Year Of Full Implementation Research Articles

Impact of State-Level Changes to School-Based Autism Identification Criteria

School and medical settings often use different identification criteria for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a neurodevelopmental disability affecting social-communication, behavioral patterns, and sensory experiences. Further, individual states may use varied definitions for special education eligibility. On January 1, 2019, the State of Oregon began implementing overhauled statewide criteria and evaluation requirements for ASD special education eligibility that directly align with current medical system criteria specified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). Immediately following these changes, and then again 1 year later in January of 2020 (prior to the COVID-19 pandemic), we surveyed school-based practitioners across the state about their ASD evaluation practices as well as their knowledge, training, and beliefs regarding the newly revised standards. Our results indicated that practitioners felt more familiar with and had received better training on the new standards after a full year of implementation and that 58% of practitioners had changed their evaluation procedures in some way. However, 74% of practitioners reported that despite these changes, there was no difference in the number of students being found eligible for an ASD diagnosis, indicating that the real-world impact of the statewide policy change might be more limited than initially believed. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

The cost-effectiveness of improved brief interventions for tobacco cessation in Thailand.

This study estimated the cost-effectiveness of four strategies enhancing the quality and accessibility of Brief Intervention (BI) service for smoking cessation in Thailand during 2022-2030: (1) current-BI (status quo), (2) the effective-training standard-BI, (3) the current-BI plus the village health volunteers (VHV) mobilization, and (4) the effective-training BI plus VHV mobilization. By interviewing five public health officers, nine healthcare professionals aiding these services, and fifteen BI service experts, we explored the status quo situation of the Thai smoking cessation service system, including main activities, their quantity assumptions, and activities' unit prices needed to operate the current cessation service system. Then, we modeled additional activities needed to implement the other three simulated scenarios. We estimated the costs and impacts of implementing these strategies over a nine-year operating horizon (2022-2030), covering 3 years of service system preparation and 6 years of full implementation. The modeled costs of these four strategies included intervention and program costs. The study focused on current smokers age 15 years or older. The assessed impact parameters encompassed smoking prevalence, deaths averted, and healthy life-years gained. An Incremental Cost-Effectiveness Analysis compared the four simulated strategies was employed. Data analysis was performed using the One Health Tool software, which the World Health Organization developed. The findings of this investigation reveal that all three intervention strategies exhibited cost-effectiveness compared to the prevailing status quo. Among these strategies, Strategy 2, enhancing BI service quality, emerged as the most efficient and efficacious option. Therefore, the expansion of quality services should be synergistically aligned with augmented training, service delivery optimization, and managerial enhancements. This approach is particularly poised to enhance accessibility to and the efficacy of smoking cessation interventions across Thailand.

Promoting scholarship in improvement science: A model for academic clinical departments.

Clinical departments at academic medical centers strive to deliver clinical care, provide education and training, support faculty development, and promote scholarship. These departments have experienced increasing demands to improve the quality, safety, and value of care delivery. However, many academic departments lack a sufficient number of clinical faculty members with expertise in improvement science to lead initiatives, teach, and generate scholarship. In this article, we describe the structure, activities, and early outcomes of a program within an academic department of medicine to promote scholarly improvement work. The Department of Medicine at the University of Vermont Medical Center launched a Quality Program with three primary goals: (a) improve care delivery, (b) provide education and training, and (c) promote scholarship in improvement science. The program serves as a resource center for students, trainees and faculty, offering education and training, analytic support, consultation in design and methodology, and project management. It strives to integrate education, research, and care delivery to learn, apply evidence and improve health care. Over the first 3 years of full implementation, the Quality Program supported an average of 123 projects annually, including prospective clinical quality improvement initiatives, retrospective assessment of clinical programs and practices, and curriculum development and evaluation. The projects have yielded a total of 127 scholarly products, defined as peer-reviewed publications and abstracts, posters, and oral presentations at local, regional, and national conferences. The Quality Program may serve as a practical model for promoting care delivery improvement, training, and scholarship in improvement science while advancing the goals of a learning health system at the level of an academic clinical department. Dedicated resources within such departments offer the potential to enhance care delivery while promoting academic success for faculty and trainees in improvement science.

