Standardization of Emergency Department Clinical Note Templates: A Retrospective Analysis across an Integrated Health System.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Clinical documentation is essential for conveying medical decision-making, communication between providers and patients, and capturing quality, billing, and regulatory measures during emergency department (ED) visits. Growing evidence suggests the benefits of note template standardization; however, variations in documentation practices are common. The primary objective of this study is to measure the utilization and coding performance of a standardized ED note template implemented across a nine-hospital health system. METHODS: This was a retrospective study before and after the implementation of a standardized ED note template. A multi-disciplinary group consensus was built around standardized note elements, provider note workflows within the electronic health record (EHR), and how to incorporate newly required medical decision-making elements. The primary outcomes measured included the proportion of ED visits using standardized note templates, and the distribution of billing codes in the 6 months before and after implementation. RESULTS: In the preimplementation period, a total of six legacy ED note templates were being used across nine EDs, with the most used template accounting for approximately 36% of ED visits. Marked variations in documentation elements were noted across six legacy templates. After the implementation, 82% of ED visits system-wide used a single standardized note template. Following implementation, we observed a 1% increase in the proportion of ED visits coded as highest acuity and an unchanged proportion coded as second highest acuity. CONCLUSION: We observed a greater than twofold increase in the use of a standardized ED note template across a nine-hospital health system in anticipation of the new 2023 coding guidelines. The development and utilization of a standardized note template format relied heavily on multi-disciplinary stakeholder engagement to inform design that worked for varied documentation practices within the EHR. After the implementation of a standardized note template, we observed better-than-anticipated coding performance.

Neonatal Phototherapy-The Need to Measure and Document.

This Viewpoint discusses the need for universal standards of recording and measuring phototherapy administered to infants to monitor for potential adverse effects in the long term.

The impact of nuance DAX ambient listening AI documentation: a cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of the use of an ambient listening/digital scribing solution (Nuance Dragon Ambient eXperience (DAX)) on caregiver engagement, time spent on Electronic Health Record (EHR) including time after hours, productivity, attributed panel size for value-based care providers, documentation timeliness, and Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) submissions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a peer-matched controlled cohort study from March to September 2022 to evaluate the impact of DAX in outpatient clinics in an integrated healthcare system. Primary outcome measurements included provider engagement survey results, reported patient safety events related to DAX use, patients' Likelihood to Recommend score, number of patients opting out of ambient listening, change in work relative values units, attributed value-based primary care panel size, documentation completion and CPT code submission deficiency rates, and note turnaround time. RESULTS: A total of 99 providers representing 12 specialties enrolled in the study; 76 matched control group providers were included for analysis. Median utilization of DAX was 47% among active participants. We found positive trends in provider engagement, while non-participants saw worsening engagement and no practical change in productivity. There was a statistically significant worsening of after-hours EHR. There was no quantifiable effect on patient safety. DISCUSSION: Nuance DAX use showed positive trends in provider engagement at no risk to patient safety, experience, or clinical documentation. There were no significant benefits to patient experience, documentation, or measures of provider productivity. CONCLUSION: Our results highlight the potential of ambient dictation as a tool for improving the provider experience. Head-to-head comparisons of EHR documentation efficiency training are needed.

Building a haemophilia-specific navigator in Epic® Electronic Health Records: Single-centre preliminary experience.

INTRODUCTION: With the increasing complexity of haemophilia care and the advent of numerous therapeutic innovations, there is an unmet need for documentation and data collection tools tailored to people with haemophilia (PwH). To date, no fully integrated haemophilia-specific electronic health record (EHR) has been described in the literature. AIM: To evaluate the feasibility of integrating a haemophilia-specific navigator into the Epic EHR. METHODS: Based on clinical experience and registry datasets, we identified key variables describing both PwH and carriers of haemophilia. These were then incorporated into a REDCap database, which served as a starting point for the development of a comprehensive haemophilia flowsheet. We built a dedicated haemophilia navigator within Epic that includes a flowsheet featuring up to 212 variables, as well as customised note templates and patient lists integrating data from the haemophilia flowsheet. RESULTS: It was feasible to develop a haemophilia navigator within Epic over the course of 12 months. The navigator's flowsheet enables systematic and comprehensive clinical assessment of PwH and carriers, while customised patient lists provide a quick summary of each patient's profile to the haemophilia treatment centre staff and highlight issues that require an intervention. In our clinical practice, patients actively participated in the new documentation process and responded positively to the navigator. CONCLUSION: Adapting EHRs to the needs of PwH and carriers promotes holistic care for this population and provides an opportunity for patient empowerment. Such haemophilia-specific EHRs are expected to promote standardisation of care and facilitate the collection of registry data on a national and international level.

