Evaluation of older persons' medications: a critical incident technique study exploring healthcare professionals' experiences and actions.

BACKGROUND: Older persons with polypharmacy are at increased risk of harm from medications. Therefore, it is important that physicians and nurses, together with the persons, evaluate medications to avoid hazardous polypharmacy. It remains unclear how healthcare professionals experience such evaluations. This study aimed to explore physicians' and nurses' experiences from evaluations of older persons' medications, and their related actions to manage concerns related to the evaluations. METHOD: Individual interview data from 29 physicians and nurses were collected and analysed according to the critical incident technique. RESULTS: The medication evaluation for older persons was influenced by the working conditions (e.g. healthcare professionals' clinical knowledge, experiences, and situational conditions) and working in partnership (e.g. cooperating around and with the older person). Actions taken to manage these evaluations were related to working with a plan (e.g. performing day-to-day work and planning for continued treatment) and collaborative problem-solving (e.g. finding a solution, involving the older person, and communicating with colleagues). CONCLUSION: Working conditions and cooperation with colleagues, the older persons and their formal or informal caregivers, emerged as important factors related to the medication evaluation. By adjusting their performance to variations in these conditions, healthcare professionals contributed to the resilience of the healthcare system by its capacity to prevent, notice and mitigate medication problems. Based on these findings, we hypothesize that a joint plan for continued treatment could facilitate such resilience, if it articulates what to observe, when to act, who should act and what actions to take in case of deviations from what is expected.

Older persons' experiences regarding evaluation of their medication treatment-An interview study in Sweden.

BACKGROUND: Older persons with polypharmacy are at increased risk of harm from medications, and this issue is a global patient safety challenge. Harm may arise at all stages of medication use and may cause hospital admission, additional resource utilization and lower patient satisfaction. Older persons' participation in their own care may increase patient safety. Their views on the evaluation of their medication treatment, and their own involvement in it, are crucial yet poorly understood. OBJECTIVES: To identify opportunities to make the medication use process safer, we explored and described older persons' experiences of evaluation of their medication treatment. DESIGN: Semi-structured interviews were performed with 20 community-dwelling older persons (age 75-91 years) in Sweden. Data were analysed using inductive qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: These older persons reported having a responsibility to engage in their medication evaluations, although some felt unable to do so or considered themselves unconcerned. Evaluation, in their experience, was facilitated by continuity of care and an invitation to participate. However, some older persons experienced not receiving a comprehensive medication evaluation. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Older persons want to be actively involved in their medication evaluations, and this may represent an underutilized resource in the pursuit of patient safety. Their trust in physicians to undertake evaluations on a regular basis, although that does not necessarily occur, may cause harm. Patient safety could benefit from a co-production approach to medication evaluations, with health-care professionals explicitly sharing information with older persons and agreeing on responsibilities related to on-going medication treatment.

The national program on standardized cancer care pathways in Sweden: Observations and findings half way through.

In 2015, the Swedish government initiated a national cancer reform program to standardize cancer care pathways. Primary aims included shortened waiting times among patients with suspected cancer, increased patient satisfaction and reduced regional variation. The implementation phase of the program is now more than half way through and both achievements and challenges have been identified. The ongoing evaluation demonstrates that professional engagement and adjustments on the meso- and micro-level of the system are essential to achieving sustainable improvements. Waiting times have shortened for the pathways launched first, and patients are satisfied with a more transparent process. Physicians in primary care are satisfied to inform patients about the pathways but point out problems with comorbidity and complicated diagnostic procedures related to unspecific symptoms. Mechanisms and ethical considerations behind possible crowding-out effects need to be thoroughly highlighted and discussed with staff and management. The results so far appear promising but meso- and micro-levels of the system need to be more involved in the design processes.

Reducing post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage rates through a quality improvement project using a Swedish National quality register: a case study.