Restorative Practices: Using local evidence on costs and student outcomes to inform school district decisions about behavioral interventions

School disciplinary practices affect student academic and life outcomes. Many schools have recently shifted towards the prevention of behavioral disorders rather than the punishment of such disorders, but disciplinary actions are still disproportionately meted out to Black students. We took advantage of a natural experiment in a large school district to investigate the costs and effects of a school-wide intervention based on the principles of restorative justice on suspensions, referrals, and three school climate constructs. The study involved 14 elementary and middle schools, each of which was already implementing Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). Six of the schools integrated Restorative Practices into their PBIS framework during the first year of the study, whereas the other eight served as comparison schools and implemented the program the following year. We tested a difference-in-difference regression model for each of our five outcomes of interest after 1 year of implementation using Quasi-Poisson models for referrals and suspensions. We found no statistically significant effects on four of the outcomes, either for the overall sample or by racial subgroup. We found negative effects on student-reported personal safety. An additional analysis 1 year later showed that Black students in schools implementing Restorative Practices for 2 years experienced a greater reduction in suspensions than Black students in schools implementing the program for only 1 year. We used the ingredients method to estimate start-up costs and ongoing costs for the first full year of implementation. Our reference case analysis results using a societal perspective, national average prices, and a 3% discount rate were $57,450 per school and $139 per student for the first year of Restorative Practices implementation. These estimates included training costs from the prior year and were incremental to the costs of PBIS, which served as the business-as-usual condition. We compared these costs to those of a number of other behavioral interventions and concluded that Restorative Practices are relatively low cost but may need to be implemented for several years with greater fidelity in order to produce the desired improvements in behavior events and school climate.

Surgical Site Infection (SSI) Surveillance Program for Mastectomy in the Department of Surgery of the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital

Background. Mastectomy is a common surgical procedure done worldwide. Surgical site infection (SSI) is a common healthcare-associated infection. Mastectomy SSIs are frequently under-reported.
 Objectives. The study aimed to determine the incidence of SSI among mastectomy cases of the Department of Surgery, University of the Philippines – Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) during one year of full implementation of the Surgical Site Infection Surveillance Program and evaluate the program’s surveillance follow-up rate.
 Methods. This study was an observational practice audit research that included all adult patients who underwent a mastectomy in UP-PGH from January 1, 2018, to January 31, 2019, when the SSI Surveillance Program was fully implemented. SSI was monitored and assessed during the patient’s hospital stay, on the day of hospital discharge, and at 30 days (± 2 days) after surgery, either during an outpatient visit or via phone call by a nurse navigator. SSI frequency for mastectomy was computed both during the in-hospital stay and at 30 days after surgery. Surveillance follow-up rate, defined as the proportion of patients who could follow-up up to 30 days after surgery, was determined.
 Results. The 30-day SSI rate for mastectomy was 6.8% (19/279). All 279 patients were followed up to 30 days after surgery. Of the 279 patients, 277 (99.3%) were through clinic visits, one was through phone calls, and one was still admitted to the hospital.
 Conclusion. Full implementation of the SSI Surveillance Program for mastectomy in UP-PGH for one year showed a higher SSI rate than in published international literature. The program had a complete 30-day patient follow-up, contributing to more accurate SSI reporting. Implementing an SSI surveillance program with standardized protocols, dedicated personnel, patient education component, and the analysis of the information derived from such programs can improve an institution's quality of surgical care.

Infection Preventionist Run Clostridioides difficile Testing Diagnostic Stewardship Protocol- Experience From a Rural Community Hospital

