Information transparency with immediate release: Oncology clinician and patient perceptions.

INTRODUCTION: As part of the 21st Century Cures Act (April 2021), electronic health information (EHI) must be immediately released to patients. In this study, we sought to evaluate clinician and patient perceptions regarding this immediate release. METHODS: After surveying 33 clinicians and 30 patients, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a subset of the initial sample, comprising 8 clinicians and 12 patients. Open-ended questions explored clinicians' and patients' perceptions of immediate release of EHI and how they adjusted to this change. RESULTS: Ten themes were identified: Interpreting Results, Strategies for Patient Interaction, Patient Experiences, Communication Strategies, Provider Limitations, Provider Experiences, Health Information Interfaces, Barriers to Patient Understanding, Types of Results, and Changes due to Immediate Release. Interviews demonstrated differences in perceived patient distress and comprehension, emphasizing the impersonal nature of electronic release and necessity for therapeutic clinician-patient communication. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians and patients have unique insights on the role of immediate release. Understanding these perspectives will help improve communication and develop patient-centered tools (glossaries, summary pages, additional resources) to aid patient understanding of complex medical information.

Patient comprehension of breast pathology report terminology: The need for patient-centered resources.

BACKGROUND: As health care continues to evolve toward information transparency, an increasing number of patients have access to their medical records, including result reports that were not originally designed to be patient-facing. Previous studies have demonstrated that patients have poor understanding of medical terminology. However, patient comprehension of terminology specific to breast pathology reports has not been well studied. We assessed patient understanding of common medical terms found in breast pathology reports. METHODS: A survey was administered electronically to patients scheduled for a screening mammogram within a multisite health care system. Participants were asked to objectively define and interpret 8 medical terms common to breast biopsy pathology reports. Patient perception of the utility of various educational tools was also assessed. Demographic information including health literacy, education level, previous cancer diagnosis, and primary language was collected. RESULTS: In total, 527 patients completed the survey. Terms including "malignant" and "benign" were the most correctly defined at 80% and 73%, respectively, whereas only 1% correctly defined "high grade." Factors including race/ethnicity and education level were correlated with more correct scores. Patients preferred educational tools that were specific to their diagnosis and available at the time they were reviewing their results. CONCLUSION: Patient comprehension of common medical terminology is poor. Potential assumptions of understanding based on patient factors including education, past medical history, and occupation are misinformed. With the newly mandated immediate release of information to patients, there is a pressing need to develop and integrate educational tools to support patients through all aspects of their care.

Patient and clinician perceptions of the immediate release of electronic health information.

OBJECTIVES: The 21st Century Cures Act requires that institutions release all electronic health information (EHI) to patients immediately. We aimed to understand patient and clinician attitudes toward the immediate release of EHI to patients. METHODS: Patients and clinicians representing distinct specialties at a single academic medical center completed a survey to assess attitudes toward the immediate release of results. Differences between patient and clinician responses were compared using chi-square and student's t-test for categorical and continuous variables, respectively. A two-sided significance level of 0.05 was used for all statistical tests. RESULTS: 69 clinicians and 57 patients completed the survey. Both patients (89.7%) and clinicians (80.6%) agreed or strongly agreed-here after referred to as agreed, that providing patients with access to their health information is necessary in delivering high-quality care. However, 62.7% of clinicians agreed that results released immediately would be more confusing than helpful, whereas the minority of patients agreed with this statement (15.8%) (p < 0.05). Providers were also more likely to disagree that patients are comfortable independently interpreting blood work results (p < 0.05), radiology results (p < 0.05) and pathology reports (p < 0.05). With regard to timing, the majority of patients (75.1%) felt their provider should contact them within 24 h of the release of an abnormal result, whereas only 9.0% of clinicians agreed with this timeframe (p < 0.05). DISCUSSIONS: Patients and clinicians value information transparency. However, the immediate release of results is controversial, especially among clinicians. The discrepancy between patient and clinician perceptions underlines the importance of setting expectations about the communication of results. Additionally, our results emphasize the need to implement strategies to help improve patient comprehension, decrease patient distress and improve clinician workflows.

Multicenter evaluation of parametric response mapping as an indicator of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Parametric response mapping (PRM) is a novel computed tomography (CT) technology that has shown potential for assessment of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT). The primary aim of this study was to evaluate whether variations in image acquisition under real-world conditions affect the PRM measurements of clinically diagnosed BOS. CT scans were obtained retrospectively from 72 HCT recipients with BOS and graft-versus-host disease from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Karolinska Institute, and the University of Michigan. Whole lung volumetric scans were performed at inspiration and expiration using site-specific acquisition and reconstruction protocols. PRM and pulmonary function measurements were assessed. Patients with moderately severe BOS at diagnosis (median forced expiratory volume at 1 second [FEV1] 53.5% predicted) had similar characteristics between sites. Variations in site-specific CT acquisition protocols had a negligible effect on the PRM-derived small airways disease (SAD), that is, BOS measurements. PRM-derived SAD was found to correlate with FEV1% predicted and FEV1/ forced vital capacity (R = -0.236, P = .046; and R = -0.689, P < .0001, respectively), which suggests that elevated levels in the PRM measurements are primarily affected by BOS airflow obstruction and not CT scan acquisition parameters. Based on these results, PRM may be applied broadly for post-HCT diagnosis and monitoring of BOS.

Project to Improve the Transcription of Clinical Order Information into a Radiology Information System.

