Quality Improvement Infrastructure Research Articles

530 Understanding Strengths and Weaknesses of Clinical Research Operations in Regional Settings

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: An environmental scansoughtto understand research processes, areas for improvement, and opportunities for collaborative quality improvement (QI)across the Northwest Participant and Clinical Interactions Network (NW PCI). METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: NW PCI site champions were invited for semi-structured single and group Zoom-based interviews. Interviewers asked participants about local research processes, strengths and weaknesses, existing infrastructure to support QI, and interest in collaborative QI across the Network. Audio transcripts were coded using Dedoose and analyzed with deductive and inductive coding. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Between February and April 2023, 10 interviews collected data from 7 research decision makers and 7 staff members across 7 sites. Most participants (n=13, 92%) agreed the diagram shown during the interview was representative of the local process. Organizations consistently identified strengths and weaknesses within the domains of study start-up, recruitment, budgets, and compliance. QI infrastructure was inconsistent (n=5, 36%) and all (n=14, 100%) saw potential for success in multisite QI initiatives to enhance efficiency. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: NW PCI sites use similar processes, share common strengths and weaknesses, and universally reported interest in collaborating on QI. Study startup was reported as both a strength and weakness within the same organization, requiring unpacking of key elements before pursuing QI initiatives.

Building Statewide Quality Improvement Capacity to Improve Cardiovascular Care and Health Equity: Lessons from the Tennessee Heart Health Network

Many states with high rates of cardiovascular disease (CVD) lack statewide quality improvement (QI) infrastructure (for example, resources, leadership, community) to address relevant health needs of the population. Academic health centers are well positioned to play a central role in addressing this deficiency. This article describes early experience and lessons learned in building statewide QI infrastructure through the Tennessee Heart Health Network (Network). A statewide, multistakeholder network composed of primary care practices (PCPs), health systems, health plans, QI organizations, patients, and academic institutions was led by the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), an academic health center, to improve cardiovascular health by supporting dissemination and implementation of patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) evidence-based interventions in primary care. PCPs were required to select and implement at least one of three interventions (health coaching, tailored health-related text messaging, and pharmacist-physician collaboration). Thirty statewide organizational partners joined the Network in year one, including 18 health systems representing 77 PCPs (30.0% of 257 potentially eligible PCPs identified) with approximately 300,000 patients. The organizational partners share EHRs for the ongoing tracking and reporting of key health metrics, including hypertension control and delivery of tobacco cessation counseling. Of the 77 PCPs, 62 continue participation after year two (80.5% retention). Main barriers to participation and reasons for discontinuing participation included reluctance to share data and changes in leadership at the health system level. These 62 PCPs selected the following interventions to implement: health coaching (41.9%), tailored health-related text messages (48.4%), and pharmacist-physician collaboration (40.3%). Academic health centers have broad reach and high acceptability by diverse stakeholders. Tennessee's experience illustrates how academic health centers can serve as platforms for building a statewide infrastructure for disseminating, implementing, and sustaining QI interventions at the practice level. Assessment of Network impact is ongoing.

Catalyzing System Change: 100 Quality Improvement Projects in 1000 Days.

Health system change requires quality improvement (QI) infrastructure that supports frontline staff implementing sustainable innovations. We created an 8-week rapid-cycle QI training program, Stanford Primary Care-Project Engagement Platform (PC-PEP), open to patient-facing primary care clinicians and staff. Examine the feasibility and outcomes of a scalable QI program for busy practicing providers and staff in an academic medical center. Program evaluation. A total of 172 PCPH team members: providers (n = 55), staff (n = 99), and medical learners (n = 18) in the Stanford Division of Primary Care and Population Health (PCPH) clinics, 2018-2021. We categorized projects by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's (IHI) Quintuple Aim (QA): better health, better patient experience, lower cost of care, better care team experience, and improved equity/inclusion. We assessed project progress with a modified version of The Ottawa Hospital Innovation Framework: step 1 (identified root causes), step 2 (designed/tested interventions), step 3 (assessed project outcome), step 4 (met project goal with target group), step 5A (intervention(s) spread within clinic), step 5B (intervention(s) spread to different setting). Participants rated post-participation QI self-efficacy. Within 1000days, 172 unique participants completed 104 PC-PEP projects. Most projects aimed to improve patient health (55%) or care team experience (23%). Among projects, 9% reached step 1, 8% step 2, 16% step 3, 26% step 4, 21% step 5A, and 20% step 5B. Learner involvement increased likelihood of scholarly products (47% vs 10%). Forty-six of 47 (98%) survey respondents reported improved QI self-efficacy. Medical assistants, more so than physicians, reported feeling acknowledged by the health system for their QI efforts (100% vs 61%). With appropriate QI infrastructure, scalable QI training models like Stanford PC-PEP can empower frontline workers to create meaningful changes across the IHI QA.

