otitis media, against ESAC-Net proposed standards. Non-parametric trend tests and χ2 tests assessed trends and differences in prescribing by level of deprivation, site type, and demographics. Prescribing rates fell within the recommendations for URTIs but exceeded the recommended limits for tonsillitis and otitis media. The proportion of children receiving the recommended antibiotic was below standards for URTIs and tonsillitis, but within the recommended limits for otitis media. Prescribing rates increased as the level of deprivation decreased for all infections (P<0.05), and increased as the age of the child increased for URTIs and tonsillitis (P<0.05). There were no other significant trends or differences. The quality of antibiotic prescribing in this study was mixed and highlights the scope for future improvements. There is a need to assess further the quality of disease-specific antibiotic prescribing in UK primary care settings using data representative of routine clinical practice.

The Impact of Quality Variations on Patients Undergoing Surgery for Renal Cell Carcinoma: A National Cancer Database Study

BackgroundDespite efforts to define metrics assessing hospital-level quality for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) surgical care there remains a paucity of real-world data validating their ability to benchmark performance. Consequently, whether poor performance on hospital-level quality indicators is associated with inferior patient outcomes remains unknown. ObjectivesTo determine hospital-level variations in RCC surgical quality after adjusting for differences in patient- and tumor-specific factors. Further, to determine associations between hospital-level quality performance and surgical volume, academic affiliation, and patient mortality. Design, setting, and participantsRCC patients undergoing surgery in the USA and Puerto Rico (2004–2014) were identified from the National Cancer Database. Outcome measures and statistical analysisHospital-level quality of care was assessed according to disease-specific process and outcome quality indicators. Case-mix adjusted hospital benchmarking was performed using indirect standardization methodology and multivariable regression models. A composite measure of quality, the Renal Cancer Quality Score (RC-QS), was subsequently derived and associations between RC-QS and surgical volume, academic affiliation, and patient mortality were determined. Results and limitationsOver 1100 hospitals were benchmarked for quality, with 10–31% identified as providing poor care for a given quality indicator. Lower RC-QS hospitals had smaller referral volumes and were less academic compared with higher RC-QS hospitals (p<0.001). Higher RC-QS was independently associated with lower 30-d, 90-d, and overall mortality (adjusted odds ratio [confidence interval]: 0.92 [0.90–0.95], odds ratio: 0.94 [0.91–0.96], hazard ratio: 0.97 [0.96–0.98] per unit increase, respectively). These data are retrospective and it is unknown whether improvement in the RC-QS improves outcomes. ConclusionsWidespread hospital-level variations in RCC surgical quality exist, as captured by the RC-QS. Superior quality is associated with improved patient outcomes, including mortality benefit. The RC-QS serves as a benchmarking tool for RCC quality that can provide audit level feedback to hospitals and policymakers for quality improvement. Patient summaryWe benchmarked hospital performance across quality indicators for kidney cancer surgical care. Overall, large variations in quality exist, with high volume academic hospitals demonstrating superior performance and improved patient survival. These data can inform hospitals and policymakers for quality improvement initiatives.

Personalized prescription feedback to reduce antibiotic overuse in primary care: rationale and design of a nationwide pragmatic randomized trial.

BackgroundAntimicrobial resistance has become a serious worldwide public health problem and is associated with antibiotic overuses. Whether personalized prescription feedback to high antibiotic prescribers using routinely collected data can lower antibiotic use in the long run is unknown.MethodsWe describe the design and rationale of a nationwide pragmatic randomized controlled trial enrolling 2900 primary care physicians in Switzerland with high antibiotic prescription rates based on national reimbursement claims data. About 1450 physicians receive quarterly postal and online antibiotic prescription feedback over 24 months allowing a comparison of the individual prescription rates with peers. Initially, they also receive evidence based treatment guidelines. The 1450 physicians in the control group receive no information. The primary outcome is the amount of antibiotics prescribed over a one year-period, measured as defined daily doses per 100 consultations. Other outcomes include the amount of antibiotics prescribed to specific age groups (<6, 6 to 18, 19 to 65, >65 years), to male and female patients, in addition to prescriptions of specific antibiotic groups. Further analyses address disease-specific quality indicators for outpatient antibiotic prescriptions, the acceptance of the intervention, and the impact on costs.DiscussionThis trial investigates whether continuous personalized prescription feedback on a health system level using routinely collected health data reduces antibiotic overuse. The feasibility and applicability of a web-based interface for communication with primary care physicians is further assessed.Trial registrationClinTrials.gov NCT01773824 (Date registered: August 24, 2012).

Quality of surgical care of pancreatic cancer in a single payer North American health care system

Introduction: Quality of surgical care of Canadian patients with pancreatic cancer (PC) is inadequately known. Primary aim of this study was to analyze the quality of care received by patients who underwent resections of PC in Nova Scotia over a 10-year period (2001-2011). Methods: All patients with PC (n. 1094) were identified using provincial cancer registries and only adult patients with resectable disease were included in the study (n. 109). Well established disease-specific quality indicators (QIs) were used as references. The proportion of patients who met those QIs was calculated. The average and 95 % confidence intervals of QIs were compared between patients treated in Nova Scotia and published references. Results: Surgical therapy was performed in 9.9 % of patients. Perioperative morbidity and mortality occurred in 25 % and 5 % of patients respectively. Overall survival was 57 % at 1 year, 18 % at 3 year and 9 % at 5 year. R1 resections occurred in 38 % of patients. When compared to published quality measures, patients in Nova Scotia had similar outcomes except for an inferior number of lymph nodes found in the surgical specimens (9 vs. 19; P&lt;0.05). On the other hand, a significant proportion of patients did not fully meet several QIs linked to preoperative, surgical pathology and postoperative care. Conclusions: In Nova Scotia, the proportion of patients who underwent surgery for PC was lower than expected. Although perioperative morbidity, mortality and survival rates were comparable to published references, many did not meet established standard QIs.

