CLINICAL EFFECTIVENESS
AMBULATORY AND INPATIENT PROCESS IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
Ambulatory FY 2017
• Flu Clinic : As part of UAB Medicine ’ s mission to improve the health and well-being of the community and its workforce , an interdisciplinary team worked to create a dedicated and centralized space to increase access for flu vaccine administration , reducing the barrier of prevention and increasing the compliance rate .
• CODE Sepsis in the ambulatory setting : Once patient is identified as septic , clinic provides a handoff communication report to receiving unit . The patient is immediately transported to ED or unit for treatment by nurse stat team .
• Liver transplant med rec process : Pharmacist performs med rec during intake and before check out . Pharmacist has a dedicated office to ensure that patients see pharmacist before leaving the clinic .
• Suicide screening : A new process that utilizes the inpatient psychiatric evaluation specialist for consultation when a patient refuses to be evaluated in ED for suicidal ideation .
• Electronic order / referral for Anticoagulation Clinic : An electronic order / referral was created for anticoagulation clinic to ensure that request was received and acted upon . This replaced the old process of faxing a paper form that could result in missing request form .
• Electronic consent form : piloted in Dermatology and Plastic Surgery
• Patient tracer workshop : This workshop serves to educate staff on the continuous readiness audit tool that aides in monitoring compliance with regulatory requirements and policies . This class teaches staff what to observe in their clinics to ensure that patients receive the highest quality care and is an opportunity to identify issues .
• Universal protocol workshop : The universal protocol workshop helped educate staff to improve patient safety and increase compliance . The workshop included leadership , staff , physicians , and residents . It provided education and a simulation lab to test the attendees ’ knowledge and compliance with the process .
• Genetics and HLA lab results : IMPACT message will alert ordering provider when results are available .
• 6-minute walk test : There was not a standardized process for completing 6-minute walk test ; each area had a different process . An interprofessional team was formed that includes representatives from each inpatient and outpatient Respiratory Therapy . The team reviewed each area ’ s process and national guidelines to create one standardized process for UAB .
• Ambulatory Quality Performance Scorecard ( Tableau ): The AQPS was a manually created scorecard . In 2017 , the Ambulatory Quality and Patient Safety Department worked with the PowerInsight team to automate the scorecard .
• Ambulatory Quality Performance Scorecard Action Plan ( REDCap ): The AQPS action plan was a paper form on which clinic managers / leadership had to manually insert the metrics , target , and compliance . This information is now automatically input into the action plan .
• Physician Quality Reporting Systems ( PQRS ) Scorecard : Displays PQRS metrics down to provider level .
• Regulatory conference : A conference to bring awareness to common environment of care findings , clinical documentation concerns , and general survey etiquette .
• Fall Prevention Initiatives : – Creation of fall education materials that are sent to all new patients and through the patient portal – Ambulatory falls entered into NDNQI database – Visit with falls consultant to assess facilities – Rest stations to be added throughout The Kirklin Clinic of
UAB Hospital – Increased access to telephones that provide a direct line to
Guest Services – Increased education and ergonomic training for patient escorts to facilitate strategies for approaching patients who need assistance
• Quality and Performance Improvement Project Database : Database for ambulatory and inpatient to display their quality and performance improvement project . The database promotes synergy and accountability , reduces redundancy , and eliminates silos .
24 UAB Quality and Safety Annual Report