Assessing capacity for culture change in serious illness communication across McGill University cancer centers.

457 Background: Patients with advanced malignancy at McGill University’s Rossy Cancer Network (RCN) frequently die in the emergency room or hospital in the context of cancer directed therapy. Internal data indicate delayed referral to palliative care for high-risk patient groups and lack of training and physician discomfort with serious illness communication (SIC). To plan for a system-wide quality improvement (QI) initiative, we aimed to assess capacity for culture change around SIC across three university-affiliated cancer centers. Methods: Interdisciplinary oncology and palliative care leaders from the three RCN sites completed an institutional readiness survey to assess local data and QI infrastructure and potential strengths and challenges related to SIC. We conducted a retrospective chart review of patients who received care at RCN sites for advanced malignancy and who died over a 24-month period. We organized pilot three-hour multi-disciplinary training sessions in use of a Serious Illness Conversation Guide and targeted physicians, nurses, and social workers from each RCN site. Participants completed a survey upon training completion. We developed a quality improvement plan. Results: Institutional readiness surveys highlighted challenges in identifying patients who could benefit from serious illness conversations and lack of consistency and localization of electronic health record documentation of SIC. Preliminary analysis from a retrospective chart review (n=370) demonstrated that 98% of patients had documentation of some aspect of SIC. Only 38% of SIC documentation described patient goals and values, and only 23% referred to patient preferences or wishes. Most instances of SIC documentation (74%) focused on code status and orientation of treatment toward either comfort or cure. 28% of patients had first documentation of SIC within 30 days of death. Fifteen healthcare providers took part in the multidisciplinary training sessions. Training evaluation data suggest that trainees found the training acceptable and feasible, and appreciated the interprofessional nature of the sessions. Results include presentation of an implementation plan. Conclusions: Culture change initiatives related to SIC benefit from a robust assessment of existing resources and challenges. We used a multi-modal approach to assess and build capacity for a cross-institution QI initiative. This process and the resulting network and hospital-level QI plans can assist other academic institutions in leveraging SIC to transform and improve cancer care.

Scaling up quality in an anesthesia practice.

The resources necessary to improve anesthesia quality and meet reimbursement and regulatory thresholds are scarce, particularly for smaller practices. We examined how small practice integration into a firm with greater resources can facilitate improvements. A mixed-methods analysis was conducted using the data from the US Anesthesia Partners data warehouse, Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), commercial insurers' surgery length of stay (LOS) databases, anesthesia-specific patient satisfaction surveys, and interviews with practice leadership before and after integration. All integrated practices improved their quality improvement infrastructure and achieved higher MIPS scores, with increased clinician and leadership satisfaction. Patient satisfaction exceeded national benchmarks in all groups, based on 398 392 returned surveys in 2021. Hospital LOS for common operations was shorter, based on a statewide database. This case study demonstrates that partnership with an organization with greater resources can advance anesthesia quality.

Pediatric emergency departments' readiness for change toward improving suicide prevention: A mixed-methods study with US leaders.

