RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: We designed a quality improvement (QI) project to improve rates of documented folic acid supplementation counseling for adolescent females with epilepsy, consistent with a quality measure from the American Academy of Neurology and American Epilepsy Society. Our SMART aim was to increase the percentage of visits at which folic acid counseling was addressed from our baseline rate of 23% to 50% by July 1, 2020. METHODS: This initiative was conducted in female patients ≥12 years old with epilepsy who were prescribed daily antiseizure medication and were seen by the 13 providers in our Neurology QI Program. Using provider interviews, we undertook a root cause analysis of low counseling rates and identified the following main factors: insufficient time during clinic visit to counsel, lack of provider knowledge, and forgetting to counsel. Countermeasures were designed to address these main root causes and were implemented through iterative plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycles. Interventions included provider education and features within the electronic health record, which were introduced sequentially, culminating in the creation of a best practice advisory (BPA). We performed biweekly chart reviews of visits for applicable patients to establish baseline performance rate and track progress over time. We used a statistical process control p-chart to analyze the outcome measure of documented counseling. As a balancing measure, clinicians were surveyed using the Technology Adoption Model survey to assess acceptance of the BPA. RESULTS: From September 2019 to August 2022, the QI team improved rates of documented folic acid counseling from 23% to 73% through several PDSA cycles. This level of performance has been sustained over time. The most successful and sustainable intervention was the BPA. Provider acceptance of the BPA was overall positive. SIGNIFICANCE: We successfully used QI methodology to improve and sustain our rates of documented folic acid supplementation counseling for adolescent females with epilepsy.
RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: Improvement in epilepsy care requires standardized methods to assess disease severity. We report the results of implementing common data elements (CDEs) to document epilepsy history data in the electronic medical record (EMR) after 12 months of clinical use in outpatient encounters. METHODS: Data regarding seizure frequency were collected during routine clinical encounters using a CDE-based form within our EMR. We extracted CDE data from the EMR and developed measurements for seizure severity and seizure improvement scores. Seizure burden and improvement was evaluated by patient demographic and encounter variables for in-person and telemedicine encounters. RESULTS: We assessed a total of 1696 encounters in 1038 individuals with childhood epilepsies between September 6, 2019 and September 11, 2020 contributed by 32 distinct providers. Childhood absence epilepsy (n = 121), Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (n = 86), and Dravet syndrome (n = 42) were the most common epilepsy syndromes. Overall, 43% (737/1696) of individuals had at least monthly seizures, 17% (296/1696) had a least daily seizures, and 18% (311/1696) were seizure-free for >12 months. Quantification of absolute seizure burden and changes in seizure burden over time differed between epilepsy syndromes, including high and persistent seizure burden in patients with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. Individuals seen via telemedicine or in-person encounters had comparable seizure frequencies. Individuals identifying as Hispanic/Latino, particularly from postal codes with lower median household incomes, were more likely to have ongoing seizures that worsened over time. SIGNIFICANCE: Standardized documentation of clinical data in childhood epilepsies through CDE can be implemented in routine clinical care at scale and enables assessment of disease burden, including characterization of seizure burden over time. Our data provide insights into heterogeneous patterns of seizure control in common pediatric epilepsy syndromes and will inform future initiatives focusing on patient-centered outcomes in childhood epilepsies, including the impact of telemedicine and health care disparities.
