Implementation of a point-of-care ultrasound archiving system and governance framework in a UK physician-paramedic staffed helicopter emergency medical service.

INTRODUCTION: There has been a rapid expansion in the use of point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS) by emergency medical services (EMS). However, less than a third of UK EMS utilise imaging archiving for POCUS, and fewer review saved images as part of a clinical governance structure. This paper describes the implementation of a novel image archiving system and a robust clinical governance framework in our UK physician-paramedic staffed helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS). METHODS: A retrospective database review was conducted of all patients attended by East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) between the introduction of a new POCUS device and image archiving system on 1 December 2020 to 31 January 2024. All patients with recorded POCUS examinations were included. Images from POCUS examinations at EAAA are archived on a cloud-based server, and retrospectively reviewed within 24 h by an EAAA POCUS supervisor. Image quality is graded using a 5-point Likert-type scale, agreement between reviewer and clinician is recorded and feedback is provided on scanning technique. T-tests were used to assess the difference in image quality between physicians and paramedics. Inter-rater reliability between reviewers and clinicians was assessed using Cohen's kappa (κ). RESULTS: During the study period, 5913 patients were attended by EAAA. Of these, 1097 patients had POCUS images recorded. The prevalence of POCUS during the study period was 18.6%. 1061 patient examinations underwent quality assurance (96.7%). The most common POCUS examination was echocardiography (60%), predominantly during cardiac arrest. The primary scanning clinician was a paramedic in 25.4% of POCUS examinations. Across all examination types; image quality was not significantly different between physicians and paramedics and agreement between reviewers and clinicians was strong (κ > 0.85). CONCLUSIONS: In this service evaluation study, we have described outcomes following the introduction of a new POCUS device, image archiving system and governance framework in our HEMS. Paramedics were the primary scanning clinician in a quarter of scans, with image quality comparable to physicians. Almost all scans underwent quality assurance and inter-rater reliability was strong between clinicians and reviewers. Further research is required to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of POCUS and to demonstrate the effect of utilising prehospital POCUS to refine diagnosis on clinical outcomes.

Governing the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator: towards greater participation, transparency, and accountability.

The Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) is a multistakeholder initiative quickly constructed in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic to respond to a catastrophic breakdown in global cooperation. ACT-A is now the largest international effort to achieve equitable access to COVID-19 health technologies, and its governance is a matter of broad public importance. We traced the evolution of ACT-A's governance through publicly available documents and analysed it against three principles embedded in the founding mission statement of ACT-A: participation, transparency, and accountability. We found three challenges to realising these principles. First, the roles of the various organisations in ACT-A decision making are unclear, obscuring who might be accountable to whom and for what. Second, the absence of a clearly defined decision making body; ACT-A instead has multiple centres of legally binding decision making and uneven arrangements for information transparency, inhibiting meaningful participation. Third, the nearly indiscernible role of governments in ACT-A, raising key questions about political legitimacy and channels for public accountability. With global public health and billions in public funding at stake, short-term improvements to governance arrangements can and should now be made. Efforts to strengthen pandemic preparedness for the future require attention to ethical, legitimate arrangements for governance.

Effect of Shared Governance on Nurse-Sensitive Indicator and Satisfaction Outcomes: An International Comparison.

OBJECTIVE: Researchers examined associations between Index for Professional Nursing Governance (IPNG) scores and outcomes, by US and international hospitals. BACKGROUND: Nursing governance and effects on nurse-related outcomes are not well studied. METHODS: Associations were evaluated using average IPNG scores from 2170 RNs and nurse-sensitive indicators (NSIs) and patient and RN satisfaction outcomes (n = 205 study units, 20 hospitals, 4 countries). RESULTS: International units had better IPNG shared governance scores (113.5; US = 100.6; P < 0.001), and outcomes outperforming unit benchmarks (6 of 15, 40.0%; US = 2 of 15, 13.3%). Shared governance significantly outperformed traditional governance for 5 of 20 (25.0%) US outcomes (patient satisfaction = 1, RN satisfaction = 4) and for 3 of 11 (27.3%) international (patient satisfaction = 1, RN satisfaction = 2). Internationally, self-governance significantly outperformed traditional governance and shared governance for 5 of 12 (41.7%) outcomes (NSI = 2, patient satisfaction = 3). CONCLUSIONS: Shared governance is a strategy that can be considered by nurse leaders for improving select outcomes.

