scholarly journals The impact of a hospital audit on psychiatrists' letters to general practitioners

1995 ◽  
Vol 19 (9) ◽  
pp. 544-547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Premal J. Shah ◽  
Ian Pullen

The quality of written communication between psychiatrists and general practitioners has become increasingly important, with the introduction of the Access to Health Records Act as well as with demands placed by the purchasers of psychiatric services. We investigated if a hospital-based audit could be used to monitor the quality of written communications with general practitioners, and if ‘closing the audit loop’ could improve the standards. We found that audit may have helped improve standards, particularly in making letters less potentially offensive and easier to read by non-psychiatrists. A method of measuring the quality of letters is described.

Author(s):  
Izabella Lejbkowicz

The exponential development of Information Technologies revolutionized healthcare. A significant aspect of this revolution is the access to health information in the Internet. The Internet World Stats estimates that 56.8% of the world population used the Internet in March 2019, an increase of 1,066% from 2000. According to The Pew Research Center survey of 2012 81% of Americans used the internet and 72% of them searched for health information. Even though there is a lack in more recent data on the percentage of online health information seekers, it is clear that this trend is on the rise. This chapter focuses on the characteristics of the search for online health information by patients and providers, investigates features related to the quality of health web sites, and discusses the impact of these searches on healthcare.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sigge Andersson

The impact of occupation on health and access to health care is a significant issue for the state, health sector and citizens of Palestine, who struggle with difficulties related to an enduring sociopolitical stalemate. The study presents narratives from the field, conceptually exploring if and how occupation affects health and access to health care and how the situation is tackled by Palestinians in general and by health system actors specifically. A grounded theory approach analyzing in-depth interviews with health staff and field memos was used, with semi-quantification of emerging concepts through surveys of Hebron students that assessed health-related quality of life and health literacy with psychometric instruments (SF36 and GSE) and assumed health determinants. One key theme in the data analysis was isolation as a result of multiple barriers, including the wall and checkpoints, imprisonment and violence, which have an impact on determinants of health and quality of life in Palestine. In the survey 54% (n=90) were affected by such factors of occupation. Barriers affect access to health care, especially in rural areas. Mentally and materially breaking free from barriers of occupation seems to be a common task in all levels of Palestinian society. Achieving this goal requires different counter strategies and tactics. Presently, Palestine depends on ad hoc coping strategies, including the use of mobile clinics. Other ways to cope emerged in the data as well. Results from this mixed-methods study suggest that isolation is a main concern for Palestinians, resulting from barriers in policies of occupation that affect health and access to health care. Another concept emerging from the analysis was tactics and strategies against occupation in society.


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-34
Author(s):  
Wiwin Wiarsih

Angka kematian ibu ditentukasn oleh tingkat kesejahteraan individu wanita hamil dalam keluarga. Kondisi ini akan menentukan tingkat kesehtan dan perkembangan anak sebagai satu faktor yang menentukan kesehatan dan menjadi satu indicator dari keejahteraan suatu Negara. Penyebab utama tingginya angka kematian ibu di Negara-negara berkembang adalah belum optimalnya penanganan kasus-kasus berisiko. Penatalaksanaan kasus-kasus berisiko dilakukan terlambat karena kurangnya kesadaran klien untuk mengatasi masalah-masalah kesehatannya, kurangnya informasi, kurangnya jangkauan pelayanan kesehata, dan kurang berkualitasnya sumber daya manusia khususnya pada petugas pelayan kesehatan. Wanita hamil adalah salah satu populasi yang seharusnya diberikan perhatian lebh karena setiap wanita hamil mempunyai kesempatan yang sama untuk mendapatkan penanganan masalah-masalah kesehatan. Faktor-faktor risiko memungkinkanseorang wanita hamil menjadi berisiko tinggi untuk mempunyai masalah-masalah kesehatan, termasuk status sosial ekonomi dan sosio demografi, stress dan gaya hidup, dan praktek kesehatan personal. Untuk menurunkan pengaruh label atau stigma “risiko’ dalam masyarakat adalah suatu tantangan untuk profesi kesehatan mengembangkan pendekatan yang efektif dalam pelayanan kesehatan sehingga akan didapatkab suatu hasil yang optimal. The level of individual well being in a family determines the maternal mortality rate. This condition will determine the level of child health and development as an important determinant of health that is an indicator of well being in a country. The main cause of high levels of of maternal mortality in developing countries as a lack of case management of the “at risk’ individual or population; management of “at risk” cases is too late. This is because of lack awareness of “at risk” client in overcoming the problems, lack of information, lack of access to health services, and lack of quality of human resource especially of health care every pregnant woman has the same probability of developing problems. The risk factors enable of pregnant women to become hig risk to have the health problems including socioeconomic status, sociodemographic status, life style and life events, and personal health practices. To decrease the impact of the “at risk” label or stigma in the community, a challenge for the health professional is to develop partnership and multisectoral approach with community so that an optimal outcome will be attained.


