Author: IPRO

Assessment of the Appropriateness of Antimicrobial Use in US Hospitals

Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) & Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia

Importance Hospital antimicrobial consumption data are widely available; however, large-scale assessments of the quality of antimicrobial use in US hospitals are limited.

Objective  To evaluate the appropriateness of antimicrobial use for hospitalized patients treated for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) or urinary tract infection (UTI) present at admission or for patients who had received fluoroquinolone or intravenous vancomycin treatment.

Conclusions and Relevance The findings suggest that standardized assessments of hospital antimicrobial prescribing quality can be used to estimate the appropriateness of antimicrobial use in large groups of hospitals. These assessments, performed over time, may inform evaluations of the effects of antimicrobial stewardship initiatives nationally.

Implementation of Antibiotic Stewardship Activities in Critical Access Hospitals – YouTube Video

CDC and HRSA’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

During this webinar, leading experts will discuss the implementation of antibiotic stewardship activities to measure and improve how antibiotics are used. The discussion will emphasize the uptake of hospital core elements in the U.S., and address overcoming barriers and practical suggestions for enhancing antibiotic stewardship activities in critical access hospitals. This webinar will be co-hosted by CDC and HRSA’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy.

Strategically Advancing Patient and Family Advisory Councils in New York State Hospitals

Institute for Patient and Family Centered Care (IPFCC)

The purpose of this project is to address gaps in knowledge about PFAC best practices. Specifically, the project aims to:

  1. Determine the prevalence of hospital-based PFACs in New York State;
  2. Document variation in hospital-based PFACs within New York State, including identifying differences in characteristics such as composition, structure, resources, management, and functioning;
  3. Assess the extent to which differences in hospital-based PFAC characteristics are related to selected outcomes, including safety and patient experience of care;
  4. Identify best practices for PFACs; and
  5. Recommend policy and practice changes for New York State to facilitate the spread of effective PFACs and PFA roles in hospitals

Opioid Overdose Prevention TOOLKIT & Opioid Use Disorder Facts

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

This toolkit offers strategies to health care providers, communities, and local governments for developing practices and policies to help prevent opioid-related overdoses and deaths. Access reports for community members, prescribers, patients and families, and those recovering from opioid overdose.

  • Scope of the Problem
  • Strategies to Prevent Overdose Deaths
  • Resources for Communities

GRACE Team Care Model: Geriatric Resources for Assessment and Care of Elders (GRACE)

Agency Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) & Indiana University School of Medicine’s Center for Aging Research

Designed as a promising solution to the health and health care challenges faced by low-income seniors with multiple chronic conditions, researchers at Indiana University developed the GRACE Team Care model  to assist primary care physicians (PCPs) working with low-income seniors to optimize health and functional status, decrease excess usage of health care services, and prevent unnecessary long-term nursing home placement.

BOOST: Better Outcomes for Older Adults Safe Transitions

Society Hospital Medicine (SHM)

Evidence-based bundled intervention for hospitals to use to identify patients at high risk for readmission and guide the discharge plan based on identified needs assessed upon hospital admission; provides the patient a Transitional Record to guide them during the post-acute period.

Cost associated with implementation.

Project RED (Re-Engineered Discharge)

Project RED is supported by grants from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHBLI), the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation, and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.

Hospital based care transition model that coordinates the patient’s discharge plan throughout the hospitalization and then provides a post-acute discharge guide and follow-up telephone calls.

Project Re-Engineered Discharge is a research group at Boston University Medical Center that develops and tests strategies to improve the hospital discharge process in a way that promotes patient safety and reduces re-hospitalization rates. The RED (re-engineered discharge) intervention is founded on 12 discrete, mutually reinforcing components and has been proven to reduce rehospitalizations and yields high rates of patient satisfaction.  Virtual patient advocates are currently being tested in conjunction with the RED. In addition, Project RED has started to implement the re-engineered discharge at other hospitals serving diverse patient populations. We are also looking at the transitional needs from inpatient to outpatient care of specific populations (i.e., those with depressive symptoms). Finally, we are about to start a patient-centered project to create a tool that hospitals can use to discover factors (i.e., medical legal, social, etc.) in patients’ readmissions.

IHI STAAR Root Cause Analysis Tool

Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)

Chart Reviews of Patients Who Were Readmitted: This Root Cause Analysis (RCA) tool is one of those that we recommend for hospitals.

Conduct chart reviews of the last five readmitted patients. Reviewers should be physicians or nurses from the hospital and community settings. Reviewers should not look to assign blame, but rather to discover opportunities to improve the care of patients.

Interventions to Reduce Acute Care Transfers (INTERACT): Interventions to Reduce Acute Care Transfers

Pathway Health: Project supported by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)

INTERACT (Interventions to Reduce Acute Care Transfers) is a quality improvement program that focuses on the management of acute change in resident condition. It includes clinical and educational tools and strategies for use in everyday practice in long-term care centers. INTERACT is designed to improve the early identification, assessment, documentation, and communication about changes in the status of residents. The goal of INTERACT is to improve care and reduce the frequency of potentially avoidable transfers to the acute hospital.

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