Background: Distinguishing active Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) from asymptomatic colonization remains a challenging task in the era of PCR testing. Inappropriate testing leads to overtesting and overdiagnosis, inadvertent treatment, and isolation in addition to laboratory identified (LabID) events, leading to increased incidence to hospital-onset CDI (HO-CDI). The institution has a nurse-driven C. difficile test ordering protocol, and we noted a significant increase in the HO-CDI incidence in 2017 due to inappropriate testing, with rates as high as 0.94 per 1,000 patient days. Methods: In September 2017, a multidisciplinary team reviewed and initiated algorithm-based testing with mandatory audit and review by infection preventionists (IPs) under the guidance of an ID physician of all ordered tests. They reviewed the adequacy and legitimacy of order for multiple parameters, including minimum 3 loose stools in 24 hours, use of laxatives in last 24 hours, consistency of the sample, presence of at least 1 clinical parameters (ie, fever, abdominal pain, leukocytosis, sepsis, or septic shock), recent or concomitant antibiotic use, recent PCR testing in the last 14 days, and chart review for medical and/or surgical history. The IPs served as the gatekeepers to testing and rejected the samples that were deemed inappropriate. Ambiguous cases were discussed with the ID specialist. On the microscope lab side, all specimens sent were batched to be run twice a day at 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., and testing was performed only on the samples cleared by infection preventionists. Results: The number of PCR tests completed in the comparison quarter of 2016 was 220, which decreased to 157 tests in 2017 with a reduction of 28%. After a full year of implementation of the diagnostic stewardship protocol, the number of completed PCR tests decreased to 626 from 940 PCR tests in 2016, with an overall 34% decrease in testing. In the year following the implementation of diagnostic stewardship, HO-CDI decreased from 60 events in 2017 to 43 events in 2018, with a reduction of 28%. Subsequently, HO-CDI further decreased in 2019 from 43 to 28, with a reduction of 35%. Since the implementation of the project in 2017, HO-CDIs have decreased by 54% overall. The reduction in 314 C. difficile PCR tests in the first year led to a savings of $8,300 in laboratory testing supplies. The reduction of HO CDI by 17 led to cost avoidance of $293,420. Conclusions: Our experience shows that the IP-run diagnostic stewardship program was highly successful in streamlining testing, with cost savings on several fronts.Funding: NoneDisclosures: NoneDisclosures:Commercial Company : If I am presenting research funded by a commercial company, the information presented will be based on generally accepted scientific principals and methods, and will not promote the commercial interest of the funding company.DisagreeRaghavendra Tirupathi

Caspian Tern Response to Managed Reductions in Nesting Habitat

ABSTRACTPredation on smolts by Caspian terns (Hydroprogne caspia) has been identified as a factor limiting the restoration of some populations of anadromous salmonids (Oncorhynchus spp.) from the Columbia River basin that are listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Implementation of a management plan to reduce numbers of Caspian terns nesting at the 2 largest colonies in the Columbia Plateau region of Oregon and Washington, USA, began in 2014 and is ongoing. We investigated the response of Caspian terns during 2014–2016 to reductions in nesting habitat at these 2 colonies. Management prevented terns from nesting at both colonies, and the estimated numbers of nesting pairs in the region declined significantly from a mean of 877 pairs during premanagement to 769 and 675 pairs in 2015 and 2016, respectively. The management objective of reducing numbers of nesting terns in the Columbia Plateau region to ≤200 breeding pairs was not achieved during the first 2 years of full implementation of the plan. Regional nesting success did not decline significantly following the initiation of management, and remained at levels considered sufficient to sustain the regional subpopulation. Despite the species’ capacity for long‐distance breeding dispersal, the majority of displaced terns exhibited stronger than expected philopatry to the Columbia Plateau region. Analysis of resightings of banded terns indicated that most (>80%) terns that nested in the Columbia Plateau region premanagement returned to the region in 2015 and 2016, but the proportion that returned as breeders decreased while the proportion that returned as nonbreeding floaters increased compared with premanagement. The proportion of banded terns that were unobserved also increased during management years, suggesting that more terns became floaters in the Pacific Flyway and went unobserved because they were prospecting and foraging in locations or regions where there was little or no monitoring. The unexpectedly high regional philopatry exhibited by terns during management was likely a reflection of the low availability of suitable alternative nesting habitat outside the region. Most terns that remained in the region displayed considerable flexibility in nest site selection by nesting either at a previously smaller, intermittently successful breeding colony or at a small new colony where nesting activity had not previously been recorded. As long‐lived seabirds, Caspian terns may integrate information regarding nesting success over several years before choosing to change nesting locations, longer than the 2 years of this study, especially if alternate locations are distant or intermittently available, or a history of nesting at multiple locations exists within the region. © 2020 The Wildlife Society.

Strengths-based blended personalized learning: An impact study using virtual comparison group

This study describes a strengths-based blended personalized learning model, the implementation of the model over a 4-year period, and the results of an impact study focused on measuring its effectiveness. The model includes many commonly-used features of personalized learning, including (a) competency-based progressions, (b) flexible learning environments, (c) personal learning paths, (d) frequently updated student profiles, and (e) frequent informal and formal measurement. However, it differs from other personalized learning models by including a focus on strengths-based learning. Strengths-based learning identifies and builds upon students’ strengths, supporting their ability to make informed decisions when setting goals and choosing and implementing learning experiences. The longitudinal study took place in a diverse mid-size pre-K to Grade 8 school district in California. The findings suggest that the strengths-based blended personalized learning model is effective in supporting student learning in the academic areas of mathematics, reading, and language usage. Over the 3-year period in which the intervention was gradually implemented, and one year of full implementation, students significantly outpaced their matched student counterparts in all subject areas. The results of the current study further the growing literature in the field of personalized learning by contributing learnings and evidence related to a successful personalized learning model.

