Engaging GME Learners in Health System-Aligned Improvement Work in the Clinical Learning Environment.

Alignment between graduate medical education (GME) and health system priorities is foundational to meaningful engagement of residents and fellows in systems improvement work within the clinical learning environment. The Residents and Fellows Leading Interprofessional Continuous Improvement Teams program at the University of California San Francisco was designed over a decade ago to address barriers to trainee participation in health system-based improvement work. The program provides structure and support for health system-aligned trainee-led improvement projects in the clinic learning environment. Project champions (residents/fellows) from GME programs attend workshops where they learn improvement methodologies and develop proposals for health system-based improvement projects for their training programs. Proposals are supported by local faculty mentors and are reviewed and approved by GME and health systems' leaders. During the academic year, teams share their progress using visual management boards and interactive leader rounds. The health system provides a modest financial incentive for successful projects. Since the program's inception, thousands of trainees from 58 residency and fellowship programs have participated either as champions or participants in the program at least once, and in total over 300 projects have been implemented. Approximately three-quarters of the specific improvement goals were met, all projects meaningfully engaged residents and fellows, and many projects continued after the learners graduated. This active partnership between GME and a health system created a symbiotic relationship; trainees received education and support to complete improvement projects, while the health system reaped additional benefits from the alignment and impact of the projects. This partnership continues to grow with steady increases in participating programs, spread to partner health systems, and scholarship for trainees and faculty.

Enabling antibiotic allergy evaluations and reintroduction of first-line antibiotics for patients with cystic fibrosis.

BACKGROUND: Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) often have a history of antibiotic adverse drug reactions (ADRs) that pose a barrier to receiving recommended first-line treatment. Targeted antibiotic allergy evaluations are increasingly recognized as an important strategy for optimization of antimicrobial stewardship. OBJECTIVE: To improve first-line antibiotic use in patients with CF with antibiotic ADRs by streamlining access to antibiotic allergy evaluations and standardizing documentation of plans for antibiotic reintroduction. METHODS: We incorporated allergy evaluations into a multidisciplinary CF clinic and used telemedicine when allergy evaluations could not be performed during CF clinic. Standard documentation of antibiotic allergy plans was used to enable safe reintroduction of first-line antibiotics by CF providers. RESULTS: Strategies used in this study allowed 81.3% (26 of 32) of patients with CF to receive allergy evaluations and antibiotic allergy plans for prioritized antibiotics (penicillin, cephalosporin, sulfonamide), with removal of 41.0% (16 of 39) of prioritized antibiotic ADRs. Only 5.1% (2 of 39) of prioritized antibiotic ADRs evaluated required strict avoidance after evaluation. There were 9 patients who received at least 1 prioritized antibiotic, with 66.6% (6 of 9) of these patients given the antibiotic after only 1 allergy evaluation visit. Furthermore, these strategies allowed allergy evaluations of 23 nonprioritized antibiotics to occur, with removal of the ADR in 39.1% (9 of 23) and use of 77.8% (7 of 9) of nonprioritized antibiotics after removal. CONCLUSION: Incorporating allergy evaluations into a multidisciplinary CF clinic can liberalize first-line antibiotic use in patients with CF. Standard documentation of antibiotic allergy plans allowed antibiotic reintroduction to occur even before complete removal of documented antibiotic ADRs.

Utilizing Lean Leadership Principles to Build an Academic Primary Care Practice of the Future.

This Perspective presents a case study of multidimensional clinical transformation in an academic general internal medicine practice. In the face of increasing internal and external pressures, health systems and individual medical practices have pursued multiple strategies to improve quality, patient experience, and efficiency, while reducing staff and provider stress and burnout. We describe a Lean-informed approach that emphasizes the importance of organizational alignment in goals, evidence-based problem solving, and leadership behaviors to support a culture of continuous improvement. Our aim in this Perspective is to provide a real-world example of a feasible process for the planning, preparation, and execution of effective transformation, and to present lessons that may be useful to other academic health center practices seeking to develop innovative models to achieve the quadruple aim.