Optimizing Endoscopy Procedure Documentation Improves Guideline-Adherent Care in Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Upper GI bleeding (UGIB) is a common indication for inpatient esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD). Guideline adherence improves post-EGD care, including appropriate medication dosing/duration and follow-up procedures that reduce UGIB-related morbidity. We aimed to optimize and standardize post-EGD documentation to improve process and clinical outcomes in UGIB-related care. METHODS: We performed a prospective quality improvement study of inpatient UGIB endoscopies at an academic tertiary referral center during 6/2019-7/2021. Guidelines were used to develop etiology/severity-specific electronic health record note templates. Participants (39 faculty/15 trainees) completed 10-min training in template content/use. We collected pre/post-intervention process data on "Minimal Standard Report" (MSR) documentation including patient disposition, diet, and medications. We also recorded documentation of re-bleed precautions and follow-up procedures. Study outcomes included guideline-based medication prescriptions, ordering of follow-up EGD, and post-discharge re-bleeding. Pre/post-intervention analysis was performed using chi-square tests. RESULTS: From a pre-intervention baseline of 199 patients to 459 patients post-intervention, compliance improved with inpatient PPI (53.4-77.9%, p < 0.001) and discharge PPI (31.3-61.0%, p < 0.001) prescriptions. There was improvement in MSR completion (28.6-42.5%, p < 0.001). Compliance improved with octreotide prescriptions (75.0-93.6%, p = 0.002) and follow-up EGD order (61.3-87.1%, p < 0.001). There was no change in post-discharge re-bleeding. 82.6% of cases used templates. CONCLUSIONS: Our project leveraged endoscopy software to standardize documentation, resulting in improved clinical care behavior and efficiency. Our intervention required low burden of maintenance, and sustainability with high utilization over 9 months. Similar endoscopy templates can be applied to other health systems and procedures to improve care.

Leveraging electronic medical record functionality to capture adenoma detection rate.

Measuring the adenoma detection rate (ADR) is critical to providing quality care, however it is also challenging. We aimed to develop a tool using pre-existing electronic health record (EHR) functions to accurately and easily measure total ADR and to provide real-time feedback for endoscopists. We utilized the Epic EHR. With the help of an Epic analyst, using existing tools, we developed a method by which endoscopy staff could mark whether an adenoma was detected for a given colonoscopy. Using these responses and all colonoscopies performed by the endoscopist recorded in the EHR, ADR was calculated in a report and displayed to endoscopists within the EHR. One endoscopist piloted the tool, and results of the tool were validated against a manual chart review. Over the pilot period the endoscopist performed 145 colonoscopies, of which 78 had adenomas. The tool correctly identified 76/78 colonoscopies with an adenoma and 67/67 of colonoscopies with no adenomas (97.4% sensitivity, 100% specificity, 98% accuracy). There was no difference in ADR as determined by the tool compared to manual review (53.1% vs. 53.8%, p = 0.912). We successfully developed and pilot tested a tool to measure ADR using existing EHR functionality.

Risks and rewards of increasing patient access to medical records in clinical ophthalmology using OpenNotes.

BACKGROUND: The implementation of OpenNotes and corresponding increase in patient access to medical records requires thorough assessment of the risks and benefits of note-sharing. Ophthalmology notes are unique among medical records in that they extensively utilize non-standardized abbreviations and drawings; they are often indecipherable even to highly-educated clinicians outside of ophthalmology. No studies to date have assessed ophthalmologist perceptions of OpenNotes. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from 4/28 to 5/12/2016. A survey was distributed to 30 clinicians (25 ophthalmologists, three optometrists, two nurses) in the University of Colorado's Department of Ophthalmology to evaluate provider attitudes towards granting patients access to online medical records. RESULTS: Many clinicians felt patients would have difficulty understanding their records and may be unnecessarily alarmed or offended by them. Some clinicians worried their workload would increase and feared having to change the way they document. Perceived benefits of OpenNotes included improving patient understanding of their medical conditions, strengthening patient-physician trust, and enhancing patient care. Many perceived risks and benefits of note-sharing were associated with conceptions of the ideal clinician-patient relationship. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians in ophthalmology perceived both benefits and consequences of increasing patient access to ophthalmic records, and there were significant correlations between these perceptions and their conceptions of the clinician-patient relationship. This is the first study to assess potential ophthalmology provider attitudes toward sharing ophthalmic records. Although limited in sample size and power, this study demonstrates some ways patient-accessible ophthalmic records can affect the clinical practice of ophthalmology and emphasizes the unique challenges of OpenNotes in ophthalmology.

