Quality indicators in pediatric orthopaedic surgery: a systematic review

Role of patient and family engagement in quality improvement for pediatric surgery

In recent decades, the role of quality improvement (QI) in pediatric surgery has grown substantially. Patient and family engagement can help to maximize the impact of QI by enhancing safety and patient outcomes. Yet, broader, systematic efforts to actively involve patients and families in QI initiatives remain a persistent gap in pediatric surgery. To address this gap, we propose an agenda centered on three key goals for future quality improvement efforts: (1) building partnerships with patients and their families; (2) expanding the use of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and novel, cross-disciplinary research methods; and (3) engaging patients and families consistently across all stages of pediatric surgical care. Fulfilling this agenda will be essential in shifting our mindset to view QI as a collective that involves patients, families, clinicians, and payers in continuous, system-wide opportunities to evaluate and improve care. Actively listening to and collaborating with patients and families may also help renew our focus on narrowing the gap between current practice and the best possible practice for children undergoing surgery.

Quality Measures for Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

Quality measures provide a way to assess health care delivery and to identify areas for improvement that can inform patient care delivery. When operationalized by a hospital or a payer, quality measures can also be tied to physician or hospital reimbursement. Prior work on quality measures in orthopaedic surgery have identified substantial gaps in measurement portfolios and have highlighted areas for future measure development. This study aims to identify the portfolio of quality measures in pediatric orthopaedic surgery.

METHODS

We used methodology of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and reviewed PubMed/ MEDLINE and EMBASE, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery (AAOS), National Quality Forum (NQF), and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), for quality measures and candidate quality measures. Quality measure and candidate quality measures were categorized as structure, process, or outcome. Measures were also classified into 1 of the 6 National Quality Strategy priorities (safety, effective, patient centered, timely, efficient, and equitable).

RESULTS

A review of PubMed/EMBASE returned 1640 potential quality measures and articles. A review of AAOS, NQF, and AHRQ databases found 80 potential quality measures. After screening we found a total of 18 quality measures and candidate quality measures specifically for pediatric orthopaedic surgery. Quality measures addressed conditions such as supracondylar humerus fractures, developmental dysplasia of the hip, and osteochondritis dissecans. There were 10 process measures, 8 outcome measure, and 0 structure measures. When we categorized by National Quality Strategy priorities and found 50% (9/18) were effective clinical care, 44% (8/18) were person and care-giver centered experience and outcomes, 6% (1/18) were efficient use of resources.

CONCLUSIONS

There are few quality measures and candidate quality measures to assess pediatric orthopaedic surgery. Of the quality measure available, process measures are relatively over-represented. Pediatric orthopaedic surgeons can lead the development of outcome (eg, patient-reported outcomes after surgery) and structure measures (eg, subspecialty training certification) to assess quality of care in pediatric orthopaedic surgery.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level II-systematic review.

The Incidence and Causes of Unplanned Reoperations as a Quality Indicator in Pediatric Surgery

Background: Unplanned return to the operating room (uROR) within the 30-day postoperative period can be used as a quality indicator in pediatric surgery. The aim of this study was to investigate and evaluate uROR as a quality indicator. Methods: The case records of pediatric patients who underwent reoperation within the 30-day period after primary surgery, from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. The primary outcome of the study was the rate of uROR as a quality indicator in pediatric surgery. Secondary outcomes were indications for primary and secondary surgery, types and management of complications, factors that led to uROR, length of hospital stay, duration of surgery and anesthesia, and starting time of surgery. Results: A total of 3982 surgical procedures, under general anesthesia, were performed during the three-year study period (2018, n = 1432; 2019, n = 1435; 2020, n = 1115). Elective and emergency surgeries were performed in 3032 (76.1%) and 950 (23.9%) patients, respectively. During the study period 19 (0.5%) pediatric patients, with the median age of 11 years (IQR 3, 16), underwent uROR within the 30-day postoperative period. The uROR incidence was 6 (0.4%), 6 (0.4%), and 7 (0.6%) for years 2018, 2019, and 2020, respectively (p = 0.697). The incidence of uROR was significantly higher in males (n = 14; 73.7%) than in females (n = 5; 26.3%) (p = 0.002). The share of unplanned reoperations in studied period was 4.5 times higher in primarily emergency surgeries compared to primarily elective surgeries (p < 0.001). The difference in incidence was 0.9% (95% CI, 0.4–1.4). Out of children that underwent uROR within the 30-day period after elective procedures, 50% had American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score three or higher (p = 0.016). The most common procedure which led to uROR was appendectomy (n = 5, 26.3%) while the errors in surgical technique were the most common cause for uROR (n = 11, 57.9%). Conclusion: Unplanned reoperations within the 30-day period after the initial surgical procedure can be a good quality indicator in pediatric surgery. Risk factors associated with uROR are emergency surgery, male gender, and ASA score ≥3 in elective pediatric surgery.

Pollicization of the Index Finger in the United States: Early Readmission and Complications

PURPOSE

Pollicization is a well-accepted treatment for thumb hypoplasia, yet little is known about the reasons why patients return early in the postoperative period and complications that occur after surgery. The purpose of this investigation was to describe 30-day returns, readmission, and complication rates after pollicization in the United States.