Implementation of a Departmental Female Emergency Medicine Physician Group.

Gender disparities exist in academic emergency medicine (EM). We developed and implemented a female EM physician group – Women in Academic Emergency Medicine (WAM) – to support female EM residents, fellows, and faculty. The goal of WAM is to provide a support system through mentorship, education, and outreach. A targeted needs assessment was completed to identify goals and objectives specific to our department. In the first full year of implementation, WAM hosted eight events, including three topical dinners and one formal panel. Of 42 female faculty and residents, 40 (95%) attended at least one WAM event, and all (20/20) of the female faculty strongly supported WAM. WAM advocated for increased female physician representation on the department’s Physician Executive Leadership Group and preservation of dedicated lactation space in the emergency department. Using a needs assessment, the process of developing WAM can be replicated in any department to create a female physician group.

Implementing an Electronic Data Capture System to Improve Clinical Workflow in a Large Academic Radiation Oncology Practice.

To describe the feasibility and benefits of implementing a custom radiation oncology electronic data capture (EDC) system in a large academic radiation oncology practice. A Web-based point-and-click EDC known as Brocade was internally developed and implemented systemwide in 2016. Brocade captures key data elements, such as stage, histology, and patient and treatment characteristics; links this information to radiation dose data extracted from the record and verify system; and creates clinical notes that are automatically exported to the hospital electronic health record. We report the number of unique radiation episodes captured by Brocade in its first full year of implementation and describe the notes generated, toxicities captured, compliance with staging and quality assurance, and time of day in which documentation occurred with Brocade versus our prior human transcription system. A median of 756 radiation episodes per month was captured for a total of 9,283 unique episodes captured in the first full year of implementation. The most common notes were for on-treatment visits (29,913) and simulations (13,220). Stage was captured for 92.2% of Brocade episodes (8,513 of 9,236) versus 29.7% of courses pre-Brocade (3,025 of 10,170; P < .001). Quality assurance was documented for 96.3% of completed courses (7,601 of 7,892). The most common grade ≥1 toxicities were pain (10,031), fatigue (7,490), and dermatitis (6,172). Brocade implementation was associated with a reduction in off-hours documentation and increase in the proportion of documentation created between 8:00 am and 12:00 pm. Brocade is a reliable Web-based EDC tool that improves clinical documentation without detracting from clinical workflow. Moreover, Brocade has the advantage of capturing data in a structured manner that facilitates real-time analytics and outcome reporting.

The Costs of a National Single-Payer Healthcare System

The leading current bill to establish single-payer health insurance, the Medicare for All Act (M4A), would, under conservative estimates, increase federal budget commitments by approximately $32.6 trillion during its first 10 years of full implementation (2022–2031), assuming enactment in 2018. This projected increase in federal healthcare commitments would equal approximately 10.7 percent of GDP in 2022, rising to nearly 12.7 percent of GDP in 2031 and further thereafter. Doubling all currently projected federal individual and corporate income tax collections would be insufficient to finance the added federal costs of the plan. It is likely that the actual cost of M4A would be substantially greater than these estimates, which assume significant administrative and drug cost savings under the plan, and also assume that healthcare providers operating under M4A will be reimbursed at rates more than 40 percent lower than those currently paid by private health insurance.

School turnaround in North Carolina: A regression discontinuity analysis

This paper examines the effect of a federally supported school turnaround program in North Carolina elementary and middle schools. Using a regression discontinuity design, we find that the turnaround program did not improve, and may have reduced, average school-level passing rates in math and reading. One potential contributor to that finding appears to be that the program increased the concentration of low-income students in treated schools. Based on teacher survey data, we find that, as was intended, treated schools brought in new principals and increased the time teachers devoted to professional development. At the same time, the program increased administrative burdens and distracted teachers, potentially reducing time available for instruction, and increased teacher turnover after the first full year of implementation. Overall, we find little evidence of success for North Carolina's efforts to turn around low-performing schools under its Race to the Top grant.