BJGP Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. BJGPO.2021.0052
Author(s):  
Yemi Oluboyede ◽  
Sarah Hill ◽  
Suzanne McDonald ◽  
Emily Henderson

BackgroundObesity is thought to be one of the most serious global public health challenges of the 21st century. The primary care setting is important in terms of the diagnosis, education and management of obesity in children and young people. This study explored the views of primary care clinicians on the implementation of a quality of life (QoL) tool to help young people and their families identify the impact of weight on QoL.AimTo assess the acceptability and feasibility of implementing the Weight-specific Adolescent Instrument for Economic-evaluation (WAItE) QoL tool for young people aged 11–18 years in primary care.MethodOne-to-one, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of primary healthcare clinicians working in practices located in areas of varying deprivation in Northern England, UK. Interview transcripts were coded and analysed using Framework Analysis in NVivo 10.ResultsParticipants (n=16 General Practitioners; n=4 practice nurses) found the WAItE tool acceptable for them and their patients and believed it was feasible for use in routine clinical practice. It was important to primary care clinicians that the tool would provide an overall QoL score that would be easy for General Practitioners and nurses to interpret, to help them identify patients most in need of specialist help.ConclusionsThis study has developed a platform for further research around QoL in overweight and obese young people. A future feasibility study will focus on implementing the tool in a small number of primary healthcare practices.


Author(s):  
MOHAMED HOSSAM ATTIA ◽  
ABDELNASSER IBRAHIM

Objective: Electronic health records (EHRs) are considered a way to make the management of patient information easier, improve efficiency, and decrease costs related to medical information management. Compliance with requirements from accreditation bodies on quality of documentation ensures the complete and accurate patient information in the EHR. The purpose of this study is to measure the effect of quality accreditation on the quality of documentation in the EHR. Methods: A simple random sample of 18% of patient records was manually selected each month during the entire study period from the population of discharged patients. The auditing process included 18 months starting from January 2014 until June 2015. The data collection was performed by a quality management unit using a modified medical record completeness checklist adapted from Joint Commission International (JCI) criteria. Results: The results of the study show the improvement in compliance with complete medical records’ documentation after the JCI accreditation. However, after the accreditation, the compliance suffers a dramatic fall which could be referred to the post-accreditation slump. The compliance then improved again to reach higher levels of compliance. Using paired t-test, the mean of total compliance with complete and accurate medical records in October 2014 was less than in May 2015. Conclusion: This study highlighted the performance of one process before and after the first accreditation of the organization showing the real difference between the performance before and after the accreditation and explaining the drop that happened just after the accreditation.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (8_suppl) ◽  
pp. 194-194
Author(s):  
Meyyammai Narayanan ◽  
Xiao Zhou ◽  
Shawn J Janarthanan ◽  
Mary Daniel ◽  
Maria Olmedo ◽  
...  