Social Determinants of Health Documentation Among Individuals With Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Conditions in an Integrated Care Management Program.

OBJECTIVE: Social determinants of health (SDoH), such as poverty, are associated with increased burden and severity of rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. This study was undertaken to study the prevalence and documentation of SDoH-related needs in electronic health records (EHRs) of individuals with these conditions. METHODS: We randomly selected individuals with ≥1 International Classification of Diseases, Ninth/Tenth Revision (ICD-9/10) code for a rheumatic/musculoskeletal condition enrolled in a multihospital integrated care management program that coordinates care for medically and/or psychosocially complex individuals. We assessed SDoH documentation using terms for financial needs, food insecurity, housing instability, transportation, and medication access according to EHR note review and ICD-10 SDoH billing codes (Z codes). We used multivariable logistic regression to examine associations between demographic factors (age, gender, race, ethnicity, insurance) and ≥1 (versus 0) SDoH need as the odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI). RESULTS: Among 558 individuals with rheumatic/musculoskeletal conditions, 249 (45%) had ≥1 SDoH need documented in EHR notes by social workers, care coordinators, nurses, and physicians. A total of 171 individuals (31%) had financial insecurity, 105 (19%) had transportation needs, 94 (17%) had food insecurity; 5% had ≥1 related Z code. In the multivariable model, the odds of having ≥1 SDoH need was 2.45 times higher (95% CI 1.17-5.11) for Black versus White individuals and significantly higher for Medicaid or Medicare beneficiaries versus commercially insured individuals. CONCLUSION: Nearly half of this sample of complex care management patients with rheumatic/musculoskeletal conditions had SDoH documented within EHR notes; financial insecurity was the most prevalent. Only 5% of patients had representative billing codes suggesting that systematic strategies to extract SDoH from notes are needed.

Documentation of Complementary and Integrative Health Therapies in the Electronic Health Record: A Scoping Review.

Introduction: Complementary and integrative health (CIH) therapies refers to massage therapy, acupuncture, aromatherapy, and guided imagery. These therapies have gained increased attention in recent years, particularly for their potential to help manage chronic pain and other conditions. National organizations not only recommend the use of CIH therapies but also the documentation of these therapies within electronic health records (EHRs). Yet, how CIH therapies are documented in the EHR is not well understood. The purpose of this scoping review of the literature was to examine and describe research that focused on CIH therapy clinical documentation in the EHR. Methods: The authors conducted a literature search using six electronic databases: Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Ovid MEDLINE, Scopus, Google Scholar, Embase, and PubMed. Predefined search terms included "informatics," "documentation," "complementary and integrative health therapies," "non-pharmacological approaches," and "electronic health records" using AND/OR statements. No restrictions were placed on publication date. The inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) Original peer-reviewed full article in English, (2) focus on CIH therapies, and (3) CIH therapy documentation practice used in the research. Results: The authors identified 1684 articles, of which 33 met the criteria for a full review. A majority of the studies were conducted in the United States (20) and hospitals (19). The most common study design was retrospective (9), and 26 studies used EHR data as a data source for analysis. Documentation practices varied widely across all studies, ranging from the feasibility of documenting integrative therapies (i.e., homeopathy) to create changes in the EHR to support documentation (i.e., flowsheet). Discussion: This scoping review identified varying EHR clinical documentation trends for CIH therapies. Pain was the most frequent reason for use of CIH therapies across all included studies and a broad range of CIH therapies were used. Data standards and templates were suggested as informatics methods to support CIH documentation. A systems approach is needed to enhance and support the current technology infrastructure that will enable consistent CIH therapy documentation in EHRs.

Re-envisioning the Paradigm for Oncology Electronic Health Record Documentation by Paying for What Matters for Patients, Quality, and Research.

This Viewpoint discusses re-envisioning and incentivizing a unique approach to oncology electronic health record documentation.

Midwives' perspectives of intravenous fluid management and fluid balance documentation in labour: A qualitative reflexive thematic analysis study.