The Effectiveness of a Multidisciplinary Electronic Discharge Readiness Tool: Prospective, Single-Center, Pre-Post Study.

BACKGROUND: In the face of hospital capacity strain, hospitals have developed multifaceted plans to try to improve patient flow. Many of these initiatives have focused on the timing of discharges and on lowering lengths of stay, and they have met with variable success. We deployed a novel tool in the electronic health record to enhance discharge communication. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a discharge communication tool. METHODS: This was a prospective, single-center, pre-post study. Hospitalist physicians and advanced practice providers (APPs) used the Discharge Today Tool to update patient discharge readiness every morning and at any time the patient status changed throughout the day. Primary outcomes were tool use, time of day the clinician entered the discharge order, time of day the patient left the hospital, and hospital length of stay. We used linear mixed modeling and generalized linear mixed modeling, with team and discharging provider included in all the models to account for patients cared for by the same team and the same provider. RESULTS: During the pilot implementation period from March 5, 2019, to July 31, 2019, a total of 4707 patients were discharged (compared with 4558 patients discharged during the preimplementation period). A total of 352 clinical staff had used the tool, and 84.85% (3994/4707) of the patients during the pilot period had a discharge status assigned at least once. In a survey, most respondents reported that the tool was helpful (32/34, 94% of clinical staff) and either saved time or did not add additional time to their workflow (21/24, 88% of providers, and 34/34, 100% of clinical staff). Although improvements were not observed in either unadjusted or adjusted analyses, after including starting morning census per team as an effect modifier, there was a reduction in the time of day the discharge order was entered into the electronic health record by the discharging physician and in the time of day the patient left the hospital (decrease of 2.9 minutes per additional patient, P=.07, and 3 minutes per additional patient, P=.07, respectively). As an effect modifier, for teams that included an APP, there was a significant reduction in the time of day the patient left the hospital beyond the reduction seen for teams without an APP (decrease of 19.1 minutes per patient, P=.04). Finally, in the adjusted analysis, hospital length of stay decreased by an average of 3.7% (P=.06). CONCLUSIONS: The Discharge Today tool allows for real time documentation and sharing of discharge status. Our results suggest an overall positive response by care team members and that the tool may be useful for improving discharge time and length of stay if a team is staffed with an APP or in higher-census situations.

Development and Implementation of a Multidisciplinary Electronic Discharge Readiness Tool: User-Centered Design Approach.

BACKGROUND: Typical solutions for improving discharge planning often rely on one-way communication mechanisms, static data entry into the electronic health record (EHR), or in-person meetings. Lack of timely and effective communication can adversely affect patients and their care teams. OBJECTIVE: Applying robust user-centered design strategies, we aimed to design an innovative EHR-based discharge readiness communication tool (the Discharge Today tool) to enable care teams to communicate any barriers to discharge, the status of patient discharge readiness, and patient discharge needs in real time across hospital settings. METHODS: We employed multiple user-centered design strategies, including exploration of the current state for documenting discharge readiness and directing discharge planning, iterative low-fidelity prototypes, multidisciplinary stakeholder meetings, a brainwriting premortem exercise, and preproduction user testing. We iteratively collected feedback from users via meetings and surveys. RESULTS: We conducted 28 meetings with 20 different stakeholder groups. From these stakeholder meetings, we developed 14 low-fidelity prototypes prior to deploying the Discharge Today tool for our pilot study. During the pilot study, stakeholders requested 46 modifications, of which 25 (54%) were successfully executed. We found that most providers who responded to the survey reported that the tool either saved time or did not change the amount of time required to complete their discharge workflow (21/24, 88%). Responses to open-ended questions offered both positive feedback and opportunities for improvement in the domains of efficiency, integration into workflow, avoidance of redundancies, expedited communication, and patient-centeredness. CONCLUSIONS: Survey data suggest that this electronic discharge readiness tool has been successfully adopted by providers and clinical staff. Frequent stakeholder engagement and iterative user-centered design were critical to the successful implementation of this tool.