ObjectiveTo assess pediatric emergency departments’ (PEDs) current suicide prevention practices and climate for change to improve suicide prevention for youth.MethodsWe conducted an explanatory, sequential mixed‐methods study. First, we deployed a national, cross‐sectional survey of PED leaders identified through publicly available data in Fall 2020, and then we conducted follow‐up interviews with those who expressed interest. The survey queried each PED's suicide prevention practices and measured readiness for change to improve suicide prevention practices using questions scored on a 5‐point Likert scale. Interviews gathered further, in‐depth descriptions of PEDs’ practices and culture. Interviews were audio‐recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using a rapid analysis approach.ResultsOf 135 PED directors eligible to complete the survey, 64 responded (response rate 47%). A total of 64% of PEDs had a mental health specialist available 24 hours/day, 7 days/week; 80% reported practicing mental health disposition planning, and 41% reported practicing psychiatric medication management. Altogether 91% of directors agreed or strongly agreed that their PED had a positive culture and 92% agreed/strongly agreed that their PED was ready for change. However, 31% disagreed/strongly disagreed that their PED had tools for evaluation and quality measurement. Resources needed for change (including budget, staffing, training, and facilities) varied across institutions. Interviews with our convenience sample of 21 directors revealed varying suicide prevention practices and confirmed that standardization, evaluation, and quality improvement initiatives were needed at most institutions. Leaders reported a high interest in improving care.ConclusionsPED leaders reported high motivation to improve suicide prevention services for young people, and reported needing quality improvement infrastructure to monitor and guide improvement.

Frequency and costs of low-value preoperative tests for patients undergoing low-risk procedures in the veterans health administration

BackgroundClinical practice guidelines discourage routine preoperative screening tests for patients undergoing low-risk procedures. This study sought to determine the frequency and costs of potentially low-value preoperative screening tests in Veterans Health Administration (VA) patients undergoing low-risk procedures.MethodsUsing the VA Corporate Data Warehouse, we identified Operative Stress Score class 1 procedures (“very minor”) performed without general anesthesia in VA during fiscal year 2019 and calculated the overall national and facility-level rates and costs of nine common tests received in the 30 preoperative days. Patient factors associated with receiving at least one screening test, and the number of tests received, were examined.ResultsEighty-six thousand three hundred twenty-seven of 178,775 low-risk procedures (49.3%) were preceded by 321,917 potentially low-value screening tests representing $11,505,170 using Medicare average costs. Complete blood count was the most common (33.2% of procedures), followed by basic metabolic profile (32.0%), urinalysis (26.3%), electrocardiography (18.9%), and pulmonary function test (12.4%). Older age, female sex, Black race, and having more comorbidities were associated with higher odds of low-value testing. Transthoracic echocardiogram occurred prior to only 4.5% of the procedures but accounted for 47.8% of the total costs ($5,499,860). In 129 VA facilities, the facility-level proportion of procedures preceded by at least one test ranged from 0 to 81.2% and facility-level costs ranged from $0 to $388,476.ConclusionsRoutine preoperative screening tests for very low-risk procedures are common and costly in some VA facilities. These results highlight a potential target to improve quality and value by reducing unnecessary care. Measures of low-value perioperative care could be integrated into VA’s extensive quality monitoring and improvement infrastructure.

Completion of postoperative polysomnography for children with severe obstructive sleep apnea: A quality improvement project.

ObjectivePediatric patients with severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are at risk for residual OSA following tonsillectomy with/without adenoidectomy (T ± A). We initiated a quality improvement (QI) project to increase the percentage of postoperative (postop) polysomnography (PSG) completion to identify residual OSA.MethodsThis is a prospective QI project carried out at a tertiary pediatric academic hospital. Children ≤18 years of age who underwent T ± A for severe OSA were included. Our Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time‐based (SMART) aim was to increase the percentage of completed postop PSGs in this cohort from a baseline of 70% to95% by May 31, 2021. We focused on patient education and leveraged both clinical decision support and reporting functionalities of the electronic medical record for project implementation.ResultsDuring the pre‐intervention period between January 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020, 472 patients met the inclusion criteria with an average age of 8.6 years (SD 4.6). The rate of postop PSG completion was 69.7% (SD 11.4%) with an average time of 99 days (SD 66) between surgery and the postop PSG. A shift was observed starting in September 2020, and the PSG completion rate improved to 94.9% by September 30, 2021. Post‐intervention, there were 178 patients with an average age of 9.3 years (SD 4.9). The average time between surgery and the postop PSG was significantly reduced to 57 days (SD 16; p < .001).ConclusionsThrough a multidisciplinary approach, we successfully completed our SMART aim. With the establishment of QI infrastructure, our goal is to deliver better care in a sustainable fashion using QI methodology.

