Priorities and root cause analysis of quality and safety problems in chilean hospitals / Prioridades y análisis de las causas de los problemas de calidad y seguridad en hospitales chilenos

BACKGROUND: Quality improvement is an important component of hospital operations. AIM: To prioritise clinical quality and safety problems in Chilean hospitals according to their severity, frequency, and detectability. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was conducted between December 2018 and June 2019. To identify quality and safety problems, an exploratory study was conducted using an online survey aimed to those responsible for clinical quality and safety in Chilean hospitals. The survey was sent to 94 hospitals and completed by quality management personnel at 34 hospitals, yielding a total of 25 valid surveys for analysis. Based on the information gathered, a risk priority score was computed to rank the problems surveyed. Focus groups were held to find the root causes of the quality and safety problem with the highest risk priority score. RESULTS: The three highest risk priorities were:1 ineffective interprofessional communication,2 lack of leadership for addressing frequently recurring safety issues, and3 antimicrobial resistance due to inappropriate use of antibiotics. For the communication problem, the focus group found two main root causes: those due to personnel and those relating to the hospitals themselves. CONCLUSIONS: Hospitals can systematically use the proposed approach to categorize their main clinical quality and safety problems, analyze their causes, and then design solutions.

ANTECEDENTES: La mejora continua de la calidad es un componente importante en las actividades hospitalarias. OBJETIVO: Priorizar los problemas de calidad y seguridad en hospitales chilenos de acuerdo a su severidad, frecuencia y detectabilidad. MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS: Se efectuó un estudio exploratorio con una encuesta en línea para detectar problemas de calidad y seguridad, dirigida a quienes están a cargo de los problemas de calidad y seguridad en los hospitales. La encuesta fue enviada a 94 hospitales y respondida por los encargados de calidad y seguridad en 34 de ellos, lográndose 25 encuestas válidas para análisis. El estudio se llevó a cabo entre diciembre de 2018 y junio de 2019. Se diseñó una escala de prioridades de riesgo para determinar la importancia relativa de los problemas detectados. Se llevaron a cabo grupos focales para determinar las causas del problema más importante. RESULTADOS: En Chile, los problemas de calidad y seguridad más importantes son la falta de comunicación interprofesional, falta de liderazgo para abordar los problemas de seguridad y calidad, y resistencia a antibióticos debido a su uso inapropiado. Problemas relacionados al personal y relacionados al hospital fueron las causas primarias de la falta de comunicación. CONCLUSIONES: Los hospitales podrían utilizar este enfoque de forma sistemática para categorizar sus principales problemas de calidad y seguridad, analizar las causas y diseñar soluciones.

Priorities and root cause analysis of quality and safety problems in chilean hospitals.

BACKGROUND: Quality improvement is an important component of hospital operations. AIM: To prioritise clinical quality and safety problems in Chilean hospitals according to their severity, frequency, and detectability. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was conducted between December 2018 and June 2019. To identify quality and safety problems, an exploratory study was conducted using an online survey aimed to those responsible for clinical quality and safety in Chilean hospitals. The survey was sent to 94 hospitals and completed by quality management personnel at 34 hospitals, yielding a total of 25 valid surveys for analysis. Based on the information gathered, a risk priority score was computed to rank the problems surveyed. Focus groups were held to find the root causes of the quality and safety problem with the highest risk priority score. RESULTS: The three highest risk priorities were:1 ineffective interprofessional communication,2 lack of leadership for addressing frequently recurring safety issues, and3 antimicrobial resistance due to inappropriate use of antibiotics. For the communication problem, the focus group found two main root causes: those due to personnel and those relating to the hospitals themselves. CONCLUSIONS: Hospitals can systematically use the proposed approach to categorize their main clinical quality and safety problems, analyze their causes, and then design solutions.

Cost objects: How is your ED performing?

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to a propose a standardized methodology to identify a list of cost objects that can be used by any ED to compute costs considering that the resulting data must facilitate unit management by improving the information available for decision-making. METHODS: This study considers two stages, first, we analyzed the case-mix of two hospitals collecting their data to define and diagram their processes, activities and to obtain their cost objects, second, we used four additional hospitals to validate our initial findings. RESULTS: We recognized 59 cost objects. Hospitals may have all these cost objects or just a subset of them depending on the services they provide. CONCLUSIONS: Among the main benefits of our cost objects definition are: the possibility of tracing the processes generated by the services delivered by EDs, the economic sense in its grouping, the chance of using any costing methodology, the flexibility with other classification systems such as DRGs and ICDs, and the opportunity of costing for both diseases and treatments. Furthermore, cost comparison among hospitals using our final 59 cost objects list is more accurate and based on comparable units. In different EDs, each cost object will be the result of a similar combination of activities performed. We also present the results of applying this cost objects list to a particular ED. A total of 53 out of 59 cost objects were identified for that particular unit within a calendar year.

Who's Aware of and Using Public Reports of Provider Quality?

Public reporting of health care provider quality is intended to spark consumer informed decision-making, yet there is concern that it might exacerbate disparities. This study explores the extent to which people with chronic conditions are aware of and using comparative quality information (CQI) on hospitals and doctors, and how awareness and use of the information differs by individuals' socio-demographic characteristics. Using a large 2011/2012 survey of adults with chronic conditions, we find low awareness of hospital and doctor CQI (26% and 16% respectively), and lower CQI use (8% and 6% respectively). Findings related to equity in awareness and use by socio-demographic subgroups was mixed. Higher education and income were related to greater CQI awareness, however Whites were less likely to be aware of and use CQI than African Americans and Latinos. The magnitudes of these differences, however, were not large; all groups had modest levels of CQI awareness and use.

Attrition in Chronic Disease Self-Management Programs and self-efficacy at enrollment.

Among other goals, the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) is designed to improve self-efficacy of the chronically ill. However, a substantial proportion of the enrollees often leave CDSMPs before completing the program curriculum. This study examines factors associated with program attrition in a CDSMP implemented in a community setting. We used data from the Our Pathways to Health program, implemented in Humboldt County, California, from 2008 to 2011. Our conceptual framework is based on Bandura's self-efficacy theory, and we used logistic regression to investigate whether baseline self-efficacy and other members' efficacy are associated with participants dropping out of the CDSMP. Twenty-three percent of the participants did not complete the program similar to previous studies. Lower baseline self-efficacy increased the odds of dropout, but other members' efficacy was not associated with differential odds of dropout. Age, educational difference between the individual and the group, weekday sessions, and social/role activity limitations are also found to be associated with program attrition. Our results suggest that participants with low starting self-efficacy may need extra help to complete the program. Further research is needed to understand how to effectively provide additional support to this group.