Citation

Warburton RN, Parke B, Church W, McCusker J. Int. J. Health Care Qual. Assur. Inc. Leadersh. Health Serv. 2004; 17(6): 339-348.

Affiliation

School of Public Administration, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, MCB University Press)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

15552389

Abstract

Reports on the authors' experience with a patient safety quality improvement program, intended to reduce the incidence and severity of adverse outcomes for emergency department (ED) patients aged > or = 75. The Identification of Seniors at Risk scale was used for screening, and those at high risk were referred for appropriate intervention. The plan-do-study-act improvement cycle was followed, conducting process evaluation to diagnose and correct implementation difficulties. Reports that: implementing an ED screening and referral program is deceptively difficult; process evaluation multidisciplinary working group meetings are an essential improvement tool; screening inclusion criteria had to be adapted to the subject population in order to make efficient use of staff time; the screening questions and process required ongoing assessment, revision, and local adaptation in order to be useful; and high-risk screening in the ED is critical to a hospital system's ability to anticipate clinical problems; the plan-do-study-act improvement cycle is a practical and useful tool for improving quality and systems in a real care setting.

Language: en