194 Background: Growth in patient (pt) volume and limited clinic capacity can lead to long wait-times and pt/provider dissatisfaction. We have previously shown that the room pooling model, can reduce pt wait-time in the exam room, improve room utilization, and pt/providers satisfaction (ASCO 2016, Abstract 6595). One of the important goals of adopting electronic health records (EHR) is also to increase the clinical efficiencies, productivity and quality of care. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of implementation of EHR on pt wait-time in the exam room and satisfaction in the Sarcoma Center. Methods: The time studies and pt and provider wait-time satisfaction surveys were carried out over 2 weeks prior to (baseline) and 6 months after the implementation of EHR. All times of when pts, mid-level providers, and doctors (MD) entered and exited the exam rooms were collected for a total sample size of 578 pts (300 before, 278 after) seen during the clinic hours and analyzed using JMP and SAS. Results: The proportion of pts seen within 30 minutes (Min) by MDs from the time pts roomed into exam room decreased by about 32% [from 53% (148/280) to 36% (94/259), p = 0.0001] post implementation of EHR. The median time for pts in the exam room waiting for MD increased (p = 0.0001) from 30 min (range: 0-126 min) to 40 min (range: 0-121 min). Although, the pt satisfaction did not significantly change [increase from 8% (23/278) to 12% (31/267) in the number of pts that were not satisfied to little-satisfied, and decrease from 92% (255/278) to 88% (236/267) in pts that were moderately to very-satisfied], the number of times MD had to wait for an open exam room increased from 8% (5/65) to 24% (14/59, p = 0.01). The delays to see MDs were associated with longer time spent with the nurse (from median 4 to 7 min), followed by delays in seeing Mid-level provider (from 11 to 18 min). Conclusions: These findings indicate that in the initial stages of implementation of EHR, the increase in pt wait-time and reduced clinical efficiencies can be related to the learning of and adapting to the new system. Attempts targeted to the areas of delays (such as training and redesigning workflow) may reduce the pt wait-time and improve the clinical efficiency.


Author(s):  
Sisira Edirippulige ◽  
Rohana Marasinghe ◽  
Siti Noorsuriani Maon ◽  
Yoshikazu Fujisawa

The pressures on the health workforce have a profound impact on the quality of care. The solution to health workforce issues is a global concern and governments and health systems around the world are seeking solutions to the problems of worker shortages and access to health services. Education and training of more doctors, nurses, and other health professionals require long-term policy changes, funding, and infrastructure development. Telehealth has been identified as an alternative solution to address some of these critical issues and this chapter outlines the potential of telehealth to address some challenges facing the health workforce. The discussion will provide evidence for feasible and effective adoption of telehealth solutions.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alanna Black ◽  
Cathy Le ◽  
Jeffrey Barnett ◽  
Wan-Yun Tsai ◽  
Shawn Sangha ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Electronic patient portals in healthcare are quickly becoming the preference of clinicians, patients, and caregivers alike. In times where the demand for all things to be online appears limitless, it is no surprise that portals are requested when updating health information systems worldwide. However, there are barriers to implementing online portals and many countries are lagging behind in updating their systems. With the interest in increasing investment in online portals by the Canadian public healthcare system, decision makers should be considering whether patient access to medical records through portals and mobile devices provides any changes to quality of care. OBJECTIVE This literature review examines available research in Canada and globally on health-related online portals and their impact on quality of care and patient access. Also examined are examples of different health portals, including issues or barriers to full implementation and utilization in the health sphere. METHODS A preliminary search was completed in May 2019 to examine the impact of patient portals on quality of care. The resources utilized in the first stage of the review included the University of British Columbia and the Western University library databases, Google, and Google Scholar. Parameters for the search included search terms such as patient portals, personal health records, effectiveness, quality, and access. Recent articles were prioritized, and included articles were generally published in the last five years. The authors reviewed 52 articles or article abstracts and 29 were included in the current review. Of the mixture of Canadian and international references, five are systematic reviews, and 18 are original research studies. RESULTS This study reviewed the available literature and found that there are some positive trends on patient portals’ impact on quality of care, with overall inconclusive or neutral results. Emerging evidence has showcased some benefits of implementing electronic health and patient portals to improve the quality of patient care and access to pertinent health records. However, general consensus is that there is limited available literature that is not considered to be outdated and as such, further investigation is required to support any previous findings. CONCLUSIONS As health care related technology develops further, better quality, quantity, and larger-scale studies will be available in evidence-based research databases. As such, a future follow-up literature review would be relevant to re-examine this topic.


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