AIM: To describe current practice, examine the influences and explore barriers and facilitators to accurate documentation, for the administration of intravenous fluids during labour. DESIGN: A descriptive qualitative study was performed. METHODS: Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with Registered Midwives working across Australia. Midwives were recruited via email and social media advertisements. A maximum variation sampling strategy was used to identify potential participants. Interview questions explored four main areas: (i) understanding of indications for IV fluids in labour; (ii) identification of current practice; (iii) barriers to documentation and (iv) benefits and complications of IV fluid administration. Reflexive thematic analysis of recorded-transcribed interviews was conducted. RESULTS: Eleven midwives were interviewed. Clinical practice variation across Australia was recognized. Midwives reported a potential risk of harm for women and babies and a current lack of evidence, education and clinical guidance contributing to uncertainty around the use of IV fluids in labour. Overall, eight major themes were identified: (i) A variable clinical practice; (ii) Triggers and habits; (iii) Workplace and professional culture; (iv) Foundational knowledge; (v) Perception of risk; (vi) Professional standards and regulations; (vii) The importance of monitoring maternal fluid balance and (viii) barriers and facilitators to fluid balance documentation. CONCLUSION: There was widespread clinical variation identified and midwives reported a potential risk of harm. The major themes identified will inform future quantitative research examining the impact of IV fluids in labour. IMPACT: The implications of this research are important and potentially far-reaching. The administration of IV fluids to women in labour is a common clinical intervention. However, there is limited evidence available to guide practice. This study highlights the need for greater education and evidence examining maternal and neonatal outcomes to provide improved clinical guidance.

Improving Administration and Documentation of Enteral Nutrition Support Therapy in a Veteran Affairs Health Care System: Use of Medication Administration Record and Bar Code Scanning Technology.

OBJECTIVES: The goal of this project was to evaluate and improve the ordering, administration, documentation, and monitoring of enteral nutrition therapies within the inpatient setting in a Veteran's Health Administration system. METHODS: An interdisciplinary team of clinicians reviewed the literature for best practices and revised the process for enteral nutrition support for hospitalized veterans. Interventions included training staff, revising workflows to include scanning patients and products, including enteral nutrition orders within the medication administration record (MAR), and using the existing bar code medication administration system for administration, documentation, and monitoring. Baseline and postprocess improvement outcomes over a year period were collected and analyzed for quality improvement opportunities. RESULTS: Before process change, only 60% (33/55) of reviewed enteral nutrition orders were documented and 40% (22/55) were not documented in the intake flowsheet of the electronic health record. In the year after adding enteral nutrition therapies to the MAR and using bar code scanning, a total of 3807 enteral nutrition products were evaluated. One hundred percent of patients were bar code scanned, 3106/3807 (82%) products were documented as given, 447/3807 (12%) were documented as held (with comments), 12/3807 (<1%) were documented as missing/unavailable, and 242/3807 (6%) were documented as refused. CONCLUSIONS: Inclusion of enteral nutrition order sets on the MAR and using bar code scanning technology resulted in sustained improvements in safety, administration, and documentation of enteral therapies for hospitalized veterans.

Identifying nursing sensitive indicators from electronic health records in acute cardiac care-Towards intelligent automated assessment of care quality.

AIM: The aim of this study is to explore the potential of using electronic health records for assessment of nursing care quality through nursing-sensitive indicators in acute cardiac care. BACKGROUND: Nursing care quality is a multifaceted phenomenon, making a holistic assessment of it difficult. Quality assessment systems in acute cardiac care units could benefit from big data-based solutions that automatically extract and help interpret data from electronic health records. METHODS: This is a deductive descriptive study that followed the theory of value-added analysis. A random sample from electronic health records of 230 patients was analysed for selected indicators. The data included documentation in structured and free-text format. RESULTS: One thousand six hundred seventy-six expressions were extracted and divided into (1) established and (2) unestablished expressions, providing positive, neutral and negative descriptions related to care quality. CONCLUSIONS: Electronic health records provide a potential source of information for information systems to support assessment of care quality. More research is warranted to develop, test and evaluate the effectiveness of such tools in practice. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Knowledge-based health care management would benefit from the development and implementation of advanced information systems, which use continuously generated already available real-time big data for improved data access and interpretation to better support nursing management in quality assessment.

