Evaluation of an Advanced Practice Provider Onboarding and Development Program.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of implementing a comprehensive secondary onboarding and development program within a hospital medicine group at a large tertiary academic medical institution. METHODS: This was a mixed-methods study with physician and advanced practice providers (APPs) at an academic medical institution. RESULTS: For quantitative methods, improvement in competencies was determined using a pre-and posttest for APPs and pre- and postevaluation scores from collaborating physicians. APPs also participated in a pre- and post-self-assessment. For qualitative methods, experiences in the secondary onbo.arding and development program were assessed using semistructured interviews. CONCLUSIONS: For quantitative results, there were a total of 25 APPs who completed the pre- and posttest and were evaluated by at least 9 physicians. The average pretest score for APPs was 71.7% and the average posttest score was 83.0%. The average score for physicians' evaluations of APPs was 4.24/5 and increased to 4.38/5 in the postprogram evaluations. The average score for APP self-assessment pretraining was 3.52/5 and after the 12-month onboarding training, average scores increased to 3.84/5. For qualitative results, 4 APPs and 6 physicians were interviewed. Three of the APPs reported having more confidence in treating patients, whereas 1 APP viewed the program as a refresher course. All of the APPs mentioned that they would recommend the program to other APPs. Physicians reported that the program was beneficial in standardizing the care provided among the different types of APPs (physician assistants and nurse practitioners). All of the physicians also would recommend the program to other physicians and APPs.

COVID-19 Vaccine Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices in Alabama: The Case for Primary Health Care Providers.

OBJECTIVE: To examine knowledge, attitudes, and practices about COVID-19 in Alabama, with a primary focus on vaccination perception and utilization. DESIGN: We used a COVID-19 Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices survey and recruited adult Alabama residents in April-May 2021. PARTICIPANTS: Initial surveys from 1324 Alabamian participants were considered for analysis; after careful review of incomplete responses, 953 were ultimately included for analysis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Vaccine behavior and hesitancy comprise a self-reported response contained in the survey instrument. Three primary vaccine groups were used to assess differences in demographic characteristics, health status, perception of susceptibility and severity of COVID-19, sources of information, and trust about COVID-19. RESULTS: Of the 953 survey participants included for analysis, 951 had self-identified vaccine status in which 153 (16.1%) reported to have received the vaccine at the time of the survey, 375 (39.4%) were very likely or somewhat likely to get an approved COVID-19 vaccine if it was offered, and 423 (44.5%) were somewhat unlikely or very unlikely to get an approved COVID-19 vaccine. Health care providers were the most trusted sources of information, regardless of vaccine status. For participants unlikely to receive a vaccine, social media and local news sources were consistently more trusted and utilized than those who were vaccinated or were likely to be. CONCLUSIONS: The perceptions among unvaccinated participants are actionable and provide teachable opportunities to decrease vaccine apprehension.

Patient and Provider Satisfaction With Pediatric Urology Telemedicine Clinic.

The use of telemedicine continues to grow as more patients are receptive to this innovative way of providing health care. Multiple publications in telemedicine indicated high satisfaction for this service. This study focuses on the use of telemedicine in a pediatric urology clinic and examines 3 research questions: (1) How did patients' parents/guardians feel about their video appointments? (2) What were the experiences of novice telemedicine providers conducting postsurgical appointments via video? and (3) How did novice telemedicine providers' experiences compare to those of expert telemedicine providers?

Accrediting Graduate Programs in Healthcare Quality and Safety.

The number of master's degree programs in healthcare quality and safety (HQS) has increased significantly over the past decade. Academic accreditation provides assurance that educational programs are of a high quality and meet the needs of students, employers, and the general public. Under the guidance of the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education, faculty from 9 universities collaborated in the development of criteria and related content domains to be used in the accreditation of graduate programs in HQS. Thirteen content domains were identified. Four of the content domains, safety and error science, improvement science and quality principles, evidence-based practice, and measurement and process improvement are thought to be foundational domains for graduate education in HQS. This article describes the development of the content domains and accompanying standards for accreditation of graduate programs in HQS.