Improving Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infection Rates in the Medical Units.

Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) in Abu Dhabi is the main tertiary care referral hospital in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with 560 bed capacity with a high occupancy rate. SKMC senior management has made a commitment to make quality and patient safety a top priority. Preventing health care associated infections, including Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI), is a high priority for our hospital. In order to improve CAUTI rates a multidisciplinary task force team was formed and led this performance improvement project. The purpose of this publication is to indicate the quality improvement interventions implemented to reduce CAUTI rates and the outcome of those interventions. We chose to conduct the pilot study in General Medicine as it is the busiest department in the hospital, with an average of 390 patients admitted per month during the study period. The study period was from March 2015 till April 2016. Our aim was to reduce CAUTI rates per 1000 device days in the medical units. Implemented interventions resulted in a reduction of CAUTI from 6.8 per 1000 device days in March 2015 to zero CAUTI in February through April 2016.

Improving venous thromboembolism risk assessment compliance using the electronic tool in admitted medical patients.

Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) in Abu Dhabi is the main tertiary care referral hospital in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with 560 bed capacity that is fully occupied most of the time. SKMC senior management has made a commitment to make quality and patient safety a top priority. Venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk assessment has been identified as a critical patient safety measure and key performance indicator. The electronic VTE risk assessment form a computerized decision support tool was introduced to improve adherence with deep venous thrombosis (DVT) prophylaxis recommendations. A multidisciplinary task force team was formed and led this quality improvement project. The purpose of this publication is to indicate the quality improvement interventions implemented to enhance compliance with VTE risk assessment and the outcomes of those interventions. We chose to conduct the pilot study in General Medicine as it is the busiest department in the hospital. The study period was from April 2014 till August 2015.The lessons learned were disseminated throughout the hospital. Our aim was to improve VTE risk assessment compliance by using the electronic form in order to ensure patient safety and reduce preventable harm. VTE risk assessment compliance improved in general medicine from 4% to 98%, and overall SKMC compliance from 21% to above 90%.