Successfully Reducing Hospitalizations of Nursing Home Residents: Results of the Missouri Quality Initiative

PurposeThe goals of the Missouri Quality Initiative (MOQI) for long-stay nursing home residents were to reduce the frequency of avoidable hospital admissions and readmissions, improve resident health outcomes, improve the process of transitioning between inpatient hospitals and nursing facilities, and reduce overall healthcare spending without restricting access to care or choice of providers. The MOQI was one of 7 program sites in the United States, with specific interventions unique to each site tested for the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) Innovations Center. Design and methodsA prospective, single group intervention design, the MOQI included an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) embedded full-time within each nursing home (NH) to influence resident care outcomes. Data were collected continuously for more than 3 years from an average of 1750 long-stay Medicare, Medicaid, and private pay residents living each day in 16 participating nursing homes in urban, metro, and rural communities within 80 miles of a major Midwestern city in Missouri. Performance feedback reports were provided to each facility summarizing their all-cause hospitalizations and potentially avoidable hospitalizations as well as a support team of social work, health information technology, and INTERACT/Quality Improvement Coaches. ResultsThe MOQI achieved a 30% reduction in all-cause hospitalizations and statistically significant reductions in 4 single quarters of the 2.75 years of full implementation of the intervention for long-stay nursing home residents. ImplicationsAs the population of older people explodes in upcoming decades, it is critical to find good solutions to deal with increasing costs of health care. APRNs, working with multidisciplinary support teams, are a good solution to improving care and reducing costs if all nursing home residents have access to APRNs nationwide.

An Academic-Service Partnership: A System-Wide Approach and Case Report.

An academic-service partnership was formed to increase educational capacity, improve evidence-based nursing at the point of care, and engage staff nurses, clinical faculty, and students in patient and family care. This case report reflects an overview of the first year of full implementation, and survey results from nurse leaders and faculty at the 3-year time point. Following its third year of an academic-service partnership, the shared mission, vision, and values have resulted in stronger NCLEX-RN results, improved quality initiatives, and trends for improvements in patient outcomes. Alignment with faculty and mentors surrounding student expectations has improved, as well as shared evidence-based practices. Sustaining an academic-service partnership requires dedicated leaders, faculty, and mentors. This partnership continues to thrive and move toward excellence in patient- and family-centered outcomes and undergraduate clinical education. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(6):373-377.].

Reducing preterm birth by a statewide multifaceted program: an implementation study

A comprehensive preterm birth prevention program was introduced in the state of Western Australia encompassing new clinical guidelines, an outreach program for health care practitioners, a public health program for women and their families based on print and social media, and a new clinic at the state's sole tertiary level perinatal center for referral of those pregnant women at highest risk. The initiative had the single aim of safely lowering the rate of preterm birth. The objective of the study was to evaluate the outcomes of the initiative on the rates of preterm birth both statewide and in the single tertiary level perinatal referral center. This was a prospective population-based cohort study of perinatal outcomes before and after 1 full year of implementation of the preterm birth prevention program. In the state overall, the rate of singleton preterm birth was reduced by 7.6% and was lower than in any of the preceding 6 years. This reduction amounted to 196 cases relative to the year before the introduction of the initiative and the effect extended from the 28-31 week gestational age group onward. Within the tertiary level center, the rate of preterm birth in 2015 was also significantly lower than in the preceding years. A comprehensive and multifaceted preterm birth prevention program aimed at both health care practitioners and the general public, operating within the environment of a government-funded universal health care system can significantly lower the rate of early birth. Further research is now required to increase the effect and to determine the relative contributions of each of the interventions.

Continued Gains in Health Insurance but Few Signs of Increased Utilization: An Update on the ACA's Dependent Coverage Mandate.

To evaluate the Affordable Care Act's dependent coverage mandate impact on insurance take-up and health services use through the second full year of implementation. Medical Expenditure Panel Survey from 2006 to 2012. Difference-in-difference regressions comparing pre-/postpolicy-outcome changes between 19- to 25-year-olds and 27- to 34-year-olds. Following significant increases in 2011, insurance take-up among 19- to 25-year-olds leveled off overall in 2012. However, increases in coverage for Black young adults were higher in 2012 compared to 2011. Despite increased coverage, there is little evidence of an overall effect on health services use postmandate. Evidence points to increased doctor visits and emergency department visits among Hispanics in the first year postmandate. The Affordable Care Act young adult mandate led to significant gains in insurance take-up, though evidence suggests that the bulk of the gains occurred in the first year after the mandate. Gains for Black young adults appear to have picked up in 2012.

INT-009 Efficiency of an Antifungal Stewardship Program (PROMULGA Project)

BackgroundAntifungal (AF) stewardship programs are essential, especially in large tertiary care hospitals, where many physicians prescribe very costly drugs often on an empirical or pre-emptive basis. Purpose: To assess the...

