Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1092388
95 FINANCE CMO / CARE DELIVERY Only 33% of healthcare quality professionals say all staff is trained on quality By Megan Knowles J ust one-third of healthcare quality professionals said all staff receive training and education on quality with- in their healthcare organization, a survey conducted by the National Association for Healthcare Quality found. In its inaugural healthcare quality survey, the association asked healthcare quality professionals which employees in their organizations receive training and education on quality. The survey respondents are U.S. healthcare quality professionals, most of whom work in hospitals on quality improvement. The survey also asked respondents the one thing they would do to improve quality at their organizations. Al- most half of respondents (47 percent) said their health- care organizations need to align all healthcare profes- sionals. To advance quality in a way that improves patient and financial outcomes, the entire healthcare workforce must speak the same language of quality, which will only come when all staff is trained on industry-standard qual- ity competencies, said Stephanie Mercado, the associa- tion's CEO and executive director. n How Atrium Health prevented 23K high-risk opioid prescriptions By Mackenzie Bean A trium Health developed an EHR alert system that can assess a patient's history with controlled substances to better prevent high-risk opioid prescriptions. The PRIMUM system — short for Prescription Reporting with Immediate Medication Utilization Mapping — flags EHRs of patients who have evidence-based risk factors for opioid abuse, misuse or diversion. The system integrates into a prescriber's existing workflow and offers real-time intelli- gence to provide an alert before providers write a poten- tially unsafe prescription. "Our goal was to provide actionable information at the moment it is needed most — before writing a prescription. PRIMUM removes physicians' implicit biases for what an opioid use disorder looks like," Rachel Seymour, PhD, vice chair of research at Atrium Health's Musculoskeletal Insti- tute, said in an issue briefing from the health system. In the first two years PRIMUM was live, the system identified risk factors in 25 percent of patients, preventing more than 23,000 high-risk prescriptions systemwide. n Physician viewpoint: How pizza and coffee helped me see patients in a new light By Megan Knowles U nderstanding that patients have chal- lenges that make it hard to prioritize health can help physicians connect with them and provide better care, a physi- cian wrote in a piece on Philly.com. e piece was written by Jason Han, MD, a cardiothoracic surgery resident at the Perel- man School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Dr. Han discussed a situation where he encour- aged a patient who had early signs of cardiovas- cular disease to take better care of himself. e patient said he was feeling down about his poor health but insisted he could not find the time and motivation he needed to change his circumstances. "I tried my best to be kind, and not let my frustration show," Dr. Han recounted. "'What could be more important than main- taining your health?' I asked him." e patient shrugged. When Dr. Han le the patient's room, he re- alized he didn't have time for a real lunch or breakfast. "Skipping a proper breakfast meant I had an extra 10 minutes of sleep, which I always need," he wrote. "I ran to the cafeteria and grabbed a sad-looking slice of cold pizza that apparently nobody else wanted. I con- gratulated myself for remembering to dilute yet another cup of coffee with cold water so I wouldn't burn myself as I drank it down. I dined while climbing back up the stairs to the ICU, savoring a few quiet minutes." e experience isn't uncommon for new physicians as they adjust to their jobs, and skipping meals or sleep is standard behavior, Dr. Han said. But in that moment, Dr. Han said he realized he was violating the advice he had just given his patient. "I used to have a hard time understanding patients who carried on with their unhealthy behaviors, even aer being diagnosed with a disease," he said. "Now I understand that we all have our own reasons for failing to do what's best for our health. Understand- ing that my patients — just like me — have challenges that make it hard to prioritize health helps me to connect with them. As a physician, I can provide better care if I try to understand what's holding my patient back from making healthy choices." n