Media briefing on COVID-19 - 13/08/2020

COVID-19: atenção hospitalar na urgência e emergência

O Debate Virtual do Conass desta sexta-feira (7/8), às 17 horas irá tratar da atenção à Covid-19 nas urgências e emergências dos estados e municípios brasileiros, enfatizando a importância da integração da atenção hospitalar à Rede de Atenção à Saúde (RAS), considerando a continuidade do cuidado dos pacientes curados pela Atenção Primária à Saúde (APS). A iniciativa faz parte da implantação do Guia Orientador do Enfrentamento da Covid-19 na Rede de Atenção à Saúde, elaborado em parceria com o Conselho Nacional de Secretarias Municipais de Saúde (Conasems). Participarão do debate o médico especialista em terapia intensiva e medicina de emergência do Hospital Sírio-Libanês, Welfane Cordeiro Júnior; o diretor geral do Hospital Regional de Nova Andradina/Mato Grosso do Sul, Norberto Fabri Junior; o diretor geral do Hospital Municipal de Teixeira de Freitas/Bahia, Allan Jacqueson Barbosa Lobo; e a coordenadora estadual do Apoio Rede Colaborativa do Espírito Santo, Marfiza Machado de Novaes. A mediação do debate será feita pela assessora técnica do Conass, Rita Catanelli. Perguntas poderão ser enviadas pelo www.conass.org.br/participe O debate será transmitido pelo Portal do Conass: www.conass.org.br e pelos canais do Conselho no YouTube: www.youtube.com/conassoficial; e no FaceBook: www.facebook.com/conassoficial. Participe!

Measuring Council Health to Transform Shared Governance Processes and Practice.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to develop a valid, reliable instrument to measure the effectiveness of shared governance councils BACKGROUND: The work of shared governance, that is, the decisions, takes place in its structures, notably, the councils. A literature search yielded no formal instrument for evaluating how these councils function. METHODS: A 4-phase process was used to generate valid items to measure shared governance council effectiveness, including content validity by experts, a pilot for feasibility, a larger pilot for internal consistency, and an exploratory factor analysis to delineate a final instrument. RESULTS: More than a dozen experts and participants from nearly 30 healthcare organizations contributed to the final development of the 25-item Council Health Survey instrument. Items for measuring council effectiveness at either the unit or division level were grouped in areas of structure, activities, and membership. CONCLUSIONS: When evaluating shared governance, nurses should focus on councils themselves, in which much of the work of shared governance occurs.

UK trainee-led paediatric governance collaboratives: improving the lives of both trainees and children.

Research is vital to paediatrics; however, many trainees feel there is a deficit in their opportunities, experience and exposure in this area. Three training regions in the UK, the West Midlands, Wales and Peninsula, have recently started region-wide, trainee-led research and governance collaboratives aimed at improving trainee access and education in research, undertaking good quality, multicentre audit, quality improvement and pilot projects in collaboration across the regions and implementing change. We report on the experiences, benefits and challenges of these trainee collaboratives (Paediatric Research Across the Midlands, Wales Research and Education Network and Peninsula Trainee Research Audit and Innovation Network) including a trainee survey looking at how these initiatives have improved skills in conducting multicentre prospective studies, team working skills, leadership, understanding of statistics and manuscripts and presentation skills. We also describe how collaboration with colleagues and participation in projects can benefit trainees in a wider sense of purpose and help to encourage morale, as well as what can be learnt as paediatric training moves forward.

Review of 128 quality of care mechanisms: A framework and mapping for health system stewards.

Health system stewards have the critical task to identify quality of care deficiencies and resolve underlying system limitations. Despite a growing evidence-base on the effectiveness of certain mechanisms for improving quality of care, frameworks to facilitate the oversight function of stewards and the use of mechanisms to improve outcomes remain underdeveloped. This review set out to catalogue a wide range of quality of care mechanisms and evidence on their effectiveness, and to map these in a framework along two dimensions: (i) governance subfunctions; and (ii) targets of quality of care mechanisms. To identify quality of care mechanisms, a series of searches were run in Health Systems Evidence and PubMed. Additional grey literature was reviewed. A total of 128 quality of care mechanisms were identified. For each mechanism, searches were carried out for systematic reviews on their effectiveness. These findings were mapped in the framework defined. The mapping illustrates the range and evidence for mechanisms varies and is more developed for some target areas such as the health workforce. Across the governance sub-functions, more mechanisms and with evidence of effectiveness are found for setting priorities and standards and organizing and monitoring for action. This framework can support system stewards to map the quality of care mechanisms used in their systems and to uncover opportunities for optimization backed by systems thinking.