Take Out Your Cell Phones - Class is Starting

Traditionally, cell phones have been considered disruptive to classroom learning. Two years ago, a survey of students in a large first year design course indicated that 88% of students possessed cell phones in the classroom. Instead of trying to enforce acell phone ban, and fight a losing battle, we decided to use the cell phones to our pedagogical advantage. Previously, student interaction in the classroom was a challenge, due to a large class of students in a singlelecture theater. A primary issue was the inability of all except a few students with booming voices to ask questions. Informed primarily by a student design team (from the very course being discussed), we implemented a simple and inexpensive system that allowed students to use their cell phones in the classroom to send questions via Short Message Service (SMS), commonly referred to as “text messages”, to the instructor at the front of the classroom This system has been piloted through its first year of full implementation. Quantitative data on the usage of the system, student and instructor impressions of the system, and future work will be discussed.

Has the Academic Performance of Low Socioeconomic Students and Students from Ethnic Minorities Improved in the Subject of Economics over the First Five Years of a Standards-Based Assessment Regime?

This article aims to establish whether the first five years of full implementation of the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) has seen improvement in the achievement of students from low socioeconomic status (SES) schools, and from ethnic minorities, in the subject of economics. The findings show that the academic performance of low-SES students in economics has significantly worsened from 2004 to 2008. When data are stratified by ethnicity and SES status, Asian students have seen an increase in academic performance in economics across all SES groupings. Pacific Island students have seen no significant change in their academic performance in economics for low-and medium-decile school students, but a significant improvement in academic performance for students from high-decile schools. Maori students have seen significant improvement in academic performance in economics in medium- and high-decile schools, but have experienced a significant deterioration in academic performance in low-decile schools. There has also been a large decrease in the number of students from low-SES schools taking the subject of economics. This raises questions around the relevance and suitability of the current secondary school economics curriculum to low-SES students, as well as around its suitability for the new NCEA assessment regime.

Abstract P2-15-02: Web-Based Patient-Intake Process for Breast Care Center: The Patient Experience

Abstract Background: An important driver of health information technology will be an increased incorporation of self-reported patient health data into patient care workflow. We undertook this study to determine the feasibility, satisfaction, and challenges reported by patients related to the introduction of an electronic patient intake tool in an outpatient breast care clinic. Methods: A web-based self-reported new patient intake process was implemented in 2008 at an urban multi-disciplinary breast care clinic. The system was based on a platform developed by Dynamic Clinical Systems (DCS) which was designed to collect, warehouse, and provide reporting of data to inform patient treatment decisions. Patients new to the Breast Care Center with either breast symptoms or a newly diagnosed breast cancer were provided a weblink for data entry prior to the clinic visit. Patients were asked questions regarding medical/family history, symptoms, and psychosocial well-being. Data regarding the survey were compared among age groups using the chi square test. Results: The first full calendar year for which data were collected was 1/1/09-12/31/09 during which 1218 women responded to the survey. Data were evaluated among 4 age groups: 0-18 (n=9), 19-49 (n=508), 50-69 (n=586), and ≥70 (n=115). 400 women (36%) were newly diagnosed with breast cancer; 106 (10%) of respondents had stage IV breast cancer. Overall 94.3% of patients took the survey themselves; 87% took the survey at home, compared to 7% in the doctors’ office. 89% reported using a high-speed (DSL, cable, wireless) internet connection. 69% of respondents completed the survey in less than one hour. Patients who completed the survey in the clinic (n=55) cited lack of access to the internet as the most common reason the survey was not completed in advance of the clinic visit (n=21). 64% of patients indicated e-mail as their preferred contact method; fewer women over 70 preferred e-mail contact to phone compared to younger groups (43%; P&amp;lt;0.001), although even in this group, e-mail was the preferred mode of contact. 77% of patients reported satisfaction (41%) or high satisfaction (36%) with the survey system, with no difference in satisfaction seen among age groups (p=0.5). Conclusion: Assessment of patients’ experience using a self-reported web-based patient intake form was conducted during the first full year of implementation. Most patients successfully completed the survey and indicated a high satisfaction level with its use. However, some differences were seen between age groups. Overall, &amp;lt;2% of patients reported inability to access the internet. Electronic collection of self-reported patient data is not only feasible, but well accepted and has potential to facilitate patient care and treatment, reduce consultation time directed to collecting medical history, and allow standardized data collection for research and continuous quality improvement. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2010;70(24 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-15-02.