CONTEXT: Inaccurate and incomplete imaging order information presented to interpreting radiologists is a persistent problem in many radiology settings. Computerized Physician Order Entry processes in clinic-based settings are often inconsistent, and radiology transcription clerks continue to play a critical role in transmitting accurate content and information from referring physician orders to the radiology information system. (RIS) The purpose of this quality improvement project was to a) identify common transcription areas of deficient RIS imaging order information and b) test outcomes from an intervention to improve the content and concordance of transcribed patient information entered into the RIS. METHODS: A random convenience sample of 500 outpatient radiographic orders were categorized according to degree and quality of concordance between the transcribed patient information documented in the RIS and the corresponding original imaging order information. During Phase I, the authors used a root-cause analysis to determine the possible etiologies for discordance between the information in original imaging orders and the information transcribed into the RIS. The intervention that was delivered included a short education session with radiology transcription clerks with placement reminder posters at transcription workstations. During Phase 2, a second random sample was obtained following the intervention, with data collection and analyses replicating the process from Phase I. A set of inferential comparisons were conducted using chi-square tests to examine for statistical significance. RESULTS: There was an overall 44% decrease in transcription discordance (p < 0.001), and the number of cases with perfectly concordant RIS order indication documentations increased by 21% (p < 0.001). A total of 34% of transcriptions from Phase I were partially discordant due to an inadequate imaging study indication, compared to 15% during Phase II (p < 0.001). There was also a 22% increase in the number of completely concordant transcriptions free of grammatical errors (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: A short education session with radiology transcription clerks along with placement of reminder posters may significantly improve both the concordance and quality of transcribed imaging order information presented to interpreting radiologists using the RIS.

Single-dose del Nido Cardioplegia in Minimally Invasive Aortic Valve Surgery.

del Nido cardioplegia (DC) offers prolonged cardiac protection with single-dose administration and has been shown to be safe in adult CABG surgery. We set out to evaluate the efficacy of cardiac protection and clinical outcomes of DC versus standard blood cardioplegia (BC) in minimally invasive aortic valve surgery. From August 2011 to May 2016, 178 patients underwent minimally invasive aortic valve replacement (mini-AVR) with BC (n = 101) or DC (n = 77). Ministernotomy or right minithoracotomy was utilized for surgical access. Clinical patient characteristics and data were extracted from our local Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) database and the electronic medical record. Patients were propensity matched for age, gender, body mass index, valve size and type, STS score, surgical access, preop creatinine, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, yielding 63 well-matched pairs. There was no difference in patient age, preoperative creatinine, body mass index, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or STS score between BC and DC before or after propensity matching. BC patients received both anterograde and retrograde cardioplegias in multiple doses, whereas DC was delivered almost entirely anterograde with 95% of the patients (73/77) receiving a single dose only. DC was associated with decreased cardiopulmonary bypass time (108 ± 24 vs 135 ± 43 minutes, P = 0.001) and aortic cross-clamp time (80 ± 16 vs 102 ± 30 min, P = 0.001) and maximal glucose levels during cardiopulmonary bypass (165 ± 39 vs 202 ± 49 mg/dL, P = 0.001), whereas troponin T level did not differ between DC and BC (0.3 ± 0.29 vs 0.44 ± 1.7 ng/mL, P = 0.7). Preoperative ejection fraction did not change in either BC (64% ± 12% vs 61% ± 10%, P = 0.09) or DC (58% ± 14% vs 57% ± 14%, P = 0.4) after AVR. In minimally invasive AVR surgery, DC provided equivalent myocardial protection and clinical outcomes to BC while simplifying cardioprotective regimen and reducing aortic cross-clamp time. DC was associated with lower cardiopulmonary bypass glucose levels and demonstrated the feasibility of a single-dose administration.

WITHDRAWN: Single-dose del Nido cardioplegia in minimally invasive aortic valve surgery.

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Propensity Matched Analysis of del Nido Cardioplegia in Adult Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting: Initial Experience With 100 Consecutive Patients.

BACKGROUND: Del Nido cardioplegia (DC) offers prolonged cardiac protection with single-dose administration and has had a long safety record in pediatric cardiac surgery. However, its application in the adult population has thus far been limited. We evaluated the efficacy of cardiac protection and clinical outcomes of DC vs blood cardioplegia (BC) in adult coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patients. METHODS: Clinical outcomes of 100 consecutive isolated CABG patients who received DC (May to September 2014) were compared with the previous 100 consecutive isolated CABG patients receiving BC (December 2013 to April 2014). Propensity matching yielded 82 pairs. The same surgeons operated on all patients. Clinical patient characteristics and data were extracted from our local The Society of Thoracic Surgeons database and the electronic medical record. RESULTS: Preoperative characteristics were similar between BC and DC patients before and after propensity matching. BC patients received anterograde and retrograde cardioplegia, whereas DC was delivered anterograde, with 92 of 100 patients receiving a single dose only. Inotropic support upon arrival to the recovery unit did not differ between BC and DC (0.28 ± 0.11 vs 0.27 ± 0.11 µg/kg/min milrinone [p = 0.8] and 0.05 ± 0.03 vs 0.05 ± 0.03 µg/kg/min norepinephrine [p = 0.7]), nor did postoperative troponin T levels (0.56 ± 0.48 vs 0.70 ± 1.27 ng/mL; p = 0.3). The peak intraoperative glucose level was higher in BC (209.8 ± 40.4 mg/dL) than in DC (161.4 ± 42.3 mg/dL) patients (p < 0.001). No patients died in either group, and the postoperative incidence of atrial fibrillation, stroke, reoperation for bleeding, and prolonged intubation did not differ between the groups before and after matching. There was also no difference in the postoperative ejection fraction between the groups (0.51 ± 0.13 vs 0.47 ± 0.13 for BC and DC, respectively; p = 0.17). CONCLUSIONS: In our initial experience, DC provided equivalent myocardial protection and clinical outcomes to BC in adult isolated CABG patients. DC was associated with lower cardiopulmonary bypass glucose levels than BC and demonstrated the feasibility of single-dose administration for routine coronary operations.