ABSTRACT
An internal chart review of warfarin patients revealed a 44 percent complication rate resulting in higher treatment costs, and identified patient noncompliance, access to monitoring, and insufficient patient education as contributing factors. A warfarin usage guideline was created to assist physicians with warfarin management and subsequently the Anticoagulation Center (ACC) was established. To date over 950 patients have been managed through the ACC with therapeutic international normalized ratios an average of 82 percent of the time. Fewer bleeds and treatment failures have occurred in the ACC group, and a patient satisfaction survey revealed that ACC patients were very satisfied with their care more often than non-ACC patients.
Subject(s)
Anticoagulants/therapeutic use , Outpatient Clinics, Hospital/organization & administration , Pharmacy Service, Hospital/organization & administration , Total Quality Management/organization & administration , Warfarin/therapeutic use , Chicago , Feasibility Studies , Hospital Bed Capacity, 500 and over , Humans , Management Quality Circles , Medical Audit , Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care , Outpatient Clinics, Hospital/standards , Patient Compliance , Patient Education as Topic , Pharmacy Service, Hospital/standards , Practice Guidelines as TopicABSTRACT
In July 1997, Provider ran an overview of the foundation for continuous quality improvement (CQI). The following CQI principles were discussed: listening to customers; focusing on the processes that produce outcomes for customers; and using data to make decisions. The July article covered the first two aspects of CQI. In this article, the third principle, using data to make decisions, will be explored in further detail.