Effect of a pager notification system on Australasian Triage Scale category 2 patients in a paediatric emergency department.

Australasian EDs have introduced innovative processes to ensure safe and timely management of patients. Our ED introduced a dedicated pager system to provide rapid assessment of Australasian Triage Scale (ATS) category 2 patients in an attempt to expedite ED care. The present paper aims to evaluate the impact of this initiative on time to clinician, ED length of stay (LOS) and clinical outcomes in a tertiary paediatric ED. Retrospective structured chart review on patients presenting in a 2 month period before the intervention (August-September 2009) and the same time 1 year later. Patients were grouped into common ATS category 2 presentations and analysed in these subcategories. Clinical indicators of appropriate and timely performance were selected from best practice performance guidelines. 779 ATS category 2 patients were seen during the two periods: 370 pre-intervention and 409 post-intervention. The overall percentage of ATS category 2 patients seen within the target time increased by 22.3%, although there was no significant change in ED LOS. The median time for patients from triage to being seen by an ED clinician improved from 10 to 6 min (P < 0.01). However, we were unable to demonstrate an impact of the pager system on various clinical quality indicators. The rapid assessment pager system proved beneficial in reducing triage to clinician times for ATS category 2 patients but showed no improvement in overall ED LOS or disease-specific clinical quality indicators. Further research is needed to determine the influence of other components of ED functioning on clinical outcomes, as well as the overall clinical impact a pager system has on other measures of quality such as patient satisfaction and other subgroups of patients.

Use of antibiotics in paediatric primary care settings in Serbia

ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to compare the quality of antibiotic use among children in primary settings with the internationally developed disease-specific quality indicators and with National Guidelines.DesignPrescriptions of...

Treatment of acute cystitis in Hungary: comparison with national guidelines and with disease-specific quality indicators

The aim of this study was to compare Hungarian antibiotic use in acute cystitis with the internationally developed disease-specific quality indicators and with the national guidelines. The aggregated national-level data on systemic antibiotic use was purchased from the National Health Fund Administration. The study period was January-June 2007. Antibiotic use in acute cystitis was evaluated by means of the defined daily dose (DDD) methodology. Quality indicators of antibiotic prescribing proposed by the European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption (ESAC) team were the usage rate of recommended antibacterials and the usage rate of quinolones. Adherence to the available national guidelines was determined. For acute cystitis, 1.06 DDD per 1000 inhabitant-days antibiotic use was recorded. The ESAC recommended antibiotic use in cystitis (23.3%) was well below the recommended range (80-100%). The consumption of fluoroquinolones was 56.2%, which exceeded the recommended range (0-5%) more than 10 times. The adherence rate to the Hungarian guidelines ranged between 59.3% and 74.2%. As both investigated disease-specific quality indicators were well outside the acceptable ranges, some inappropriateness of antibiotic use in cystitis seems to be present. Adherence rates to the different national guidelines were also moderate, but due to the general recommendation of quinolones, values should be interpreted with caution. New transparent guidelines - issued by the Hungarian Society of Family Physicians - should be introduced in Hungary, recommending quinolones only for second-line therapy.

Development of Disease-Specific Quality Indicators for Danish Chiropractic Patients With Low Back Pain

Objective The purpose of this study is to develop disease-specific quality indicators for Danish chiropractic patients with low back pain (LBP) as an initial effort to include chiropractors in the Danish Health Care Quality Programme. Methods A cross-disciplinary Indicator Group consisting of researchers and clinicians prioritized 9 evidence-based quality indicators and quality performance standards in a systematic consensus process. A feasibility study involving 20 chiropractors in 8 chiropractic clinics and 206 LBP patients was undertaken. Afterward, an audit meeting was held where participating clinicians could voice their opinion and share experiences. After the test and audit, the Indicator Group reconvened and decided on the final set of indicators. Results The following quality indicators were chosen: case history, test for discogenic back pain, neurology, radiology, classification, exercise therapy, outcome assessment, and reevaluation. Only the outcome assessment indicators met the standards set by the Indicator Group. Based on the feedback supplied at the audit meeting and after evaluating the test results, the Indicator Group decided to reduce the standards but keep all indicators. Conclusions This study showed that it is possible to describe quality indicators for the assessment and treatment of LBP patients, to identify the patient population, and to collect data. The participating clinics did not meet the original quality standards set by the Indicator Group. Reasons for this may include unrealistically high thresholds set by the Indicator Group and the somewhat complex or compound structure of some of the indicators. The Indicator Group and the test clinics recommend future nationwide implementation of the developed quality indicators.

European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption (ESAC): disease-specific quality indicators for outpatient antibiotic prescribing

BackgroundIn 2007, ESAC (http://www.esac.ua.ac.be) published a set of 12 valid drug-specific quality indicators for outpatient antibiotic use in Europe. In this study, the authors aimed to develop evidence-based disease-specific quality...