Assessing Prescriber Behavior with a Clinical Decision Support Tool to Prevent Drug-Induced Long QT Syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: Clinical decision support (CDS) alerts built into the electronic health record (EHR) have the potential to reduce the risk of drug-induced long QT syndrome (diLQTS) in susceptible patients. However, the degree to which providers incorporate this information into prescription behavior and the impact on patient outcomes is often unknown. METHODS: We examined provider response data over a period from October 8, 2016 until November 8, 2018 for a CDS alert deployed within the EHR from a 13-hospital integrated health care system that fires when a patient with a QTc ≥ 500 ms within the past 14 days is prescribed a known QT-prolonging medication. We used multivariate generalized estimating equations to analyze the impact of therapeutic alternatives, relative risk of diLQTS for specific medications, and patient characteristics on provider response to the CDS and overall patient mortality. RESULTS: The CDS alert fired 15,002 times for 7,510 patients for which the most common response (51.0%) was to override the alert and order the culprit medication. In multivariate models, we found that patient age, relative risk of diLQTS, and presence of alternative agents were significant predictors of adherence to the CDS alerts and that nonadherence itself was a predictor of mortality. Risk of diLQTS and presence of an alternative agent are major factors in provider adherence to a CDS to prevent diLQTS; however, provider nonadherence was associated with a decreased risk of mortality. CONCLUSION: Surrogate endpoints, such as provider adherence, can be useful measures of CDS value but attention to hard outcomes, such as mortality, is likely needed.

Optimizing the electronic health record: An inpatient sprint addresses provider burnout and improves electronic health record satisfaction.

OBJECTIVE: We sought reduce electronic health record (EHR) burden on inpatient clinicians with a 2-week EHR optimization sprint. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A team led by physician informaticists worked with 19 advanced practice providers (APPs) in 1 specialty unit. Over 2 weeks, the team delivered 21 EHR changes, and provided 39 one-on-one training sessions to APPs, with an average of 2.8 hours per provider. We measured Net Promoter Score, thriving metrics, and time spent in the EHR based on user log data. RESULTS: Of the 19 APPs, 18 completed 2 or more sessions. The EHR Net Promoter Score increased from 6 to 60 postsprint (1.0; 95% confidence interval, 0.3-1.8; P = .01). The NPS for the Sprint itself was 93, a very high rating. The 3-axis emotional thriving, emotional recovery, and emotional exhaustion metrics did not show a significant change. By user log data, time spent in the EHR did not show a significant decrease; however, 40% of the APPs responded that they spent less time in the EHR. CONCLUSIONS: This inpatient sprint improved satisfaction with the EHR.

Ambulatory Clinician's Guide to Inpatient Service: An Innovative Rapid Onboarding Strategy for the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE: When hospitals are subject to prolonged surges in patients, such as during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, additional clinicians may be needed to care for the rapid increase of acutely ill patients. How might we quickly prepare a large number of ambulatory-based clinicians to care for hospitalized patients using the inpatient workflow of the electronic health record (EHR)? OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study is to create a successful training intervention which prepares ambulatory-based clinicians as they transition to inpatient services. METHODS: We created a training guide with embedded videos that describes the workflow of an inpatient clinician. We delivered this intervention via an e-mail hyperlink, a static hyperlink inside of the EHR, and an on-demand hyperlink within the EHR. RESULTS: In anticipation of the first peak of inpatients with COVID-19 in April 2020, the training manual was accessed 261 times by 167 unique users as clinicians anticipated being called into service. As our institution has not yet needed to deploy ambulatory-based clinicians for inpatient service, usage data of the training document is still pending. CONCLUSION: We intend that our novel implementation of a multimedia, highly accessible onboarding document with access from points inside and outside of the EHR will improve clinician performance and serve as a helpful example to other organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Clinical informatics accelerates health system adaptation to the COVID-19 pandemic: examples from Colorado.