Administrative challenges of clinical governance in military and university hospitals of Kerman/Iran.

BACKGROUND: Over the recent years, clinical governance model has been applied to improve the quality of university and private hospitals in Iran. In addition to university hospitals, military hospitals have an effective role in the preservation and promotion of public health. The challenges of clinical governance implementation have not been investigated in such settings. Hence, the present study objective is to identify the administrative challenges of clinical governance in military and university hospitals of Kerman/Iran METHODS: This qualitative study was carried out through phenomenology in 2017. A sample of managers and experts in the implementation and execution of clinical governance was purposefully selected from three university hospitals and three military hospitals in Kerman, Iran. A total of 39 managers and experts were interviewed, and data were gathered via semistructured interviews with open questions. For data analysis, conventional content analysis method was employed. RESULTS: In this study, five main codes and 17 subcodes were obtained. Main codes were structural challenges, educational challenges, limitations, evaluation, and human resource challenges. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical governance is being implemented hastily with no appropriate structural, financial, and training facilities, ensuing a waste of resources, more difficult work for staff and a negative view of personnel.

Do corporate governance mechanisms and internal control systems matter in reducing mortality rates?

Internal controls are critical to guarding an institution against fraud, error, and devastation. They are effective tools for preventing losses and achieving organizational goals. However, internal control mechanisms need to be relevant, because the organization cannot comprehend the effectiveness of the system if they are out-of-touch with the operation. Health care control practices are not exceptionally different from what pertains in other industries. The health care organizations require effective corporate governance mechanisms to uphold their operations and performances. These practices assist health care organizations to exhume cynical practices that generate unproductive results and also factors militating against the hospital's goals or objectives. This study revealed that practices such as enhanced Board diligence, Health Professionals on board, financial prudence, and effective communication have the tendency of reducing mortality, if well executed.

From embracing to managing risks.

OBJECTIVE: To assess developments over time in the capture, curation and use of quality and safety information in managing hospital services. SETTING: Four acute National Health Service hospitals in England. PARTICIPANTS: 111.5 hours of observation of hospital board and directorate meetings, and 72 hours of ward observations. 86 interviews with board level and middle managers and with ward managers and staff. RESULTS: There were substantial improvements in the quantity and quality of data produced for boards and middle managers between 2013 and 2016, starting from a low base. All four hospitals deployed data warehouses, repositories where datasets from otherwise disparate departmental systems could be managed. Three of them deployed real-time ward management systems, which were used extensively by nurses and other staff. CONCLUSIONS: The findings, particularly relating to the deployment of real-time ward management systems, are a corrective to the many negative accounts of information technology implementations. The hospital information infrastructures were elements in a wider move, away from a reliance on individual professionals exercising judgements and towards team-based and data-driven approaches to the active management of risks. They were not, though, using their fine-grained data to develop ultrasafe working practices.

Competencias profesionales, gestión clínica y grupos relacionados de diagnósticos: el caso de hospitales públicos chilenos / Professional competences, clinical management and diagnostic related groups in Chilean public hospitals

RESUMEN Objetivo Definir un modelo competencias profesionales para el desarrollo de un sistema de información de apoyo a la Gestión Clínica basado en Grupos Relacionados de Diagnósticos-GRD en hospitales públicos chilenos. Método Mixta. Investigación cualitativa, descriptiva, basada en entrevistas focalizadas con un muestreo teórico o intencionado a cuatro líderes expertos en GRD en Chile, con análisis de contenido; Investigación cuantitativa, con uso de Método Delphi a 18 gestores encargados de la implementación de las unidades de GRD en Chile, con 3 rondas. El análisis de los datos cuantitativos se realizó por conglomerados. Resultados Luego de cinco iteraciones, se evaluaron 78 competencias de un total de 179 en nivel "alto", del tipo: Conocimientos del líder de los equipos, formación profesional preferentemente enfermeras, 15 actitudes y valores, 17 habilidades o destrezas y 12 competencias específicas relacionadas al sistema de codificación. Conclusión Existe tendencia en los profesionales, a requerir el máximo de competencias, se observó una conducta masificadora, con baja discriminación y priorización. Se propone analizar las causas que dificultan la toma de decisiones y priorizar las competencias requeridas; Determinar para cada competencia el nivel requerido, las brechas entre la oferta de competencias y su demanda, y finalmente diseñar un sistema de evaluación del impacto del modelo en el desarrollo de competencias de los equipos.(AU)

