Abstract
Utilizing Education to Improve Health Care Quality: An evidence-based practice course for inter-professional teams
Marcy Hager, MA, Tovah Goldfarb Kohl, MA, Doan Ha, DrPH, MPH and Stephanie Halvorson, MD
Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR
APHA's 2019 Annual Meeting and Expo (Nov. 2 - Nov. 6)
Ideally, clinical care is based on best available evidence. In reality, studies have shown that it takes an average of 17 years for research findings to translate to policy and practice. Educating clinicians on evidence-based practice (EBP) can markedly improve the integration of evidence into everyday practice to impact health care quality. Recently, Oregon Health & Science University launched an evidence-based practice (EBP) course to improve health care quality and promote clinician engagement in system change. The goal of the course was to equip clinicians with the skills necessary to make evidence-based decisions during every day clinical practice, and design workflows that promote the delivery of consistent, evidence-based care. The course provided participants with the knowledge required to make system-level changes based on practice recommendations informed by best evidence available in combination with clinical expertise and patient values and preferences. The course was comprised of eight sessions, including: (1) Principles of EBP; (2) Forming clinical questions; (3) Systematically searching the literature; (4) Critically evaluating evidence using the GRADE methodology; (5) Developing evidence-based guidelines to standardize care; (6) Translating evidence into clinical decision support tools (i.e., order sets and patient education materials); (7) Implementation Strategies; and (8) Project Evaluation. Teams applied to participate in the course, applications were reviewed by the hospital’s quality leadership and were selected based on how closely they aligned with patient population needs. Pre- and post- course assessments show improvement in clinicians’ knowledge related to EBP and use of EBP resources. During the course, nine inter-professional teams developed an evidence-based guideline and implementation plan for selected topics of interest that directly impact patient care and provider satisfaction. OHSU will launch the course again this spring, and anticipates having updated results to present by the time of conference.
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs Administration, management, leadership Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs Public health administration or related administration