Quality improvement project to decrease unnecessary investigations in infants with bronchiolitis in Cork University Hospital
Background Bronchiolitis is a common reason for infants to present to the emergency department (ED). Clear evidence-based guidelines exist that recommend against routine radiological and laboratory investigations in this cohort. Despite this, preintervention audit showed that children below 12 month...
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| Language: | English |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2021-12-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open Quality |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopenquality.bmj.com/content/10/4/e001428.full |
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| author | Bryan Lynch Lizeri Jansen Gideon-Phil Meyer Glenn Curtin Rory O’Brien |
| author_facet | Bryan Lynch Lizeri Jansen Gideon-Phil Meyer Glenn Curtin Rory O’Brien |
| author_sort | Bryan Lynch |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background Bronchiolitis is a common reason for infants to present to the emergency department (ED). Clear evidence-based guidelines exist that recommend against routine radiological and laboratory investigations in this cohort. Despite this, preintervention audit showed that children below 12 months of age with bronchiolitis in the ED during November 2018–January 2019 were receiving unnecessary investigations. Our aim was to improve patient care by decreasing unnecessary investigations in bronchiolitis infants.Methods Baseline assessment comprised a preintervention audit of children less than 12 months of age with a diagnosis of bronchiolitis that presented to ED during November 2018–January 2019. The outcome measure was average weekly hospital length of stay (LOS), process measures were average weekly chest X-ray (CXR) and laboratory investigation rate. The balancing measure was the average weekly representation rate.Intervention A multimodal intervention was implemented comprising a locally agreed flowchart enhanced by regular feedback on performance using run charts and in-person sessions.Results A postintervention audit of November 2019–January 2020 was undertaken. There was a 57% reduction in the mean average weekly CXR rate (from 25% to 11%, p value 0.009974 significant at p<0.05); there was an improvement by 56% in the mean average weekly laboratory investigation rate (from 29% to 13%, p value 0.005475, significant at p<0.05) in the preintervention and postintervention periods, respectively. The mean average weekly representations remained at 4% preintervention and postintervention (p value 0.737). There was no significant difference in hospital LOS (from 25.3 hours to 20.7 hours, p value 0.270549).Conclusion An evidence-based protocol improved physicians’ ability in diagnosing and managing infants with bronchiolitis. This led to a reduction in unnecessary and potential harmful investigations, thereby improving patient quality of care. This improvement will contribute to decreased healthcare cost and appropriate use of resources during the high-pressured winter period. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-fbdd8d05a0ad4c82807635416e3ed455 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2399-6641 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open Quality |
| spelling | doaj-art-fbdd8d05a0ad4c82807635416e3ed4552025-08-20T02:15:11ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open Quality2399-66412021-12-0110410.1136/bmjoq-2021-001428Quality improvement project to decrease unnecessary investigations in infants with bronchiolitis in Cork University HospitalBryan Lynch0Lizeri Jansen1Gideon-Phil Meyer2Glenn Curtin3Rory O’Brien42Department of Neurology, Children’s Health Ireland, Temple Street, Dublin, IrelandUniversity Hospital Limerick School of MedicineEmergency Department, Cork University Hospital, Cork, IrelandEmergency Department, Cork University Hospital, Cork, IrelandEmergency Department, Cork University Hospital, Cork, IrelandBackground Bronchiolitis is a common reason for infants to present to the emergency department (ED). Clear evidence-based guidelines exist that recommend against routine radiological and laboratory investigations in this cohort. Despite this, preintervention audit showed that children below 12 months of age with bronchiolitis in the ED during November 2018–January 2019 were receiving unnecessary investigations. Our aim was to improve patient care by decreasing unnecessary investigations in bronchiolitis infants.Methods Baseline assessment comprised a preintervention audit of children less than 12 months of age with a diagnosis of bronchiolitis that presented to ED during November 2018–January 2019. The outcome measure was average weekly hospital length of stay (LOS), process measures were average weekly chest X-ray (CXR) and laboratory investigation rate. The balancing measure was the average weekly representation rate.Intervention A multimodal intervention was implemented comprising a locally agreed flowchart enhanced by regular feedback on performance using run charts and in-person sessions.Results A postintervention audit of November 2019–January 2020 was undertaken. There was a 57% reduction in the mean average weekly CXR rate (from 25% to 11%, p value 0.009974 significant at p<0.05); there was an improvement by 56% in the mean average weekly laboratory investigation rate (from 29% to 13%, p value 0.005475, significant at p<0.05) in the preintervention and postintervention periods, respectively. The mean average weekly representations remained at 4% preintervention and postintervention (p value 0.737). There was no significant difference in hospital LOS (from 25.3 hours to 20.7 hours, p value 0.270549).Conclusion An evidence-based protocol improved physicians’ ability in diagnosing and managing infants with bronchiolitis. This led to a reduction in unnecessary and potential harmful investigations, thereby improving patient quality of care. This improvement will contribute to decreased healthcare cost and appropriate use of resources during the high-pressured winter period.https://bmjopenquality.bmj.com/content/10/4/e001428.full |
| spellingShingle | Bryan Lynch Lizeri Jansen Gideon-Phil Meyer Glenn Curtin Rory O’Brien Quality improvement project to decrease unnecessary investigations in infants with bronchiolitis in Cork University Hospital BMJ Open Quality |
| title | Quality improvement project to decrease unnecessary investigations in infants with bronchiolitis in Cork University Hospital |
| title_full | Quality improvement project to decrease unnecessary investigations in infants with bronchiolitis in Cork University Hospital |
| title_fullStr | Quality improvement project to decrease unnecessary investigations in infants with bronchiolitis in Cork University Hospital |
| title_full_unstemmed | Quality improvement project to decrease unnecessary investigations in infants with bronchiolitis in Cork University Hospital |
| title_short | Quality improvement project to decrease unnecessary investigations in infants with bronchiolitis in Cork University Hospital |
| title_sort | quality improvement project to decrease unnecessary investigations in infants with bronchiolitis in cork university hospital |
| url | https://bmjopenquality.bmj.com/content/10/4/e001428.full |
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