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Resources : Quality and Safety

Quality Improvement

» The Institute for Healthcare Improvement
The IHI's open online community successfully implements a variety pf projects using IHI's tools, workspaces and excellent core material on Improvement itself: how to assemble the right team, how to select the right changes for your practice, how to set the right aims for your transformation, and how to establish qualitative measures to evaluate the success of your efforts. If you do nothing else, take a moment to understand the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle and download the The Project Planning Form

» Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
The AHRQ offers a variety of Quality Tools specifically for healthcare providers. A new program called Health Care Innovations Exchange offers opportunities to share your improvements and learn from others. The How to Improve section provides resources that are fresh and relevant.

» AAFP Quality Improvement (QI) Tools & Resources
The American Academy of Family Physicians has assembled a variety of Quality Improvement resources.

» AAFP METRIC
Measuring, Evaluating and Translating Research Into Care (METRIC) is an online practice improvement program that allows you to earn CME credit while improving patient care.

» AAFP Practice Enhancement Forum
Practice Enhancement Forum (PEF) is a hands-on quality improvement "weekend workshop" program for AAFP members that "aims to provide family physicians and their office staff with practical tools, skills and knowledge to begin implementing the Chronic Care Model into their everyday practice." Offered at the state level, the program features a 2-day CME course and coaching to help practices implement the changes they've identified. Apply now for upcoming sessions.

Patient Safety Focus

» Patient Safety Tools at the IHI
"The Institute for Healthcare Improvement has developed and adapted a suite of tools to help organizations accelerate their work to improve patient safety and develop a culture of safety."

» AHRQ Medical Errors and Patient Safety
An array of useful patient safety resources and tools are all accessible from this page at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Medication Management

» The Center for Improving Medication Management
The Center educates clinicians and their staff on the best ways to implement prescribing technology and integrate it with the day-to-day workflow. The Center also implements programs that accelerate the automation of the prescribing process and offers an Electronic Prescribing Readiness Assessment.

» Medication Safety Best Practices Guide for Ambulatory Care Use
Creighton University Health Services Research Program offers this excellent self-assessment toll to evaluate your practice for medication safety.

Patient Satisfaction Feedback

TransforMED Workingpapers: Improving the Patient's Experience
The best way to find out what your patients think about the care they receive at your practice is to ask. These workingpapers provide tips on how your practice can perform useful patient satisfaction surveys.
• Quick Tips for Reducing Patient Cycle Times
• Touch Time
• Improving the Patient's Experience

The IHI provides several straightforward patient feedback tools:
• Today's Office Visit Survey Card
• Percentage of Patients Satisfied with Today's Visit Wait Time
• Percentage of Patients Satisfied with the Wait to Obtain Today's Appointment
• Percentage of Patients Satisfied with Phone Access

Evidence-based Best Practices and Outcomes Analysis

» National Guidelines Clearinghouse™
The National Guideline Clearinghouse™ is a public resource for evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and includes the useful Guidelines Index.

» U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) Topic Index A-Z
Recommendations for preventive measures, including screening tests, counseling, immunizations, and preventive medications -- based on rigorous clinical research.

» Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement
Guidelines, order sets and protocols including an A-Z clinical documents index and impact studies.

» EPC Evidence Reports
A browseable alphabetic index of Evidence-based Practice Centers (EPCs) from the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ).

Risk Management

» MagMutual's Risk Management 101: The BareEssentials
Insurer MagMutual developed this concise guide to medicolegal risk for their small practice policyholders. Specific risk types are presented along with recommendations and several relevant sample forms. They also offer an online 30-minute Risk Management Check-up that covers the same topics: Tracking Systems, Charting and Documentation, Informed Consent and Refusal, and Telephone & Customer Service/Patient Satisfaction.

» FDA MedWatch
FDA launched the MedWatch program to stimulate the voluntary reporting by healthcare professionals and patients of serious adverse events for all medical products, except vaccines. The MedWatch program then analyzes this data and delivers safety alerts via email to healthcare providers at the point of care. Watch a video or read transcripts about how the program works.

» VAERS - Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System
Co-sponsored by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), VAERS is a national vaccine safety surveillance program. Report adverse events online. The Reportable Events Table outlines the reportable post-vaccination events and the time frames in which they must occur in order to qualify as being reportable.

TransforMED Workingpaper: Quality Medical Charts: The Importance of Proper Medical Record Documentation
Quality medical charting can help minimize or even prevent the potential adverse consequences of malpractice litigation. Read Nurse Nancy Stimpfel's practical advice on improving your practice's documentation.

Regulatory compliance

» HIPAA Administrative Simplification: Tool Kit for Small Group and Safety-Net Providers
From the Pacific Health Policy group at the California HealthCare Foundation: "This report will help small group and safety-net health care providers gain a basic understanding of the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). It describes the key elements of each rule, suggestions for implementation, security guidelines, timelines, and further resources. A training tool is also provided for clinicians and senior managers to use in educating themselves and their staff."

» AAFP's HIPAA Resources Homepage
The AAFP presents a virtual primer on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

» FPM Articles About the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996
Worksheets, authorization form templates and a privacy policy example provided by the AAFP.

» FPM Toolbox : HIPAA
Worksheets, authorization form templates and a privacy policy example provided by the AAFP.

» The AAFP's Office Lab Proficiency Testing - AAFP-PT
Approved by CMS and COLA, AAFP-PT is a complete program that provides physician office lab proficiency testing and a quality assurance program for CLIA-waived and PPM labs.