Residency Training: Quality improvement projects in neurology residency and fellowship: applying DMAIC methodology

Quality and Safety in Healthcare, Part XCIV: Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma in Health Care

ABSTRACT

For existing goods or services, Six Sigma uses the steps of DMAIC and the statistical analysis of data to decrease variation and errors, improve the value of an organization's outputs to the customers, and increase the profitability of the organization. In health care, in view of the training required and other issues, Six Sigma is best used for large complex problems, although it has also been applied successfully to smaller issues. Many examples of the use of Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma in health care are reviewed.

Quality Improvement Metrics and Methods for Neurohospitalists

Measurement of clinical performance is largely driven by the requirements of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and accrediting bodies like The Joint Commission. Performance measures include length of stay, readmission rate, mortality rate, hospital-acquired complications, and stroke core measures. Hospital rankings also depend heavily on quality and patient safety indicators. Becoming facile with these measures can aid neurohospitalists in understanding their value and garnering resources to support improvement projects. Neurohospitalists can apply a structured A3-based method to define a clinical problem, perform systematic analysis, then design and test solutions to drive improved outcomes for patients with neurologic disease.

Professional Formation of Physicians Focused on Improving Care: How Do We Get There?

As the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and National Academy of Medicine (NAM) increase emphasis on quality improvement (QI), continuing medical education must also adapt to meet these increasing demands. In fellowship programs and for attending physicians, QI initiatives exist but are more rare compared with initiatives during residency programs, and they are even more rare for orthopedic surgery residents, fellows, and attending physicians. A QI curriculum should be in place at all stages of continuing medical education, as they help meet the criteria of the ACGME and NAM and promote better clinical practice and minimize errors.

Improving Blood Pressure Management and Disease Severity Documentation in Patients With Acute Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Objective

To ensure prime blood pressure management and intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) score documentation within 6 hours of arrival and/or before any intervention in patients admitted to Mayo Clinic Hospital with acute ICH.

Patients and Methods

A quality improvement initiative was conducted between September 29, 2015, and May 30, 2017, following the Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control methodology. Our prespecified goals for the first 8 months postintervention were that at least 80% of patients with ICH will have systolic blood pressure (SBP) control as per guideline-based recommendations (SBP ≤140 mm Hg) and at least 80% will have ICH score documented within 6 hours postadmission. Neurovascular stakeholders' feedback was included in the process development. Practice gaps and their leading causes were identified and served rational interventions' planning. Education and admission order-set modifications were chosen as intervention methods.

Results

At 4 (first measurement, n=13) and 8 months (second measurement, n=15) postintervention, 92.3% and 100% of patients with ICH, respectively, reached the target SBP, compared with 50% in the preintervention group (comparison group, n=26); 84.6% and 85.7% of the patient population had the ICH score documented at the first and second outcome measurement, respectively, compared with 42.3% in the preintervention group. Stakeholders reported good satisfaction with the novel applications. Sustainability plans and future directions were established.

Conclusion

Effective education methods enhance the introduction of guideline-based clinical practices. This quality improvement project has the potential to impact patient outcomes, staff efficiency, and stroke centers' maintenance of certification and quality care recognition. This initiative warrants implementation at hospitals across all Mayo Clinic campuses and nationwide.

Pitfalls and Rewards for Implementing Ocular Motor Testing in Acute Vestibular Syndrome: A Pilot Project

OBJECTIVES

Isolated acute vestibular syndrome (iAVS) presentations to the emergency department (ED) pose management challenges, given the concerns for posterior circulation strokes. False-negative brain imaging may erroneously reassure clinicians, whereas HINTS-plus examination outperforms imaging to screen for strokes in iAVS. We studied the feasibility of implementing HINTS-plus testing in the ED, aiming to reduce neuroimaging in patients with iAVS.

METHODS

We launched an institutional Quality Improvement initiative, using DMAIC methodology. The outcome measures [proportion of iAVS subjects who had HINTS-plus examinations and underwent neuroimaging by computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (CT/MRI)] were compared before and after the established intervention. The intervention consisted of formal training for neurologists and emergency physicians on how to perform, document, and interpret HINTS-plus and implementation of novel iAVS management algorithm. Neuroimaging was not recommended if HINTS-plus suggested peripheral vestibular etiology. If a central process was suspected, brain MRI/MR angiogram was performed. Head CT was reserved only for thrombolytic time-window cases.

RESULTS

In the first 2 months postimplementation, HINTS-plus testing performance by neurologists increased from 0% to 80% (P=0.007), and by ED providers from 0% to 9.09% (P=0.367). Head CT scans were reduced from 18.5% to 6.25%. Brain MRI use was reduced from 51.8% to 31.2%. About 60% of the iAVS subjects were discharged from the ED; none were readmitted or had another ED presentation in the ensuing 30 days.

CONCLUSIONS

Implementation of HINTS-plus evaluation in the ED is valuable and feasible for neurologists, but challenging for emergency physicians. Future studies should determine the "dose-response" curve of educational interventions.