ABSTRACT Objective To define a professional skills model for the creation of an information system to support clinical management based on diagnosis related groups (DRG) in Chilean public hospitals. Methods Mixed methodology. Qualitative, descriptive research based on focused interviews, with a theoretical or intentional sample of four leading DRG experts from Chile, with content analysis. Quantitative research using the Delphi method on 18 managers in charge of the implementation of DRG units in Chile, with three rounds. The analysis of quantitative data was carried out by clusters. Results After five iterations, 78 skills were evaluated out of a total of 179 as "high", including knowledge of the team leader, professional training (preferably nurses), 15 attitudes and values, 17 skills and 12 specific skills related to the coding system. Conclusion There is a tendency among professionals to require the maximum skills; a massive behavior was observed, with low discrimination and prioritization. To analyze the causes that make decision-making difficult and to prioritize the required skills is proposed to determine the necessary level for each skill, the gaps between skill offer and demand, and to design a system for evaluating the impact of the model on the development of the skills among the teams.(AU)

Translating value-based health care: an experiment into healthcare governance and dialogical accountability.

This article analyses an experiment into healthcare governance in Denmark inspired by principles of value-based health care and intended to re-orient the focus of healthcare governance from 'productivity' to 'value for the patient'. The region in charge of the experiment exempted nine hospital departments from activity-based financing and accountability based on diagnosis-related groups, which allegedly incentivised hospitals in 'perverse' and counterproductive ways. Instead, the departments were to develop new indicators from their local practices to support and account for quality and value for the patient. Drawing on the actor-network theory concept of 'translation', this article analyses how the experiment was received and put into practice in the nine departments, and how it established new kinds of accountability relations. We argue that the experiment provides fruitful inspiration for future governance schemes in healthcare to embrace the local complexities of clinical practices. In particular, we argue that the locally developed indicators facilitated what we call 'dialogical accountability', and we discuss whether this represents a feasible way forward for value-based health care.

Enhanced Multi-Service Markets: An Evolution in Military Health System Governance.

Background: The evolution of governance models for the Military Health System's (MHS) large hospitals, called medical treatment facilities (MTFs), has culminated with the effort to implement Enhanced Multi-Service Markets (eMSM). The term eMSM refers to two separate concepts. First, MSM refers to those geographic areas, that is, markets, which have the following characteristics: they have MTFs that are operated by two or more Department of Defense (DoD) Services, that is, Army, Navy, or Air Force; there is a large beneficiary population; there is a substantial amount of direct care (i.e., beneficiaries are treated at MTFs instead of TRICARE's purchased care from civilian providers); and there is a substantial readiness and training platform. Second, the term "enhanced" refers to an increase in management authority over clinical and business operations, readiness, and MTF workload. Methods: A retrospective review was conducted to study the evolution of military and civilian health care delivery models for the purpose of understanding how governance models have changed since the 1980s to design and manage MTFs with overlapping catchments areas. Primary and secondary data sources were analyzed through a comprehensive literature review. Findings: Since the 1980s, the MHS governance models have evolved from testing various managed care models to a regionally focused TRICARE model and culminating with an overlapping catchment area model entitled eMSMs. The eMSM model partially fulfills the original vision because the eMSM leaders have limited budgetary and resource allocation authority. Discussion: The various models sought to improve governance of overlapping catchment areas with the intent to enhance medical readiness, community health, and individual health care while reducing costs. However, the success of the current model, that is, eMSMs, cannot be fully assessed because the eMSM model was not fully implemented as originally envisioned. Instead, the current eMSM model partially implements the eMSM model. As a result, the current eMSMs operate solely through cooperation and collaboration, without directive authority. Nevertheless, there have been some market-specific initiatives. Further analysis is necessary in the event that eMSM market managers are granted governance authority. This authority would include the ability to allocate the overall market's budget, determine common clinical and business functions, optimize the readiness of both the medical and the operational forces assigned to the market, and reallocate resources to optimize MTF workload. The results of this analysis may determine whether the fully implemented eMSMs optimize patient-centric initiatives as well as improve the market's efficiency and effectiveness.

Do different approaches to clinical governance development and implementation make a difference? Findings from Ireland and New Zealand.