Documentation of Phytotoxic Compounds Existing in Parthenium hysterophorus L. Leaf and Their Phytotoxicity on Eleusine indica (L.) Gaertn. and Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Scop.

The utilization of the invasive weed, Parthenium hysterophorus L. for producing value-added products is novel research for sustaining our environment. Therefore, the current study aims to document the phytotoxic compounds contained in the leaf of parthenium and to examine the phytotoxic effects of all those phytochemicals on the seed sprouting and growth of Crabgrass Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Scop. and Goosegrass Eleusine indica (L.) Gaertn. The phytotoxic substances of the methanol extract of the P. hysterophorus leaf were analyzed by LC-ESI-QTOF-MS=MS. From the LC-MS study, many compounds, such as terpenoids, flavonoids, amino acids, pseudo guaianolides, and carbohydrate and phenolic acids, were identified. Among them, seven potential phytotoxic compounds (i.e., caffeic acid, vanillic acid, ferulic acid, chlorogenic acid, quinic acid, anisic acid, and parthenin) were documented, those are responsible for plant growth inhibition. The concentration needed to reach 50% growth inhibition in respect to germination (ECg50), root length (ECr50), and shoot length (ECs50) was estimated and the severity of phytotoxicity of the biochemicals was determined by the pooled values (rank value) of three inhibition parameters. The highest growth inhibition was demarcated by caffeic acid, which was confirmed and indicated by cluster analysis and principal component analysis (PCA). In the case of D. sanguinalis, the germination was reduced by 60.02%, root length was reduced by 76.49%, and shoot length was reduced by 71.14% when the chemical was applied at 800 µM concentration, but in the case of E. indica, 100% reduction of seed germination, root length, and shoot length reduction occurred at the same concentration. The lowest rank value was observed from caffeic acids in both E. indica (rank value 684.7) and D. sanguinalis (909.5) caused by parthenin. It means that caffeic acid showed the highest phytotoxicity. As a result, there is a significant chance that the parthenium weed will be used to create bioherbicides in the future.

Documentation of recovery from vitamin A deficiency-related retinopathy via multimodal imaging and electroretinogram testing.

PURPOSE: To describe vitamin A deficiency using multimodal functional visual assessments and imaging. METHODS/CASE: A 50-year-old female with past medical history significant for Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery complained of nyctalopia and "yellowing" of vision. RESULTS: Vitamin A levels were noted to be < 0.06 mg/L (normal 0.3-0.12 mg/L). Fundus examination was notable for peripheral yellow punctate lesions, superior arcuate defects on HVF 30-2 testing, an indistinct ellipsoid zone on SD-OCT, and absent rod responses and severely reduced amplitudes for the cone photoreceptors on full-field ERG. These findings resolved with initiation of parenteral vitamin A supplementation. CONCLUSION: This report documents an example of vitamin A deficiency in the developed world. We aim to provide a comprehensive description of clinical examination and multimodal imaging findings before and after vitamin supplementation for vitamin A deficiency.

Clinical documentation of patient-reported medical cannabis use in primary care: Toward scalable extraction using natural language processing methods.

Background: Most states have legalized medical cannabis, yet little is known about how medical cannabis use is documented in patients' electronic health records (EHRs). We used natural language processing (NLP) to calculate the prevalence of clinician-documented medical cannabis use among adults in an integrated health system in Washington State where medical and recreational use are legal. Methods: We analyzed EHRs of patients ≥18 years old screened for past-year cannabis use (November 1, 2017-October 31, 2018), to identify clinician-documented medical cannabis use. We defined medical use as any documentation of cannabis that was recommended by a clinician or described by the clinician or patient as intended to manage health conditions or symptoms. We developed and applied an NLP system that included NLP-assisted manual review to identify such documentation in encounter notes. Results: Medical cannabis use was documented for 16,684 (5.6%) of 299,597 outpatient encounters with routine screening for cannabis use among 203,489 patients seeing 1,274 clinicians. The validated NLP system identified 54% of documentation and NLP-assisted manual review the remainder. Language documenting reasons for cannabis use included 125 terms indicating medical use, 28 terms indicating non-medical use and 41 ambiguous terms. Implicit documentation of medical use (e.g., "edible THC nightly for lumbar pain") was more common than explicit (e.g., "continues medical cannabis use"). Conclusions: Clinicians use diverse and often ambiguous language to document patients' reasons for cannabis use. Automating extraction of documentation about patients' cannabis use could facilitate clinical decision support and epidemiological investigation but will require large amounts of gold standard training data.

