Measure, Report, Improve: The Quest for Best Practices for High-Quality Care in Critical Care Transport

Improving Mobilization Times of a Specialized Neonatal and Pediatric Critical Care Transport Team

OBJECTIVES

The Ground and Air Medical Quality Transport database identifies the average mobilization time (AMT) of the transport team as a metric for benchmarking. Our specific aim was to decrease our AMT to < 25 minutes for our expanded role, ground, nonsimultaneous transports by the end of quarter 4 of 2018.

METHODS

Standardization of data collection with awareness building, ambulance vendor involvement, and team-focused interventions were the different phases of project implementation. Documentation of reasons for delay was performed pre- and postimplementation.

RESULTS

Our AMT decreased from a baseline of 30.3 minutes to 24.5 minutes after project implementation. Communication delays (19.0%), reason for delay not documented (16.5%), no team available (14.0%), rotor wing vendor delays (12.4%), and ambulance vendor delays (7.4%) were the common reasons for delay on our preimplementation Pareto analysis. Communication and pharmacy delays were the most common reasons during all 3 phases of our project.

CONCLUSIONS

Implementation of the project allowed us to achieve our goal of improving our AMT. Understanding the reasons for delay is a crucial consideration, and success depends on careful change management. Further iterations will need to focus on improving communication and the pharmacy medication dispatch process.

Quality indicators in interhospital transport: Multicentre project

INTRODUCTION

Interhospital transport is carried out by variable teams in different regions of our country, and this makes quality evaluation and benchmarking complicated. Project objective: Select and define a consensual list of quality measurement that may be used by national transport units, whether specialised or not.

METHODS

Initial set of quality indicators was proposed by coordinators (members of representative specialised transport units in Spain). Evaluation by selected transport specialists from participating units and SECIP (Society of Paediatric Intensive Care) and SENeo (Spanish Neonatology Society) work teams. Selection of definitive indicators by Delphi method according to relevance and feasibility.

RESULTS

A total of 35 quality indicators were included in the initial set. Evaluation was carried out by 22 specialists from 7 transport teams. In a first round, 4 indicators were consensually included in the definitive list. Results for the rest of metrics and comments were sent to all participants, and after a second assessment, 11 other indicators reached enough consensus. After list accomplishment, a consensual final definition for every indicator was established.

CONCLUSIONS

Using a consensual research method, a list of 15 common indicators was obtained, which may be used by specialised transport teams in our country, and by non-specialised clinics in charge of interhospital paediatric transport. It will allow individual performance to be assessed, as well as benchmarking, in order to find improvement opportunities and ensure the highest quality during interhospital transport.

Air ambulance outcome measures using Institutes of Medicine and Donabedian quality frameworks: protocol for a systematic scoping review

BACKGROUND

Dedicated air ambulance services provide a vital link for critically ill and injured patients to higher levels of care. The recent developments of pre-hospital and retrieval medicine create an opportunity for air ambulance providers and policy-makers to utilize a dashboard of quality performance measures to assess service performance. The objective of this scoping systematic review will be to identify and evaluate the range of air ambulance outcome measures reported in the literature and help to construct a quality dashboard based on a healthcare quality framework.

METHODS

We will search PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scopus, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (from January 2001 onwards). Complementary searches will be conducted in selected relevant journals. We will include systematic reviews and observational studies (cohort, cross-sectional, interrupted time series) in critically ill or injured patients published in English and focusing on air ambulance delivery and quality measures. Two reviewers will independently screen all citations, full-text articles, and abstract data. The study methodological quality (or bias) will be appraised using appropriate tools. Analysis of the characteristics associated with outcome measure will be mapped and described according to the proposed healthcare quality framework.

DISCUSSION

This review will contribute to the development of an air ambulance quality dashboard designed to combine multiple quality frameworks. Our findings will provide a basis for helping decision-making in health planning and policy.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION

PROSPERO CRD42019144652.

The Effect of Team Configuration on the Incidence of Adverse Events in Pediatric Critical Care Transport

OBJECTIVE

Specialty pediatric transport teams are widely used for pediatric interfacility transport in the United States, with little industry consensus on optimal team configuration. The aim of this study is to assess the quality of the nurse/paramedic specialty team configuration as indirectly measured by the rate of adverse events in these transports.

METHODS

Retrospective analysis of pediatric transport data from a hospital-based dedicated pediatric/neonatal transport team was conducted for patients transported in 2016. Data were categorized by general characteristics of transport and analyzed for the occurrence of adverse events.

RESULTS

Five hundred sixty-four cases were analyzed. Cases were described by team configuration and then by transport mode, duration, time, patient age and acuity, and disposition. The overall rate of adverse event incidence was 8.3%, chiefly centered in device and process domains. There was no significant difference in the rate of adverse events between team configurations.

CONCLUSION

There was no significant difference in the rate of adverse event occurrence in nurse/paramedic team configurations versus nurse/nurse configuration. Using critical care paramedics on pediatric transport teams enables a larger volume of patients to be transported to definitive care without concerns for decrease in quality or safety.

Retrospective Review of Pediatric Transport: Where Do Our Patients Go After Transport?

OBJECTIVE

This review describes disposition of transported children and identifies contributing factors affecting optimal patient placement. The study describes timing and patient placement indicators in transport patients to identify areas of improvement, re-education, and training.

METHODS

A retrospective chart review for transports via our pediatric specialty transport team from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2014, was performed. Patients were identified by the transport quality assurance performance improvement database, hospital electronic medical records, and transport medical records.

RESULTS

Three thousand two hundred fifty-six pediatric patient transports were reviewed. One hundred forty-three records were excluded. Of the remaining 3,113 patients, admission disposition was: 1,487 (47%) pediatric intensive care unit, 120 (4%) pediatric cardiovascular intensive care unit, 835 (27%) step-down critical care unit, 438 (14%) emergency department, 194 (6%) general floor, 29 (1%) neonatal intensive care unit, and 10 (< 1%) operating room. Of the 22% transported to a lower-acuity unit, several subsequently required critical care. Children transported for traumatic injuries had a shorter emergency department length of stay than medical patients.

CONCLUSION

Our study validates the efficient use of pediatric specialty transport team resources. Many transported patients are critically ill, require specialized pediatric services, or require definitive pediatric emergency department care.