A Scalable Service to Improve Health Care Quality Through Precision Audit and Feedback: Proposal for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

BackgroundHealth care delivery organizations lack evidence-based strategies for using quality measurement data to improve performance. Audit and feedback (A&F), the delivery of clinical performance summaries to providers, demonstrates the potential for large effects on clinical practice but is currently implemented as a blunt one size fits most intervention. Each provider in a care setting typically receives a performance summary of identical metrics in a common format despite the growing recognition that precisionizing interventions hold significant promise in improving their impact. A precision approach to A&F prioritizes the display of information in a single metric that, for each recipient, carries the highest value for performance improvement, such as when the metric’s level drops below a peer benchmark or minimum standard for the first time, thereby revealing an actionable performance gap. Furthermore, precision A&F uses an optimal message format (including framing and visual displays) based on what is known about the recipient and the intended gist meaning being communicated to improve message interpretation while reducing the cognitive processing burden. Well-established psychological principles, frameworks, and theories form a feedback intervention knowledge base to achieve precision A&F. From an informatics perspective, precision A&F requires a knowledge-based system that enables mass customization by representing knowledge configurable at the group and individual levels.ObjectiveThis study aims to implement and evaluate a demonstration system for precision A&F in anesthesia care and to assess the effect of precision feedback emails on care quality and outcomes in a national quality improvement consortium.MethodsWe propose to achieve our aims by conducting 3 studies: a requirements analysis and preferences elicitation study using human-centered design and conjoint analysis methods, a software service development and implementation study, and a cluster randomized controlled trial of a precision A&F service with a concurrent process evaluation. This study will be conducted with the Multicenter Perioperative Outcomes Group, a national anesthesia quality improvement consortium with >60 member hospitals in >20 US states. This study will extend the Multicenter Perioperative Outcomes Group quality improvement infrastructure by using existing data and performance measurement processes.ResultsThe proposal was funded in September 2021 with a 4-year timeline. Data collection for Aim 1 began in March 2022. We plan for a 24-month trial timeline, with the intervention period of the trial beginning in March 2024.ConclusionsThe proposed aims will collectively demonstrate a precision feedback service developed using an open-source technical infrastructure for computable knowledge management. By implementing and evaluating a demonstration system for precision feedback, we create the potential to observe the conditions under which feedback interventions are effective.International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)PRR1-10.2196/34990

The Effects of Major Disruptions on Practice Participation in Facilitation During a Primary Care Quality Improvement Initiative.

Disruptions in primary care practices, like ownership change, clinician turnover, and electronic health record system implementation, can stall quality improvement (QI) efforts. However, little is known about the relationship between these disruptions and practice participation in facilitated QI. We explore this relationship using data collected from EvidenceNOW in a mixed-methods convergent design. EvidenceNOW was a large-scale facilitation-based QI initiative in small and medium primary care practices. Data included practice surveys, facilitator time logs, site visit field notes, and interviews with facilitators and practices. Using multivariate regression, we examined associations between disruptions during interventions and practice participation in facilitation, measured by in-person facilitator hours in 987 practices. We analyzed qualitative data on 40 practices that described disruptions. Qualitative and quantitative teams iterated analyses based on each other's emergent findings. Many practices (51%) reported experiencing 1 or more disruptions during the 3- to 15-month interventions. Loss of clinicians (31.6%) was most prevalent. In adjusted analyses, disruptions were not significantly associated with participation in facilitation. Qualitative data revealed that practices that continued active participation were motivated, had some QI infrastructure, and found value in working with their facilitators. Facilitators enabled practice participation by doing EHR-related work for practices, adapting work for available staff, and helping address needs beyond the explicit aims of EvidenceNOW. Disruptions are prevalent in primary care, but practices can continue participating in QI interventions, particularly when supported by a facilitator. Facilitators may benefit from additional training in approaches for helping practices attenuate the effects of disruptions and adapting strategies to help interventions work to continue building QI capacity.

