Research progress on clinical quality disparity and effects for quality improvement in patients with acute coronary syndromes / 上海预防医学

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal proposes to achieve universal health coverage by 2030， and the key element is that everyone can enjoy high-quality healthcare services. Cardiovascular diseases， predominantly acute coronary syndromes， have become the largest disease burden on global health. However， the quality of healthcare services for acute coronary syndromes varies significantly across the populations and regions. This study aimed to investigate the difference in the quality of acute coronary syndrome services in multiple countries， regions， hospitals， and patient populations， and then determine the impact of quality improvement initiatives on quality disparity， which may facilitate further improving the equity of clinical service quality for acute coronary syndromes and promoting health equity and universal health coverage.

Evaluating the quality of data from the Japanese National Clinical Database 2011 via a comparison with regional government report data and medical charts.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to examine the quality of data from the National Clinical Database (NCD) via a comparison with regional government report data and medical charts. METHODS: A total of 1,165,790 surgical cases from 3007 hospitals were registered in the NCD in 2011. To evaluate the NCD's data coverage, we retrieved regional government report data for specified lung and esophageal surgeries and compared the number with registered cases in the NCD for corresponding procedures. We also randomly selected 21 sites for on-site data verification of eight demographic and surgical data components to assess the accuracy of data entry. RESULTS: The numbers of patients registered in the NCD and regional government report were 46,143 and 48,716, respectively, for lung surgeries and 7494 and 8399, respectively, for esophageal surgeries, leading to estimated coverages of 94.7% for lung surgeries and 89.2% for esophageal surgeries. According to on-site verification of 609 cases at 18 sites, the overall agreement between the NCD data components and medical charts was 97.8%. CONCLUSION: Approximately, 90-95% of the specified lung surgeries and esophageal surgeries performed in Japan were registered in the NCD in 2011. The NCD data were accurate relative to medical charts.

Professional Formation of Physicians Focused on Improving Care: How Do We Get There?

As the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and National Academy of Medicine (NAM) increase emphasis on quality improvement (QI), continuing medical education must also adapt to meet these increasing demands. In fellowship programs and for attending physicians, QI initiatives exist but are more rare compared with initiatives during residency programs, and they are even more rare for orthopedic surgery residents, fellows, and attending physicians. A QI curriculum should be in place at all stages of continuing medical education, as they help meet the criteria of the ACGME and NAM and promote better clinical practice and minimize errors.

Predictors of clinically meaningful change in PDQ-39 in Parkinson's disease.

OBJECTIVE: To determine predictors of clinically meaningful change in Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQL) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). BACKGROUND: There is limited literature on longitudinal predictors of change in HRQL in PD. METHODS: Data were collected from the National Parkinson Foundation Quality Improvement Initiative (NPF-QII) registry, a multicenter, longitudinal observational study. HRQL is measured by the Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire-39 (PDQ-39). We calculated the PDQ-39 change between every two consecutive visits and generated binary outcomes using the threshold for clinically meaningful change (previously determined to be 1.6). We used chi-squared tests for discrete and t-test for continuous variables for baseline characteristic comparison between patient groups of interest. Generalized linear mixed models with repeated measures were used for identifying the predictors of whether PDQ-39 outcomes worsen over time. RESULTS: Of 8041 subjects enrolled, 5250 had at least one follow-up visit and were included in the analysis. Subjects were separated into two groups, "worse" and "not worse" based on PDQ-39 change >1.6 across consecutive visits. The "worse" group was more likely to be older (p = 0.001), to have motor fluctuations (p = 0.011), be on cognitive enhancers (p = 0.01), and to have more impaired immediate five-word recall (p = 0.04). The "non-worse" group was more likely to have rest tremor (p = 0.003), and to utilize social work/counseling (p = 0.046). CONCLUSIONS: The majority of predictors of worsening of HRQL are baseline disease and demographic characteristics that are difficult to modify. The positive effect of social service/counseling is intriguing and important to further explore in controlled interventional studies.

Evidence-based early detection of developmental-behavioral problems in primary care: what to expect and how to do it.

The goals of this study are to (a) inform clinicians embarking on evidence-based screening initiatives about what to expect when using quality tools, including provision of information on identification rates by age, patient mix, and well-visit uptake, and (b) describe the various implementation methods used by other clinics. Participants were professionals in 79 clinics across 20 U.S. states and elsewhere in North America, collectively serving 20,941 families via a Web-based screening ervice, PEDS Online, which offers developmental-behavioral/mental health and autism screens with automated scoring, report writing, and a mineable database. Problematic screening results were found in more than 1 out of 5 children, and rates of screening test failures increased with children's ages. Children screened outside the well-child visit schedule were more likely to have screening test failures. Personnel at 22 of the 79 clinics were either interviewed or observed in person to identify implementation strategies. Clinics, even those serving families with limited education or lack of facility with English, found a variety of ways to make use of online screening services.

Nurse-sensitive indicators suitable to reflect nursing care quality: a review and discussion of issues.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To review nurse-sensitive indicators that may be suitable to assess nursing care quality. BACKGROUND: Patient safety concerns, fiscal pressures and patient expectation create a demand that healthcare providers demonstrate the quality of nursing care delivered. As a result, nurse managers are increasingly encouraged to provide evidence of nursing care quality. Nurse-sensitive indicators are being proposed as a means of meeting this need. DESIGN: Literature review. METHODS: A review of the literature was conducted using CINAHL and MEDLINE from 2002-2011. Key search terms were nurs* and sensitive indicators, outcome measures, indicators, metrics and patient outcomes. RESULTS: Most of the research has examined the relationship between nursing structural variables and patient outcomes in acute care settings and have explored potential indicators for specific patient groups and nursing roles. When using nurse-sensitive indicators, issues concerning the selection, reporting and sustained use are important for nurse managers to consider. CONCLUSION: Evidence for the nurse-sensitivity of some commonly used indicators is inconsistent due to the disparity in definitions used, data collection and analysis methods. Further research on the application and implementation of these indicators is required to assist nurse managers in attempting to quantify the quality of nursing care. Nurses need to continue to strive to achieve agreement on the definitions of indicators, gather strong consistent evidence of nurse-sensitivity, resolve issues of regular data collection and consider selection, reporting and sustainment when implementing nurse-sensitive indicators. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Once identified, nurse-sensitive indicators can be applied for quality improvement purposes, but consensus is required to fully realise their potential. Nurse managers need to be aware of the factors that can influence the use of indicators at unit level. Strategies need to be implemented to promote these indicators becoming integrated with routine nursing care.