QUIPS Course

ACEP’s Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Section presented “The ED Quality Course” during Spring Congress in San Diego this week. The course was attended by physicians and quality managers from across the country. Dr David John, MD, FACEP kicked off the course with a series of cases that illustrated eighty percent of the quality issues in the emergency department. I’m not sure which was more impressive, the actual cases, or the realization that most patient safety and quality issues occur within a narrow range of diagnoses.

Shari Welch, MD, FACEP followed with a presentation of data mining and metrics for the emergency department. She also promised to write a new book: Quality Improvement for Dummies. She included a sample draft of that book in the syllabus materials. I intend to hold her to that promise to publish.

Jim Augustine, MD, FACEP contributed to the course by presenting the systems approach to solving patient safety issues. He focused on creating a Quality Dashboard, tackling challenging process improvement projects, and building teams with other parties involved in ED operations.

Following the three-tiered approach to quality and patient safety, a panel of experts engaged in a question-and-answer session with the audience. The panelists were Azita Hamedani, MD, MPH (Moderator); Chris Beach, MD, FACEP; Annie Gerhart RN, MSN, FNP, CEN; Kevin Klauer, DO, FACEP; and Helmut W. Meisl, MD, FACEP. The challenging questions led to an interesting debate about the role of regulators in the quality movement. The afternoon ended on an upbeat note in spite of the serious challenges posed by the multi-faceted nature of the problems faced in the Emergency Department.

It was another great day for ACEP’s Spring Congress in San Diego.