Management strategies to effect change in intensive care units: lessons from the world of business. Part I. Targeting quality improvement initiatives

Recalibration of prediction model was needed for monitoring health care quality in subgroups: a retrospective cohort study

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the predictive ability of a mortality prediction model in subgroups of intensive care unit (ICU) patients and test the validity for monitoring the outcome.

STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING

A Japanese ICU database was used for the analyses. Adults admitted to an ICU between April 1, 2019, and March 31, 2020, were included. Nine clinically relevant subgroups were selected, and we evaluated the discrimination and calibration of the Japan Risk of Death model, a recalibrated Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation III-j model. Funnel plots and exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) charts were used to check its validity for monitoring in-hospital mortality. If the predictive performance was poor, the model was recalibrated and model performance was reassessed.

RESULTS

The study population comprised 14,513 patients across nine subgroups. The in-hospital mortality rate ranged from 11.3% to 30.9%. The calibration was poor in most subgroups, and the funnel plots and EWMA charts frequently revealed "out-of-control" signals crossing the control limit of three standard deviations (SDs). The calibration improved after recalibration, and the number of "out-of-control" signals decreased.

CONCLUSION

When monitoring the quality of care among subgroups of patients, testing the predictive ability and recalibration of the risk model are needed.

A Minority of Patients on Mechanical Ventilation Consume Disproportionate Resources: A Retrospective Cohort Study

BACKGROUND

The Pareto principle states that the majority of any effect comes from a minority of the causes. This property is widely used in quality improvement science.

RESEARCH QUESTION

Among patients requiring mechanical ventilation (MV), are there subgroups according to MV duration that may serve as potential nodes for high-value interventions aimed at reducing costs without compromising quality?

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS

This multicenter retrospective cohort study included approximately 780 hospitals in the Premier Research Database (2014-2018). Patients receiving MV were identified by using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification, and International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, codes. They were then divided into quintiles according to MV duration; their hospital costs, post-MV onset length of stay (LOS), ICU LOS, and cumulative post-MV onset hospital days per quintile were compared.

RESULTS

A total of 691,961 patients were included in the analysis. Median [interquartile range] duration of MV in days by quintile was as follows: quintile 1 (Q1), 1 [1, 1]; Q2, 2 [2, 2]; Q3, 3 [3, 3]; Q4, 6 [6, 7]; and Q5, 13 [10, 19]. Median [interquartile range] post-MV onset LOS (Q1, 2 [0, 5]; Q5, 17 [12, 26]) and hospital costs (Q1, $15,671 [$9,180, $27,901]; Q5, $70,133 [$47,136, $108,032]) rose from Q1 through Q5. Patients in Q5 consumed 47.7% of all post-MV initiation hospital days among all patients requiring MV, and the mean per-patient hospital costs in Q5 exceeded the sum of costs incurred by Q1 to Q3. Adjusted marginal mean (95% CI) hospital costs rose exponentially from Q1 through Q5: Q2 vs Q1, $3,976 ($3,354, $4,598); Q3 vs Q2, $5,532 ($5,103, $5,961); Q4 vs Q3, $11,705 ($11,071, $12,339); and Q5 vs Q4, $26,416 ($25,215, $27,616).

INTERPRETATION

Patients undergoing MV in the highest quintiles according to duration of MV consume a disproportionate amount of resources, as evidenced by MV duration, hospital LOS, and costs, making them a potential target for streamlining MV care.

Critical Care Organizations: Building and Integrating Academic Programs

OBJECTIVE

Academic medical centers in North America are expanding their missions from the traditional triad of patient care, research, and education to include the broader issue of healthcare delivery improvement. In recent years, integrated Critical Care Organizations have developed within academic centers to better meet the challenges of this broadening mission. The goal of this article was to provide interested administrators and intensivists with the proper resources, lines of communication, and organizational approach to accomplish integration and Critical Care Organization formation effectively.

DESIGN

The Academic Critical Care Organization Building section workgroup of the taskforce established regular monthly conference calls to reach consensus on the development of a toolkit utilizing methods proven to advance the development of their own academic Critical Care Organizations. Relevant medical literature was reviewed by literature search. Materials from federal agencies and other national organizations were accessed through the Internet.

SETTING

The Society of Critical Care Medicine convened a taskforce entitled "Academic Leaders in Critical Care Medicine" on February 22, 2016 at the 45th Critical Care Congress using the expertise of successful leaders of advanced governance Critical Care Organizations in North America to develop a toolkit for advancing Critical Care Organizations.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

Key elements of an academic Critical Care Organization are outlined. The vital missions of multidisciplinary patient care, safety, and quality are linked to the research, education, and professional development missions that enhance the value of such organizations. Core features, benefits, barriers, and recommendations for integration of academic programs within Critical Care Organizations are described. Selected readings and resources to successfully implement the recommendations are provided. Communication with medical school and hospital leadership is discussed.

CONCLUSIONS

We present the rationale for critical care programs to transition to integrated Critical Care Organizations within academic medical centers and provide recommendations and resources to facilitate this transition and foster Critical Care Organization effectiveness and future success.

