What You Need To Know
As part of our commitment to keeping the entire department informed, here is a brief update on the key initiatives and decisions from our May Pulmonology Specialty Collaborative meeting.
The goal of this collaboration is to bring physicians together to solve clinical challenges and standardize Pulmonology care across the network. We partner closely with other specialty collaboratives, diagnostic councils, and key clinical groups across the network to ensure our initiatives are aligned and ultimately improve patient care.
Key Updates from Our April Meeting
1. Selecting New Network Quality Metrics The collaborative engaged in a detailed working session to select two new network quality metrics for physician performance reviews (FPPE/OPPE). After discussing the need for metrics that are both meaningful and electronically trackable, the group reached a consensus on the following:
- Primary Metric 1: Discharge follow-up appointment is documented in the After Visit Summary (AVS).
- Primary Metric 2: Smoking cessation counseling/referral is offered/ordered for patients who smoke.
2. Enhancing Safety for Patients on NIV The group reviewed and approved several key updates to the NIV policy and related Our Practice Advisories (OPAs) to improve patient safety. The two most significant changes include:
- 12-Hour Safety Net: The safety-net alert for a patient on NIV without a specialist consult was reduced from 24 hours to 12 hours to ensure a more timely specialist evaluation.
- Transfer Alert: The alert process was refined for patients on NIV who are being transferred to a lower level of care to ensure a safe handoff and continuity of specialist oversight.
3. Improving Alpha-1 Anti-trypsin (AAT) Screening Following an excellent presentation by our pulmonology fellows, the collaborative discussed challenges related to screening for AAT deficiency. The group is now exploring opportunities within Epic to:
- Improve the documentation and retrieval of AAT screening results.
- Create prompts or reminders to consider screening for at-risk patients, such as those with a new COPD diagnosis.
4. Introduction to the New Surgical Debrief Tool The group was introduced to the new Surgical Debrief Tool, which is being rolled out to all proceduralists across the network. This tool is designed to enhance patient safety by improving communication and confirming key details around specimen management and unplanned events, and patient recovery concerns.
Status Updates on Other Key Initiatives
- Oxygen Therapy Order Set: The new, unified Oxygen Therapy order set is now live as of May 18th. The official search term is "Oxygen Therapy." The next step is to socialize this update with all relevant clinicians and providers, after which the older, individual oxygen orders will be deactivated to ensure standardized use.
- ILD Lab Panel: The ILD panel is scheduled to be presented to the Order Set Committee for review in July.
- Thoracentesis Order Set: A draft of the new, standardized thoracentesis order set will be circulated to the collaborative for offline review and feedback.
Who to Contact
Do you have a clinical challenge, a workflow issue, or an idea for standardization? Please reach out to any of the Collaborative Chairs or the Network Patient Safety & Quality (PS&Q) Team: Jillian Stevens (jillian.stevens@hmhn.org) and Diveena Davis (diveena.davis@hmhn.org).
For any questions, please feel free to contact the Pulmonology Collaborative Chairs:
- Dr. Keith Brenner (keith.brenner@hmhn.org)
- Dr. Lisa Casale (lisa.casale@hmhn.org)
- Dr. Eric Costanzo (eric.costanzo@hmhn.org)
Thank you for your continued partnership in improving patient care.