Purpose Clinical governance (CG) is an important foundation for a high-performing health care system, with many countries supporting its development. CG policy may be developed and implemented nationally, or devolved to a local level, with implications for the overall approach to implementation and policy uptake. However, it is not known whether one of these two approaches is more effective. The purpose of this paper is to probe this question. Its setting is Ireland and New Zealand, two broadly comparable countries with similar CG policies. Ireland's was nationally led, while New Zealand's was devolved to local districts. This leads to the question of whether these different approaches to implementation make a difference. Design/methodology/approach Data from surveys of health professionals in both countries were used to compare performance with CG development. Findings The study showed that Ireland's approach produced a slightly better performance, raising questions about the merits of devolving responsibility for policy implementation to the local level. Research limitations/implications The Irish and New Zealand surveys both had lower-than-desirable response rates, which is not uncommon for studies of health professionals such as this. The low response rates mean the findings may be subject to selection bias. Originality/value Despite the importance of the question of whether a national or local approach to policy implementation is more effective, few studies specifically focus on this, meaning that this study provides a new contribution to the topic.

Governance arrangements for health systems in low-income countries: an overview of systematic reviews.

BACKGROUND: Governance arrangements include changes in rules or processes that determine authority and accountability for health policies, organisations, commercial products and health professionals, as well as the involvement of stakeholders in decision-making. Changes in governance arrangements can affect health and related goals in numerous ways, generally through changes in authority, accountability, openness, participation and coherence. A broad overview of the findings of systematic reviews can help policymakers, their technical support staff and other stakeholders to identify strategies for addressing problems and improving the governance of their health systems. OBJECTIVES: To provide an overview of the available evidence from up-to-date systematic reviews about the effects of governance arrangements for health systems in low-income countries. Secondary objectives include identifying needs and priorities for future evaluations and systematic reviews on governance arrangements and informing refinements of the framework for governance arrangements outlined in the overview. METHODS: We searched Health Systems Evidence in November 2010 and PDQ Evidence up to 17 December 2016 for systematic reviews. We did not apply any date, language or publication status limitations in the searches. We included well-conducted systematic reviews of studies that assessed the effects of governance arrangements on patient outcomes (health and health behaviours), the quality or utilisation of healthcare services, resource use (health expenditures, healthcare provider costs, out-of-pocket payments, cost-effectiveness), healthcare provider outcomes (such as sick leave), or social outcomes (such as poverty, employment) and that were published after April 2005. We excluded reviews with limitations that were important enough to compromise the reliability of the findings of the review. Two overview authors independently screened reviews, extracted data and assessed the certainty of evidence using GRADE. We prepared SUPPORT Summaries for eligible reviews, including key messages, 'Summary of findings' tables (using GRADE to assess the certainty of the evidence) and assessments of the relevance of findings to low-income countries. MAIN RESULTS: We identified 7272 systematic reviews and included 21 of them in this overview (19 primary reviews and 2 supplementary reviews). We focus here on the results of the 19 primary reviews, one of which had important methodological limitations. The other 18 were reliable (with only minor limitations).We grouped the governance arrangements addressed in the reviews into five categories: authority and accountability for health policies (three reviews); authority and accountability for organisations (two reviews); authority and accountability for commercial products (three reviews); authority and accountability for health professionals (seven reviews); and stakeholder involvement (four reviews).Overall, we found desirable effects for the following interventions on at least one outcome, with moderate- or high-certainty evidence and no moderate- or high-certainty evidence of undesirable effects. Decision-making about what is covered by health insurance- Placing restrictions on the medicines reimbursed by health insurance systems probably decreases the use of and spending on these medicines (moderate-certainty evidence). Stakeholder participation in policy and organisational decisions- Participatory learning and action groups for women probably improve newborn survival (moderate-certainty evidence).- Consumer involvement in preparing patient information probably improves the quality of the information and patient knowledge (moderate-certainty evidence). Disclosing performance information to patients and the public- Disclosing performance data on hospital quality to the public probably encourages hospitals to implement quality improvement activities (moderate-certainty evidence).- Disclosing performance data on individual healthcare providers to the public probably leads people to select providers that have better quality ratings (moderate-certainty evidence). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Investigators have evaluated a wide range of governance arrangements that are relevant for low-income countries using sound systematic review methods. These strategies have been targeted at different levels in health systems, and studies have assessed a range of outcomes. Moderate-certainty evidence shows desirable effects (with no undesirable effects) for some interventions. However, there are important gaps in the availability of systematic reviews and primary studies for the all of the main categories of governance arrangements.