"Part of the Conversation": A Qualitative Study of Oncology Healthcare Professionals' Experiences of Integrating Standardized Assessment and Documentation of Complementary Medicine.

INTRODUCTION: The use of complementary medicine (CM) among individuals with cancer is common, however, it is infrequently assessed or documented by oncology healthcare professionals (HCPs). A study implementing standardized assessment and documentation of CM was conducted at a provincial cancer agency. The purpose of this study was to understand the perspectives and experience of oncology HCPs who took part in the study, as well as withdrew, regarding the feasibility and the challenges associated with assessment and documentation of CM use. METHODS: An interpretive descriptive study methodology was used. A total of 20 HCPs who participated, managed staff, or withdrew from the study were interviewed. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic, inductive analysis was used to code and analyse themes from the data. RESULTS: Oncology HCPs who participated in the study felt that CM use was common among patients and recognized it went underreported and was poorly documented. Facilitating factors for the implementation of standardized assessment and documentation of CM use included having a standard assessment form, embedding assessment within existing screening processes, and leveraging self-report by patients. Barriers included limited time, perceived lack of knowledge regarding CM, hesitancy to engage patients in discussion about CM, and lack of institutional support and resources. Recommendations for future implementation included having explicit policies related to addressing CM at point-of-care, leveraging existing electronic patient reporting systems, including the electronic health record, and developing information resources and training for HCPs. CONCLUSIONS: With the high prevalence of CM use among individuals with cancer, oncology HCPs perceive addressing CM use to be feasible and an essential part of high-quality, person-centered cancer care. Institutional and professional challenges, however, must be overcome to support the assessment, documentation and discussion of CM in patient-HCP consultations.

An Audit of Mental Health Care Plans in Community Mental Health Services for Older Persons in Rural Communities in a State in Australia.

Mental health care planning is an important part of holistic, patient-centred care provision. Rural older adults represent a vulnerable population with unique and complex care needs requiring robust care planning approaches. This study's aim was to audit care plan documentation for rural older Australians against quality standards. A retrospective review of the care plans from electronic case records was performed for all patients who were 65 years or older and managed by rural community mental health teams over a 12-month period. 72.1% of patients had a care plan available. Multiple assessment areas were sparsely documented, such as cognition (32%), self-harm risk assessments (29.8%), visual impairment (5.5%), hearing issues (5%) and Advance Care Directives (35.4%). This study highlighted the need for the development and implementation of a care plan template specific to rural older patients. Further research into care planning processes and barriers to implementation is also required for this population.

Preferences in Oncology History Documentation Styles Among Clinical Practitioners.

PURPOSE: Clinical notes function as the de facto handoff between providers and assume great importance during unplanned medical encounters. An organized and thorough oncology history is essential in care coordination. We sought to understand reader preferences for oncology history organization by comparing between chronologic and narrative formats. METHODS: A convenience sample of 562 clinicians from 19 National Comprehensive Cancer Network Member Institutions responded to a survey comparing two formats of oncology histories, narrative and chronologic, for the same patient. Both histories were consensus-derived real-world examples. Each history was evaluated using semantic differential attributes (thorough, useful, organized, comprehensible, and succinct). Respondents choose a preference between the two styles for history gathering and as the basis of a new note. Open-ended responses were also solicited. RESULTS: Respondents preferred the chronologic over the narrative history to prepare for a visit with an unknown patient (66% preference) and as a basis for their own note preparation (77% preference) (P < .01). The chronologic summary was preferred in four of the five measured attributes (useful, organized, comprehensible, and succinct); the narrative summary was favored for thoroughness (P < .01). Open-ended responses reflected the attribute scoring and noted the utility of content describing social determinants of health in the narrative history. CONCLUSION: Respondents of this convenience sample preferred a chronologic oncology history to a concise narrative history. Further studies are needed to determine the optimal structure and content of chronologic documentation for oncology patients and the provider effort to use this format.

Nutrition Care Process Quality Evaluation and Standardization Tool: The Next Frontier in Quality Evaluation of Documentation.