OBJECTIVE: Large health systems responding to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic face a broad range of challenges; we describe 14 examples of innovative and effective informatics interventions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A team of 30 physician and 17 nurse informaticists with an electronic health record (EHR) and associated informatics tools. RESULTS: To meet the demands posed by the influx of patients with COVID-19 into the health system, the team built solutions to accomplish the following goals: 1) train physicians and nurses quickly to manage a potential surge of hospital patients; 2) build and adjust interactive visual pathways to guide decisions; 3) scale up video visits and teach best-practice communication; 4) use tablets and remote monitors to improve in-hospital and posthospital patient connections; 5) allow hundreds of physicians to build rapid consensus; 6) improve the use of advance care planning; 7) keep clinicians aware of patients' changing COVID-19 status; 8) connect nurses and families in new ways; 9) semi-automate Crisis Standards of Care; and 10) predict future hospitalizations. DISCUSSION: During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the UCHealth Joint Informatics Group applied a strategy of "practical informatics" to rapidly translate critical leadership decisions into understandable guidance and effective tools for patient care. CONCLUSION: Informatics-trained physicians and nurses drew upon their trusted relationships with multiple teams within the organization to create practical solutions for onboarding, clinical decision-making, telehealth, and predictive analytics.

Optimization Sprints: Improving Clinician Satisfaction and Teamwork by Rapidly Reducing Electronic Health Record Burden.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a novel clinic-focused Sprint process (an intensive team-based intervention) to optimize electronic health record (EHR) efficiency. METHODS: An 11-member team including 1 project manager, 1 physician informaticist, 1 nurse informaticist, 4 EHR analysts, and 4 trainers worked in conjunction with clinic leaders to conduct on-site EHR and workflow optimization for 2 weeks. The Sprint intervention included clinician and staff EHR training, building specialty-specific EHR tools, and redesigning teamwork. We used Agile project management principles to prioritize and track optimization requests. We surveyed clinicians about EHR burden, satisfaction with EHR, teamwork, and burnout 60 days before and 2 weeks after Sprint. We describe the curriculum, pre-Sprint planning, survey instruments, daily schedule, and strategies for clinician engagement. RESULTS: We report the results of Sprint in 6 clinics. With the use of the Net Promoter Score, clinician satisfaction with the EHR increased from -15 to +12 (-100 [worst] to +100 [best]). The Net Promoter Score for Sprint was +52. Perceptions of "We provide excellent care with the EHR," "Our clinic's use of the EHR has improved," and "Time spent charting" all improved. We report clinician satisfaction with specific Sprint activities. The percentage of clinicians endorsing burnout was 39% (47/119) before and 34% (37/107) after the intervention. Response rates to the survey questions were 47% (97/205) to 61% (89/145). CONCLUSION: The EHR optimization Sprint is highly recommended by clinicians and improves teamwork and satisfaction with the EHR. Key members of the Sprint team as well as effective local clinic leaders are crucial to success.

Reining in the QTc: reducing the risk of Torsades de Pointes across a major health system.

Hospitalized patients have a high prevalence of prolonged QTc and are a high-risk population for Torsades de Pointes (TdP). One modifiable risk factor for TdP is the use of QT prolonging drugs. Electronically alerting providers who are ordering QT prolonging drugs in at-risk patients may help to achieve safer prescribing practices. Our previous study decreased inappropriate prescription of IV haloperidol by 36% using a targeted "smart" electronic alert. We wanted to assess an approach to expanding this type of electronic alert to commonly used QT prolonging medications and evaluate how this would affect prescribing practice. This retrospective cohort study evaluated the impact of these alerts for 12 frequently prescribed high-risk medications across a major health system. Between October 2016 and June 2017, a total of 6453 alerts fired and resulted in 3020 (46.8%) orders being cancelled by the provider. Our focused electronic alert significantly decreased prescribing of QT prolonging medications in high-risk patients.