Upstream Solutions to Downstream Problems: Investing in Rural Natural Infrastructure for Water Quality Improvement and Flood Risk Mitigation

Communities across the globe are experiencing degraded water quality as well as inland flooding, and these problems are anticipated to worsen with climate change. We review the evidence that implementing natural infrastructure in upstream agricultural landscapes could improve water quality and reduce flood risk for downstream communities. Based on our analysis, we identify a suite of natural infrastructure measures that provide the greatest benefits, and which could be prioritized for investment by downstream communities and regional leadership, with an emphasis on systems that minimize loss of productive agricultural land. Our results suggest that the restoration of wetlands and floodplains are likely to provide the greatest benefits for both water quality improvement and flood risk reduction.

Developing a Unit-Based Quality Improvement Program in a Large Neonatal ICU.

Quality improvement (QI) methods have been widely adopted in health care. Although theoretical frameworks and models for organizing successful QI programs have been described, few reports have provided practical examples to link existing QI theory to building a unit-based QI program. The purpose of this report is to describe the authors' experience in building QI infrastructure in a large neonatal ICU (NICU). A unit-based QI program was developed with the goal of fostering the growth of high-functioning QI teams. This program was based on six pillars: shared vision for QI, QI team capacity, QI team capability, actionable data for improvement, culture of improvement, and QI team integration with external collaboratives. Multiple interventions were developed, including a QI dashboard to align NICU metrics with unit and hospital quality goals, formal training for QI leaders, QI coaches imbedded in project teams, a day-long QI educational workshop to introduce QI methodology to unit staff, and a secure, Web-based QI data infrastructure. Over a five-year period, this QI infrastructure brought organization and support for individual QI project teams and improved patient outcomes in the unit. Two case studies are presented, describing teams that used support from the QI infrastructure. The Infection Prevention team reduced central line-associated bloodstream infections from 0.89 to 0.36 infections per 1,000 central line-days. The Nutrition team decreased the percentage of very low birth weight infants discharged with weights less than the 10th percentile from 51% to 40%. The clinicians provide a pragmatic example of incorporating QI organizational and contextual theory into practice to support the development of high-functioning QI teams and build a unit-based QI program.

Developing an electronic health record-derived health equity dashboard to improve learner access to data and metrics.

It is essential to engage learners in efforts aimed at dismantling racism and other contributors to health care disparities. Barriers to their involvement include limited access to data. The objective of our study was to create a data dashboard using an existing quality improvement (QI) infrastructure and provide resident access to data to facilitate exploratory analysis on disparities in emergency department (ED) patient care. Focusing on patient populations that have previously been shown in the literature to suffer significant disparities in the ED, we extracted outcomes across a variety of metrics already collected as part of routine ED operations. Using data visualization software, we developed an interactive dashboard for visual exploratory analyses. We designed a dashboard for our resident learners with views that are flexible and allow user selected filters to view clinical outcomes by patient age, treatment area, and chief complaint. Learners were also allowed to select grouping and outcomes of interest to investigate questions and form new hypotheses of their choosing. Available dashboard views included summary counts view to assess ED visits over time by selectable group, a rooming and triage acuity view, time-to-event survival curve view, histogram and box plot views for continuous variables, a view to assess outcome variables by time of day of ED arrival, customizable contingency table views, and correspondence analysis. Utilizing an existing QI infrastructure, we developed a dashboard that provides a new perspective into commonly collected ED operations data to allow for the exploration of disparities in ED care that is accessible to learners. Future directions include using these data to refine hypotheses on ED disparities, understand root causes, develop interventions, and measure their impact.

Rural comprehensive cancer care: A qualitative analysis of current challenges and limitations.