PURPOSE: Tonsillectomy (TE) is one of the most frequently performed ENT surgical procedures. Post-tonsillectomy haemorrhage (PTH) is a potentially life-threatening complication of TE. The National Tonsil Surgery Register in Sweden (NTSRS) has revealed wide variations in PTH rates among Swedish ENT centres. In 2013, the steering committee of the NTSRS, therefore, initiated a quality improvement project (QIP) to decrease the PTH incidence. The aim of the present study was to describe and evaluate the multicentre QIP initiated to decrease PTH rates. METHODS: Six ENT centres, all with PTH rates above the Swedish average, participated in the 7-month quality improvement project. Each centre developed improvement plans describing the intended changes in clinical practice. The project's primary outcome variable was the PTH rate. Process indicators, such as surgical technique, were also documented. Data from the QIP centres were compared with a control group of 15 surgical centres in Sweden with similarly high PTH rates. Data from both groups for the 12 months prior to the start of the QIP were compared with data for the 12 months after the QIP. RESULTS: The QIP centres reduced the PTH rate from 12.7 to 7.1% from pre-QIP to follow-up; in the control group, the PTH rate remained unchanged. The QIP centres also exhibited positive changes in related key process indicators, i.e., increasing the use of cold techniques for dissection and haemostasis. CONCLUSIONS: The rates of PTH can be reduced with a QIP. A national quality register can be used not only to identify areas for improvement but also to evaluate the impact of subsequent improvement efforts and thereby guide professional development and enhance patient outcomes.

Explanation and elaboration of the SQUIRE (Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence) Guidelines, V.2.0: examples of SQUIRE elements in the healthcare improvement literature.

Since its publication in 2008, SQUIRE (Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence) has contributed to the completeness and transparency of reporting of quality improvement work, providing guidance to authors and reviewers of reports on healthcare improvement work. In the interim, enormous growth has occurred in understanding factors that influence the success, and failure, of healthcare improvement efforts. Progress has been particularly strong in three areas: the understanding of the theoretical basis for improvement work; the impact of contextual factors on outcomes; and the development of methodologies for studying improvement work. Consequently, there is now a need to revise the original publication guidelines. To reflect the breadth of knowledge and experience in the field, we solicited input from a wide variety of authors, editors and improvement professionals during the guideline revision process. This Explanation and Elaboration document (E&E) is a companion to the revised SQUIRE guidelines, SQUIRE 2.0. The product of collaboration by an international and interprofessional group of authors, this document provides examples from the published literature, and an explanation of how each reflects the intent of a specific item in SQUIRE. The purpose of the guidelines is to assist authors in writing clearly, precisely and completely about systematic efforts to improve the quality, safety and value of healthcare services. Authors can explore the SQUIRE statement, this E&E and related documents in detail at http://www.squire-statement.org.

Unpacking the key components of a programme to improve the timeliness of hip-fracture care: a mixed-methods case study.

BACKGROUND: Delay to surgery for patients with hip fracture is associated with higher incidence of post-operative complications, prolonged recovery and length of stay, and increased mortality. Therefore, many health care organisations launch improvement programmes to reduce the wait for surgery. The heterogeneous application of similar methods, and the multifaceted nature of the interventions, constrain the understanding of which method works, when, and how. In complex acute care settings, another concern is how changes for one patient group influence the care for other groups. We therefore set out to analyse how multiple components of hip-fracture improvement efforts aimed to reduce the time to surgery influenced that time both for hip-fracture patients and for other acute surgical orthopaedic inpatients. METHODS: This study is an observational mixed-methods single case study of improvement efforts at a Swedish acute care hospital, which triangulates control chart analysis of process performance data over a five year period with interview, document, and non-participant observation data. RESULTS: The improvement efforts led to an increase in the monthly percentage of hip-fracture patients operated within 24 h of admission from an average of 47% to 83%, with performance predictably ranging between 67% and 98% if the process continues unchanged. Meanwhile, no significant changes in lead time to surgery for other acute surgical orthopaedic inpatients were observed. Interview data indicated that multiple intervention components contributed to making the process more reliable. The triangulation of qualitative and quantitative data, however, indicated that key changes that improved performance were the creation of a process improvement team and having an experienced clinician coordinate demand and supply of surgical services daily and enhance pre-operative patient preparation. CONCLUSIONS: Timeliness of surgery for patients with hip fracture in a complex hospital setting can be substantially improved without displacing other patient groups, by involving staff in improvement efforts and actively managing acute surgical procedures.