Documentation is essential for communicating care between credentialed nutrition and dietetics practitioners and other health care providers. A validated tool that can evaluate quality documentation of the Nutrition Care Process (NCP) encounter, including progress on outcomes is lacking. The aim of the NCP Quality Evaluation and Standardization Tool (QUEST) validation study is to revise an existing NCP audit tool and evaluate it when used within US Veterans Affairs in all clinical care settings. Six registered dietitian nutritionists revised an existing NCP audit tool. The revised tool (NCP-QUEST) was analyzed for clarity, relevance, and reliability. Eighty-five documentation notes (44 initial, 41 reassessment) were received from eight volunteer Veterans Affairs sites. Five of six registered dietitian nutritionists participated in the interrater reliability testing blinded to each other's ratings; and two registered dietitian nutritionists participated in intrarater reliability reviewing the same notes 6 weeks later blinded to the original ratings. Results showed moderate levels of agreement in interrater reliability (Krippendorff's α = .62 for all items, .66 for total score, and .52 for quality category rating). Intrarater reliability was excellent for all items (α = .86 to .87 for all items; .91 to .94 for total score and.74 to .89 for quality category rating). The NCP-QUEST has high content validity (Content Validity Index = 0.78 for item level, and 0.9 for scale level) after two cycles of content validity review. The tool can facilitate critical thinking, improved linking of NCP chains, and is a necessary foundation for quality data collection and outcomes management. The NCP-QUEST tool can improve accuracy and confidence in charting.

Improving Allergy Documentation: A Retrospective Electronic Health Record System-Wide Patient Safety Initiative.

OBJECTIVES: Documentation of allergies in a coded, non-free-text format in the electronic health record (EHR) triggers clinical decision support to prevent adverse events. Health system-wide patient safety initiatives to improve EHR allergy documentation by specifically decreasing free-text allergy entries have not been reported. The goal of this initiative was to systematically reduce free-text allergen entries in the EHR allergy module. METHODS: We assessed free-text allergy entries in a commercial EHR used at a multihospital integrated health care system in the greater Boston area. Using both manual and automated methods, a multidisciplinary consensus group prioritized high-risk and frequently used free-text allergens for conversion to coded entries, added new allergen entries, and deleted duplicate allergen entries. Environmental allergies were moved to the patient problem list. RESULTS: We identified 242,330 free-text entries, which included a variety of environmental allergies (42%), food allergies (18%), contrast media allergies (13%), "no known allergy" (12%), drug allergies (2%), and "no contrast allergy" (2%). Most free-text entries were entered by medical assistants in ambulatory settings (34%) and registered nurses in perioperative settings (20%). We remediated a total of 52,206 free-text entries with automated methods and 79,578 free-text entries with manual methods. CONCLUSIONS: Through this multidisciplinary intervention, we identified and remediated 131,784 free-text entries in our EHR to improve clinical decision support and patient safety. Additional strategies are required to completely eliminate free-text allergy entry, and establish systematic, consistent, and safe guidelines for documenting allergies.

Evaluation of Evidence-Based Interventions for the Nurse Coach Scope of Practice Within the Omaha System Guidelines Corpus.

The purpose of this study was to examine nurse coach scope of practice in relation to existing evidence-based guideline interventions using the Omaha System. The majority of interventions were within scope for nurse coach practice, and problem, category, and target terms showed differential nurse coach practice applicability across interventions. The Omaha System terminology was aligned with nurse coach practice in that both represent and employ comprehensive and holistic perspectives. This study provides a platform for multiple initiatives in nurse coach quality and documentation and provides a methodology for examining the Omaha System guidelines and interventions for other interprofessional roles.

Spiritual AIM: assessment and documentation of spiritual needs in patients with cancer.

The chaplain is an essential member of the palliative care (PC) team, yet, standard methods to document chaplain assessments are lacking. The study team performed a retrospective analysis of chaplaincy documentation in an outpatient PC clinic at an academic medical center over 6 months (April 2017 to October 2017). The study team identified unique adult patients with cancer, then manually extracted variables from the electronic medical record. The primary objective was to assess the number of spiritual assessments documented by the chaplain. Secondary objectives included descriptive analysis of identified spiritual needs. Out of the 376 total patient encounters, 292 (77.8%) included documentation of a chaplain's spiritual assessment. The most frequent spiritual need was self-worth/community (n = 163, 55.8%).This study demonstrates that chaplains can effectively document Spiritual AIM-based screening and assessment. Moreover, this may be an effective documentation method across institutions to facilitate chaplain-based data.