e18538 Background: Providing comprehensive and coordinated cancer care in rural settings can be difficult due to limited resources. Meeting cancer care standards established by the American Society of Clinical Oncology Quality Oncology Practice Initiative or the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer is also challenging due to limited resources; the vast majority of certified or accredited practices/hospitals are in metropolitan areas. It is critical to describe barriers faced by rural providers so models can be developed to facilitate high quality cancer care. Qualitative interviews were conducted to elicit current challenges and barriers among rural Iowa cancer care providers, with the goal of identifying strategies that could facilitate high quality cancer care in rural areas. Methods: Eleven cancer providers associated with 10 (out of 12) Iowa hospitals that diagnose or treat &gt; 100 cancer patients annually and are in non-metropolitan/rural counties (Rural-Urban Continuum Code: 4-9) were interviewed via telephone or video conference. Questions focused on services offered, perceived patient- and system-level barriers to cancer care, perceived strengths and challenges in providing and assessing quality cancer care, challenges to meeting standards of cancer care set forth by national organizations, and referral experiences. Results: The major identified strength of rural hospitals was their geographic proximity to rural patients. Most hospitals provided outpatient chemotherapy, and a minority provide radiation oncology services. Common reasons for referral outside rural hospital networks were lack of specialized diagnostic procedures and complex surgical resections more commonly available at tertiary institutions. Other reasons for referrals include 1) lack of advanced technologies and treatments; 2) lack of certification secondary to inadequate staffing to support data infrastructure for quality improvement or to meet accreditation standards of national organizations; and 3) lack of ancillary patient services such as navigation, survivorship programs, genetic counseling, and education. A final important cause of referral is limited access to clinical trials, an impediment to rural patient participation in investigational treatments. Identified benefits of strengthening collaborations with larger urban/academic cancer centers were access to educational opportunities, tumor boards, shared resources and strategies for data management, clinical trials, patient navigation services and survivorship programs. Conclusions: Rural cancer care providers identified a number of challenges that could be addressed through resource sharing from larger cancer centers. Further research is needed to develop models and approaches that extend resources, services and expertise to rural providers to facilitate high-quality cancer care for all rural patients.

Assessment of a quality improvement intervention to decrease opioid prescribing in a regional health system

BackgroundOpioids are prescribed in excess after surgery. We leveraged our continuous quality improvement infrastructure to implement opioid prescribing guidelines and subsequently evaluate changes in postoperative opioid prescribing, consumption and patient...

Ethical frameworks for quality improvement activities: an analysis of international practice.

To examine international approaches to the ethical oversight and regulation of quality improvement and clinical audit in healthcare systems. We searched grey literature including websites of national research and ethics regulatory bodies and health departments of selected countries. National guidance documents were included from six countries: Ireland, England, Australia, New Zealand, the United States of America and Canada. Data were extracted from 19 documents using an a priori framework developed from the published literature. We organized data under five themes: ethical frameworks; guidance on ethical review; consent, vulnerable groups and personal health data. Quality improvement activity tended to be outside the scope of the ethics frameworks in most countries. Only New Zealand had integrated national ethics standards for both research and quality improvement. Across countries, there is consensus that this activity should not be automatically exempted from ethical review but requires proportionate review or organizational oversight for minimal risk projects. In the majority of countries, there is a lack of guidance on participant consent, use of personal health information and inclusion of vulnerable groups in routine quality improvement. Where countries fail to provide specific ethics frameworks for quality improvement, guidance is dispersed across several organizations which may lack legal certainty. Our review demonstrates a need for appropriate oversight and responsive infrastructure for quality improvement underpinned by ethical frameworks that build equivalence with research oversight. It outlines aspects of good practice, especially The New Zealand framework that integrates research and quality improvement ethics.

Use of a Model Maturity Matrix to Build a Quality Improvement Infrastructure for Psychiatric Care.

Despite a call to action by accreditation bodies and payers alike, the infrastructure needed to continuously improve the quality and safety of behavioral health care has been slow to develop. The causes of this are complex and multifactorial yet likely include underdeveloped leadership and capacity to sustainably improve the quality of psychiatric care. This article proposes the use of a quality improvement maturity matrix to serve as both an implementation strategy and a self-assessment measure to strategically guide this infrastructure development. The matrix describes six phases of development across three domains that are generalizable to various behavioral health care settings.

Perceptions of Facilitators and Barriers to Measuring and Improving Quality in Palliative Care Programs.

To examine perceptions of facilitators and barriers to quality measurement and improvement in palliative care programs and differences by professional and leadership roles. We surveyed team members in diverse US and Canadian palliative care programs using a validated survey addressing teamwork and communication and constructs for educational support and training, leadership, infrastructure, and prioritization for quality measurement and improvement. We defined key facilitators as constructs rated ≥4 (agree) and key barriers as those ≤3 (disagree) on 1 to 5 scales. We conducted multivariable linear regressions for associations between key facilitators and barriers and (1) professional and (2) leadership roles, controlling for key program and respondent factors and clustering by program. We surveyed 103 respondents in 11 programs; 45.6% were physicians and 50% had leadership roles. Key facilitators across sites included teamwork, communication, the implementation climate (or environment), and program focus on quality improvement. Key barriers included educational support and incentives, particularly for quality measurement, and quality improvement infrastructure such as strategies, systems, and skilled staff. In multivariable analyses, perceptions did not differ by leadership role, but physicians and nurse practitioners/nurses/physician assistants rated most constructs statistically significantly more negatively than other team members, especially for quality improvement (6 of the 7 key constructs). Although participants rated quality improvement focus and environment highly, key barriers included lack of infrastructure, especially for quality measurement. Building on these facilitators and measuring and addressing these barriers might help programs enhance palliative care quality initiatives' acceptability, particularly for physicians and nurses.