Sustaining improvement? The 20-year Jönköping quality improvement program revisited.

BACKGROUND: There is scarce evidence of organization-wide and sustained impact of quality improvement (QI) programs in health care. For 20 years, the Jönköping County Council's (Sweden) ambitious program has attracted attention from practitioners and researchers alike. METHODS: This is a follow-up case of a 2006 study of Jönköping's improvement program, triangulating data from 20 semi-structured interviews, observation and secondary analysis of internal performance data. RESULTS: In 2010, clinical outcomes had clearly improved in 2 departments (pediatrics, intensive care), while process improvements were evident in many departments. In an overall index of the 20 Swedish county councils' performance, Jönköping had improved its ranking since 2006 to lead in 2010. Five key issues shaped Jönköping's improvement program since 2006: a rigorously managed succession of chief executive officer; adept management of a changing external context; clear strategic direction relating to integration; a broadened conceptualization of "quality" (incorporating clinical effectiveness, patient safety, and patient experience); and continuing investment in QI education and research. Physician involvement in formal QI initiatives had increased since 2006 but remained a challenge in 2010. A new clinical information system was being deployed but had not yet met expectations. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that ambitious approaches can carry health care organizations beyond the sustainability threshold.

Complexity complicates lean: lessons from seven emergency services.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to explain how different emergency services adopt and adapt the same hospital-wide lean-inspired intervention and how this is reflected in hospital process performance data. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: A multiple case study based on a realistic evaluation approach to identify mechanisms for how lean impacts process performance and services' capability to learn and continually improve. Four years of process performance data were collected from seven emergency services at a Swedish University Hospital: ear, nose and throat (ENT) (two), pediatrics (two), gynecology, internal medicine, and surgery. Performance patterns were linked with qualitative data collected through realist interviews. FINDINGS: The complexity of the care process influenced how improvement in access to care was achieved. For less complex care processes (ENT and gynecology), large and sustained improvement was mainly the result of a better match between capacity and demand. For medicine, surgery, and pediatrics, which exhibit greater care process complexity, sustainable, or continual improvement were constrained because the changes implemented were insufficient in addressing the higher degree of complexity. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: The variation in process performance and sustainability of results indicate that lean efforts should be carefully adapted to the complexity of the care process and to the educational commitment of healthcare organizations. Ultimately, the ability to adapt lean to a particular context of application depends on the development of routines that effectively support learning from daily practices.

Surveying improvement activities in health care on a national level--the Swedish internal collaborative strategy and its challenges.

In order to map improvement activities in Swedish health care, we surveyed the managers of all primary health care centers (n = 958) and clinical hospital departments (n = 1355), with a response rate of 46%. The majority reports that their staff view improvement work positively. The most common driver of improvement is work environment problems, whereas external drivers have less influence. Among 35 methods, the most commonly used are educational initiatives, stress management, guidelines, and leadership development, whereas accreditation is used the least. Respondents who report extensive improvement efforts indicate the greatest benefit from educational interventions, analysis of patient incidents, guidelines, and rapid cycle tests. Respondents claim that improvement initiatives yield positive results, in particular regarding the working environment, administrative routines, workflow, and communication, although only 15%-30% of respondents report having data to support their claims. Our findings indicate an introverted focus of most improvement efforts, starting with staff and administration needs. Further research is needed to understand how and why some centers and departments have managed to achieve strategic, measurable, patient-focused, systems improvements, whereas most have not.