The effect of a pharmacist-led multidisciplinary transitions-of-care pilot for patients at high risk of readmission.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the feasibility and effect of a pharmacist-led transitions-of-care (TOC) pilot targeted to patients at high risk of readmission on process measures, hospital readmissions, and emergency department (ED) visits. SETTING: Academic medical center in Colorado. PRACTICE DESCRIPTION: Pharmacists enrolled patients identified as high risk for readmission in a TOC pilot from July 2014 to July 2015. The pilot included medication reconciliation, medication counseling, case management or social work evaluation, a postdischarge telephone call, and an expedited primary care follow-up appointment. PRACTICE INNOVATION: Implementation and evaluation of the pharmacist-led TOC pilot program with risk score embedded into the electronic health record. EVALUATION: Comparison of TOC-related process measures and clinical outcomes between pilot patients and randomly matched control patients included readmissions or ED visits at 30 and 90 days. RESULTS: We enrolled 34 pilot patients and randomly matched them to 34 control patients. The intervention took an average of 57.1 minutes for pharmacists to deliver. More pilot patients had a case management or social work note compared with control patients (88% vs. 59%; P = 0.006 [statistically significant]). Readmission rates in pilot versus nonpilot patients, respectively, were 18% versus 24% (P = 0.547) at 30 days and 27% versus 39% (P = 0.296) at 90 days. The composite outcome of a readmission or ED visit in pilot versus nonpilot patients was 24% versus 30% (P = 0.580) at 30 days and 36% versus 49% (P = 0.319) at 90 days. CONCLUSION: A pharmacist-led TOC pilot demonstrates potential for reducing hospital readmissions. The intervention was time intensive and led to creation of a TOC pharmacist role to implement medication-related transitional care.

Leveraging a Redesigned Morbidity and Mortality Conference That Incorporates the Clinical and Educational Missions of Improving Quality and Patient Safety.

PROBLEM: The morbidity and mortality (M&M) conference is a vital event that can affect medical education, quality improvement, and peer review in academic departments. Historically, M&M conferences have emphasized cases that highlight diagnostic uncertainty or complex management conundrums. In this report, the authors describe the development, pilot, and refinement of a systems-based M&M conference model that combines the educational and clinical missions of improving quality and patient safety in the University of Colorado Department of Medicine. APPROACH: In 2011, a focused taskforce completed a literature review that informed the development of a framework for the redesigned systems-based M&M conference. The new model included a restructured monthly conference, longitudinal curriculum for residents, and formal channels for interaction with clinical effectiveness departments. Each conference features an in-depth discussion of an adverse event using specific quality improvement tools. Areas for improvement and suggested action items are identified during the conference and delegated to the relevant clinical departments. OUTCOMES: The new process has enabled the review of 27 adverse events over two years. Sixty-three action items were identified, and 33 were pursued. An average of 50 to 60 individuals participate in each conference, including interprofessional and interdisciplinary colleagues. Resident and faculty feedback regarding the new format has been positive, and other departments are starting to adopt this model. NEXT STEPS: A more robust process for identifying and selecting cases to discuss is needed, as is a stable, sufficient mechanism to manage the improvement initiatives that come out of each conference.

Don't fuel the fire: decreasing intravenous haloperidol use in high risk patients via a customized electronic alert.

Delivering useful clinical decision support to providers who are ordering high risk drugs for high risk patients is imperative for safe pharmacotherapy. This paper presents a focused electronic clinical decision support intervention designed to decrease the risk of corrected QT interval (QTc) related adverse drug events in a high risk patient population. Results showed that a customized alert can both decrease the number of alerts sent to providers while still improving the safety of prescribing practices for intravenous haloperidol. The alert leveraged components of the electronic health record to significantly decrease the rate of inappropriate prescription of intravenous haloperidol in patients with QTc >500 ms from 50% to 14%. The results also suggest providers may abandon the appropriate prescription of a medication in response to an alert. The findings support the necessity of careful targeting of electronic alerts and monitoring for unintended consequences when implementing these types of electronic alerts.