The role of organizational learning and resilience for change in building quality improvement capacity in primary care.

The extent that organizational learning and resilience for the change process, that is, adaptive reserve (AR), is a component of building practice capacity for continuous quality improvement (QI) is unknown. The aim of the study was to examine the association of AR and development of QI capacity. One hundred forty-two primary care practices were evaluated at baseline and 12 months in a randomized trial to improve care quality. Practice AR was measured by staff survey along with a validated QI capacity assessment (QICA). We assessed the association of baseline QICA with baseline AR and both baseline and change in AR with change in QICA from 0 to 12 months. Effect modification by presence of QI infrastructure in parent organizations and trial arm was examined. Mean QICA increased from 6.5 to 8.1 (p < .001), and mean AR increased from 71.8 to 73.9 points (p < .001). At baseline, there was a significant association between AR and QICA scores: The QICA averaged 0.34 points higher (95% CI [0.04, 0.64], p = .03) per 10-point difference in AR. There was a significant association between baseline AR and 12-month QICA-which averaged 0.30 points higher (95% CI [0.02, 0.57], p = .04) per 10 points in baseline AR. There was no association between changes in AR and the QICA from 0 to 12 months and no effect modification by trial arm or external QI infrastructure. Baseline AR was positively associated with both baseline and follow-up QI capacity, but there was no association between change in AR and change in the QICA, suggesting AR may be a precondition to growth in QI capacity. Findings suggest that developing AR may be a valuable step prior to undertaking QI-oriented growth, with implications for sequencing of development strategies, including added gain in QI capacity development from building AR prior to engaging in transformation efforts.

A Review of Best Practices for Monitoring and Improving Inpatient Pediatric Patient Experiences.

Achieving high-quality patient-centered care requires assessing patient and family experiences to identify opportunities for improvement. With the Child Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Survey, hospitals can assess performance and make national comparisons of inpatient pediatric experiences. However, using patient and family experience data to improve care remains a challenge. We reviewed the literature on best practices for monitoring performance and undertaking activities aimed at improving pediatric patient and family experiences of inpatient care. We searched PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and PsychINFO. We included (1) English-language peer-reviewed articles published from January 2000 to April 2019; (2) articles based in the United States, United Kingdom, or Canada; (3) articles focused on pediatric inpatient care; (4) articles describing pediatric patient and family experiences; and (5) articles including content on activities aimed at improving patient and family experiences. Our review included 25 articles. Two researchers reviewed the full article and abstracted specific information: country, study aims, setting, design, methods, results, Quality Improvement (QI) initiatives performed, internal reporting description, best practices, lessons learned, barriers, facilitators and study implications for clinical practice, patient-experience data collection, and QI activities. We noted themes across samples and care settings. We identified 10 themes of best practice. The 4 most common were (1) use evidence-based approaches, (2) maintain an internal system that communicates information and performance on patient and family experiences to staff and hospital leadership, (3) use experience survey data to initiate and/or evaluate QI interventions, and (4) identify optimal times (eg, discharge) and modes (eg, print) for obtaining patient and family feedback. These correspond to adult inpatient best practices. Both pediatric and adult inpatient best practices rely on common principles of culture change (such as evidence-based clinical practice), collaborative learning, multidisciplinary teamwork, and building and/or supporting a QI infrastructure that requires time, money, collaboration, data tracking, and monitoring. QI best practices in both pediatric and adult inpatient settings commonly rely on identifying drivers of overall ratings of care, rewarding staff for successful implementation, and creating easy-to-use and easy-to-access planning and QI tools for staff.