METHODS

A total of 459 pollicization procedures performed in 408 patients at 38 U.S. pediatric hospitals from 2003 to 2014 were identified using the Pediatric Health Information System database. A stepwise search strategy identified returns and readmissions within 30 days after pollicization to quantify complications and/or additional procedures. Risk factors for readmission and complications were compared across groups using uni- and multivariable general linear modeling.

RESULTS

There were 61 patients who returned to the hospital (emergency department, ambulatory surgery, or inpatient hospitalization) within 30 days of their pollicization. Of those, 39 patients returned for suture removal, cast changes, or other expected aspects of postoperative care. The remaining 22 patients had a total of 26 complications, accounting for a 4.8% complication rate. The majority had vascular complications and wound problems. Single complications ranging from wound infection to hemorrhage were found in 20 cases. Overall, 35 of the 61 returns were readmitted to the hospital for treatment of complications or additional procedures. There was no effect of age group, diagnosis, geographical region, or physician subspecialty on the likelihood of complication or readmission.

CONCLUSIONS

Sixty-one patients returned within 30 days of their pollicization, and 22 presented with a complication (4.8%), most commonly vascular in nature. These baseline data are informative because they identify opportunities for future preventative measures and quality improvement.

TYPE OF STUDY/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Therapeutic IV.

Establishing risk-adjusted quality indicators in surgery using administrative data-an example from neurosurgery

BACKGROUND

The current draft of the German Hospital Structure Law requires remuneration to incorporate quality indicators. For neurosurgery, several quality indicators have been discussed, such as 30-day readmission, reoperation, or mortality rates; the rates of infections; or the length of stay. When comparing neurosurgical departments regarding these indicators, very heterogeneous patient spectrums complicate benchmarking due to the lack of risk adjustment.

OBJECTIVE

In this study, we performed an analysis of quality indicators and possible risk adjustment, based only on administrative data.

METHODS

All adult patients that were treated as inpatients for a brain or spinal tumour at our neurosurgical department between 2013 and 2017 were assessed for the abovementioned quality indicators. DRG-related data such as relative weight, PCCL (patient clinical complexity level), ICD-10 major diagnosis category, secondary diagnoses, age and sex were obtained. The age-adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) was calculated. Logistic regression analyses were performed in order to correlate quality indicators with administrative data.

RESULTS

Overall, 2623 cases were enrolled into the study. Most patients were treated for glioma (n = 1055, 40.2%). The CCI did not correlate with the quality indicators, whereas PCCL showed a positive correlation with 30-day readmission and reoperation, SSI and nosocomial infection rates.

CONCLUSION

All previously discussed quality indicators are easily derived from administrative data. Administrative data alone might not be sufficient for adequate risk adjustment as they do not reflect the endogenous risk of the patient and are influenced by certain complications during inpatient stay. Appropriate concepts for risk adjustment should be compiled on the basis of prospectively designed registry studies.

Practicing Cost-Conscious Shoulder Surgery

Second only to the knee, the shoulder is the most commonly reported area of chronic joint pain. By practicing evidence-based methods for improved outcomes at lower costs, providers can increase both efficiency and margin, while patients experience better care and higher satisfaction. Current cost studies on shoulder care provide a base for improving evidence-based care and improving value.

Value-based shoulder surgery: practicing outcomes-driven, cost-conscious care

BACKGROUND

Pathology of the shoulder contributes significantly to the increasing burden of musculoskeletal disease. Currently, there exists high variability in the nature and quality of shoulder care, and outcomes and cost reporting are not uniform. Value-based practice aims to simultaneously maximize outcomes and minimize costs for given disease processes.

METHODS

The current state of the shoulder care literature was examined with regards to cost and outcomes data, initiatives in streamlining care delivery, and evidence-based practice improvements. This was synthesized with value-based care theory to propose new avenues to improve shoulder care in the future.

CONCLUSION

The treatment of shoulder disorders is ideal for the value-based model but has been slow to adopt its principles thus far. We can begin to advance value-based practices through (1) the universal reporting of outcomes and costs, (2) integrating shoulder care across provider specialties, and (3) critically analyzing data to formulate best practices.

Identifying and exploring physical and psychological morbidity and patient and family caregiver resilience following acute wound development and/or wound blistering post orthopaedic surgery: a systematic review

The aim of this article was to identify the literature that examined and explored physical and psychological morbidity and patient and family caregiver resilience following acute wound development and/or wound blistering post orthopaedic surgery. A systematic review of the literature using the databases MEDLINE, CINAHL and EMBASE was undertaken. The papers were examined using title and abstract for relevance to the primary and secondary outcomes. The primary outcome of interest was family caregiver resilience following acute wound development and/or wound blistering post orthopaedic surgery. The search yielded 275 records after removing any duplicates; eight studies were considered eligible and were reviewed as full text. Following full review, none of the studies was included in this article. To conclude, there were no papers that investigated or examined the concept of resilience in relation to the management of acute post-surgical orthopaedic wounds. Four of the papers identified, following the review process, did discuss quality of life outcomes and how these may be improved following wound development; most papers focused on the management of chronic wounds. It is apparent from the review that there is no evidence currently available that explores patient and family caregiver resilience following acute wound development and/or wound blistering post orthopaedic surgery.