Much ado about checklists: who says I need them and who moved my cheese?

Effect of a Cognitive Aid on Reducing Sugammadex Use and Associated Costs: A Time Series Analysis

BACKGROUND

The authors observed increased pharmaceutical costs after the introduction of sugammadex in our institution. After a request to decrease sugammadex use, the authors implemented a cognitive aid to help choose between reversal agents. The purpose of this study was to determine if sugammadex use changed after cognitive aid implementation. The authors' hypothesis was that sugammadex use and associated costs would decrease.

METHODS

A cognitive aid suggesting reversal agent doses based on train-of-four count was developed. It was included with each dispensed reversal agent set and in medication dispensing cabinet bins containing reversal agents. An interrupted time series analysis was performed using pharmaceutical invoices and anesthesia records. The primary outcome was the number of sugammadex administrations. Secondary outcomes included total pharmaceutical acquisition costs of neuromuscular blocking drugs and reversal agents, adverse respiratory events, emergence duration, and number of neuromuscular blocking drug administrations.

RESULTS

Before cognitive aid implementation, the number of sugammadex administrations was increasing at a monthly rate of 20 per 1,000 general anesthetics (P < 0.001). Afterward, the monthly rate was 4 per 1,000 general anesthetics (P = 0.361). One month after cognitive aid implementation, the number of sugammadex administrations decreased by 281 per 1,000 general anesthetics (95% CI, 228 to 333, P < 0.001). In the final study month, there were 509 fewer sugammadex administrations than predicted per 1,000 general anesthetics (95% CI, 366 to 653; P < 0.0001), and total pharmaceutical acquisition costs per 1,000 general anesthetics were $11,947 less than predicted (95% CI, $4,043 to $19,851; P = 0.003). There was no significant change in adverse respiratory events, emergence duration, or administrations of rocuronium, vecuronium, or atracurium. In the final month, there were 75 more suxamethonium administrations than predicted per 1,000 general anesthetics (95% CI, 32 to 119; P = 0.0008).

CONCLUSIONS

Cognitive aid implementation to choose between reversal agents was associated with a decrease in sugammadex use and acquisition costs.

Learners and Luddites in the Twenty-first Century: Bringing Evidence-based Education to Anesthesiology

Anesthesiologists are both teachers and learners and alternate between these roles throughout their careers. However, few anesthesiologists have formal training in the methodologies and theories of education. Many anesthesiology educators often teach as they were taught and may not be taking advantage of current evidence in education to guide and optimize the way they teach and learn. This review describes the most up-to-date evidence in education for teaching knowledge, procedural skills, and professionalism. Methods such as active learning, spaced learning, interleaving, retrieval practice, e-learning, experiential learning, and the use of cognitive aids will be described. We made an effort to illustrate the best available evidence supporting educational practices while recognizing the inherent challenges in medical education research. Similar to implementing evidence in clinical practice in an attempt to improve patient outcomes, implementing an evidence-based approach to anesthesiology education may improve learning outcomes.

Checklists and Other Cognitive Aids For Emergency And Routine Anesthesia Care-A Survey on the Perception of Anesthesia Providers From a Large Academic US Institution

Background:

The use of printed or electronic checklists and other cognitive aids has gained increasing interest from anesthesia providers and professional societies. While these aids are not currently considered standard of care, the perceptions of the clinician might have an impact on their adoption.

Objectives:

We conducted a comprehensive survey to study the current opinions of anesthesia provider on the use of checklists and other cognitive aids.

Patients and Methods:

A questionnaire was developed by a departmental checklist focus group, which aimed to identify the perception of health care checklists in general as well as specific checklists for routine and crisis situations in anesthesia. Furthermore participants were asked regarding their perception of performing routine anesthesia and managing crisis situations without any cognitive aids. Using a web-based system, the survey was administered to all anesthesia providers at a single large United States academic medical center (University of California San Francisco). Demographic information included professional status (faculty, anesthesia resident, or nurse anesthetists [certified registered nurse anesthetists; CRNA]) and years of clinical experience.

Results:

69% of 312 providers responded. 98% of the survey takers consider the procedural time-out (the widely used pre-incision operating room checklist) as important or very important. We found that many anesthesia providers acknowledged limitations in their ability to perform clinical tasks without any lapses, and a majority would use checklists and other cognitive aids if available. Their acceptances are especially high for crisis situations (87 - 97%, depending on years of experience) and routine care that providers do not perform often (76 - 91%). Printed or electronic aids for patient-care transition and shift hand-offs were also valued (61% and 58%). To prepare for and perform routine anesthesia care, 40% of providers claimed interest in using checklists, however, the interest differed significantly with clinical experience: While both the least and most experienced providers valued aids for routine anesthesia (54% and 50%), only 29% of providers with 2 - 10 years of anesthesia experience claimed interest in using them. Distraction from patient care and decreased efficiency were concerns expressed for the use of routine checklist (27% and 31%, respectively). The main factors found to support the successful implementation of checklists into clinical care are ease of use and thoughtful integration into the anesthesia workflow.

Conclusions:

Providers at our large academic institution generally embrace the concept of checklists and other cognitive aids. This was true for all providers for checklists for procedural time outs, anesthesia crisis situations and those for routine procedures that providers rarely perform. Only very experienced and very junior providers appreciated the use of checklists for routine care. There remains a discrepancy between these claims and provider’s perception on their clinical competency based on memory alone.

Adherence to guidelines for the management of local anesthetic systemic toxicity is improved by an electronic decision support tool and designated "Reader"

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

A hardcopy or paper cognitive aid has been shown to improve performance during the management of simulated local anesthetic systemic toxicity (LAST) when given to the team leader. However, there remains room for improvement to ensure a system that can achieve perfect adherence to the published guidelines for LAST management. Recent research has shown that implementing a checklist via a designated reader may be of benefit. Accordingly, we sought to investigate the effect of an electronic decision support tool (DST) and designated "Reader" role on team performance during an in situ simulation of LAST.

METHODS

Participants were randomized to Reader + DST (n = 16, rDST) and Control (n = 15, memory alone). The rDST group received the assistance of a dedicated Reader on the response team who was equipped with an electronic DST. The primary outcome measure was adherence to guidelines.

RESULTS

For overall and critical percent correct scores, the rDST group scored higher than Control (99.3% vs 72.2%, P < 0.0001; 99.5% vs 70%, P < 0.0001, respectively). In the LAST scenario, 0 (0%) of 15 in the control group performed 100% of critical management steps, whereas 15 (93.8%) of 16 in the rDST group did so (P < 0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS

In a prospective, randomized single-blinded study, a designated Reader with an electronic DST improved adherence to guidelines in the management of an in situ simulation of LAST. Such tools are promising in the future of medicine, but further research is needed to ensure the best methods for implementing them in the clinical arena.