Design of a Medical Triage Evidence-Based Clinical Management Protocol and Implementation of Medical Triage On-Line Training for Use by Mission of Mercy Volunteers.

Evidence-based protocols in safety net settings can help standardize care practices, increase organizational workflow, and enhance quality outcomes for those receiving services. The purpose of this quality improvement project is two-fold: to design an evidence-based medical triage clinical management protocol, and, to influence adherence to that protocol by safety net medical triage volunteers through an on-line volunteer orientation. Leadership skills were required to help translate evidence-based practice recommendations into useful tools to assist in directing practice. Project outcomes included successful multidisciplinary practice change, significantly improved volunteer knowledge surrounding medical triage protocol parameters, increased organizational workflow, and enhanced quality client outcomes.

A practical approach to evidence-based dentistry: IX: how to appraise and use an article about economic analysis.

BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW: In everyday practice, dentists face clinical decisions for which they need to consider both treatment consequences (that is, benefits and harms) and costs. Economic analysis is a study design in which investigators evaluate and compare the costs and consequences of different treatment alternatives within a defined period. A critical appraisal of such studies includes an assessment of the risk of bias, results, and applicability of the study. The authors provide the concepts and guidelines that dentists can apply to critically appraise economic analyses. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Dentists who wish to inform their clinical decisions regarding questions that involve both treatment consequences and costs can use these guidelines to understand the different types of economic analyses and to decide what type of economic analyses to search for, as well as to critically appraise any economic analyses identified.

A pilot improvement project in hospital-based oral healthcare: improving caries risk assessment documentation.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of a continuous improvement project to improve completion of a caries risk assessment (CRA) and to assess its impact on delivery of dental caries prevention. DESIGN: Single centre clinical improvement project. SETTING: A paediatric dental department within a UK dental hospital over the course of 2008-2009.Subjects (materials) and methods Continuous monitoring of documentation of a CRA was instigated and results fed back to clinicians. Tools were developed to structure the process of CRA. After six months of intervention, a comparison of preventive care to a pre-intervention sample was undertaken. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The main outcome measure was completion of a CRA. Comparison was also made with pre-intervention data on levels of preventive care received. RESULTS: Over the 12 month project the mean rate of CRA completion improved from 30% over the first 6 months to 73% in the second 6 months. Compared to the pre-intervention sample, all items of the caries prevention package had improved, with delivery of toothpaste strength advice (16% vs 60%, p = 0.001) and diet advice (32% vs 70%, p = 0.004) improving significantly. CONCLUSION: By targeting and improving CRA completion the quality of preventive care delivered has also significantly improved.

Principles of evidence-based dental practice (EBDP).

In an effort to improve patient care, there has been a growing trend across the nation and the world to embed the principles of evidence-based dentistry into mainstream care delivery by private practicing dentists. Evidence-based dentistry is an essential tool that is used to improve the quality of care and to reduce the gap between what we know, what is possible, and what we do. An evidence-based health care practice is one that includes the decision maker's ability to find, assess, and incorporate high-quality, valid information in diagnosis and treatment. The evidence is considered in conjunction with the clinician's experience and judgment, and the patient's preferences, values, and circumstances. This article introduces the basic skills of evidence-based dentistry. Their practice requires a discipline of lifelong learning in which recent and relevant scientific evidence are translated into practical clinical applications.

Implementing caries risk assessment and clinical interventions.

This article suggests a practical methodology to implement the scientific information presented in the earlier articles into clinical practice. The Caries Balance/Imbalance Model and a practical caries risk assessment procedure for patients aged 6 years through adult illustrate evidence-based treatment options. Neither the forms nor the clinical protocols are meant to imply that there is currently only one correct way that this can be achieved; they are used in this article only as examples.