Teaching novice clinicians how to reduce diagnostic waste and errors by applying the Toyota Production System

Background Diagnostic waste, defined as the ordering of low value tests, increases cost, causes delays, increases complexity, and reduces reliability. The Toyota Production System (TPS) is a powerful approach for process improvement that has not been applied to the diagnostic process. We describe a curriculum based on tools and principles of TPS that provides medical students with an approach for reducing diagnostic waste and improving patient management. Methods A 2-day elective course "Fixing Healthcare Delivery" was offered to medical students at the University of Florida, Gainesville. A section within the course had three learning objectives related to TPS: (1) define value in health care; (2) describe how diagnostic waste leads to time delays and diagnostic errors; and (3) apply sequential and iterative value streams for patient management. Instruction methods included videos, readings, and online quizzes followed by a 2-h seminar with facilitated discussion and active problem solving. Results During the 3 years the course was offered students (n = 25) achieved average scores of 95% on a pre-seminar test of manufacturing principles applied to the diagnostic and management process. Course evaluations averaged 4.94 out of 5 (n = 31). Conclusions Students appreciated the application of the TPS principles to the diagnostic process and expressed the desire to apply these manufacturing principles in their future diagnostic and management decision-making.

Scaling up implementation of ART: Organizational culture and early mortality of patients initiated on ART in Nairobi, Kenya

BACKGROUND

Scaling up the antiretroviral (ART) program in Kenya has involved a strategy of using clinical guidelines coupled with decentralization of treatment sites. However decentralization pushes clinical responsibility downwards to health facilities run by lower cadre staff. Whether the organizational culture in health facilities affects the outcomes despite the use of clinical guidelines has not been explored. This study aimed to demonstrate the relationship between organizational culture and early mortality and those lost to follow up (LTFU) among patients enrolled for HIV care.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

A stratified sample of 31 health facilities in Nairobi County offering ART services were surveyed. Data of patients enrolled on ART and LTFU for the 12 months ending 30th June 2013 were abstracted. Mortality and LTFU were determined and used to rank health facilities. In the facilities with the lowest and highest mortality and LTFU key informant interviews were conducted using a tool adapted from team climate assessment measurement questionnaire and competing value framework tool to assess organizational culture. The strength of association between early mortality, LTFU and organizational culture was tested.

RESULTS

Half (51.8%) of the 5,808 patients enrolled into care in 31 health facilities over the 12-month study period were started on ART. Of these 48 (1.6% 95% CI 0.8%-2.4%) died within three months of starting treatment, while a further 125 (4.2% 95% CI 2.1%-6.6%) were LTFU giving an attrition rate of 5.7% (95% CI 3.3%-8.6%). Tuberculosis was the most common comorbidity associated with high early mortality and high LTFU. Organizational culture, specifically an adhocratic type was found to be associated with low early mortality and low LTFU of patients enrolled for HIV care (P = 0.034).

CONCLUSION

The use of ART clinical guidelines in a decentralized health systems are not sufficient to achieve required service delivery outcomes. The attrition rate above would mean 85,000 Kenyans missing care based on current HIV disease burden figures. Deliberate efforts to improve individual health facility leadership and inculcate an adhocratic culture may lower mortality and morbidity associated with initiating ART.

Quality Improvement Process in a Large Intensive Care Unit: Structure and Outcomes

Quality improvement in the health care setting is a complex process, and even more so in the critical care environment. The development of intensive care unit process measures and quality improvement strategies are associated with improved outcomes, but should be individualized to each medical center as structure and culture can differ from institution to institution. The purpose of this report is to describe the structure of quality improvement processes within a large medical intensive care unit while using examples of the study institution's successes and challenges in the areas of stat antibiotic administration, reduction in blood product waste, central line-associated bloodstream infections, and medication errors.

Management strategies to effect change in intensive care units: lessons from the world of business. Part II. Quality-improvement strategies

The success of quality-improvement projects relies heavily on both project design and the metrics chosen to assess change. In Part II of this three-part American Thoracic Society Seminars series, we begin by describing methods for determining which data to collect, tools for data presentation, and strategies for data dissemination. As Avedis Donabedian detailed a half century ago, defining metrics in healthcare can be challenging; algorithmic determination of the best type of metric (outcome, process, or structure) can help intensive care unit (ICU) managers begin this process. Choosing appropriate graphical data displays (e.g., run charts) can prompt discussions about and promote quality improvement. Similarly, dashboards/scorecards are useful in presenting performance improvement data either publicly or privately in a visually appealing manner. To have compelling data to show, ICU managers must plan quality-improvement projects well. The second portion of this review details four quality-improvement tools-checklists, Six Sigma methodology, lean thinking, and Kaizen. Checklists have become commonplace in many ICUs to improve care quality; thinking about how to maximize their effectiveness is now of prime importance. Six Sigma methodology, lean thinking, and Kaizen are techniques that use multidisciplinary teams to organize thinking about process improvement, formalize change strategies, actualize initiatives, and measure progress. None originated within healthcare, but each has been used in the hospital environment with success. To conclude this part of the series, we demonstrate how to use these tools through an example of improving the timely administration of antibiotics to patients with sepsis.

Application of kaizen methodology to foster departmental engagement in quality improvement

The Toyota Production System, also known as Lean, is a structured approach to continuous quality improvement that has been developed over the past 50 years to transform the automotive manufacturing process. In recent years, these techniques have been successfully applied to quality and safety improvement in the medical field. One of these techniques is kaizen, which is the Japanese word for "good change." The central tenant of kaizen is the quick analysis of the small, manageable components of a problem and the rapid implementation of a solution with ongoing, real-time reassessment. Kaizen adds an additional "human element" that all stakeholders, not just management, must be involved in such change. Because of the small size of the changes involved in a kaizen event and the inherent focus on human factors and change management, a kaizen event can serve as good introduction to continuous quality improvement for a radiology department.