Contact: Tim Gehret
843.792.2626
Sept. 29, 2006
Findings show strengths and weaknesses in treatment of 850,000 patients across the country
Charleston-- For millions of patients, from diabetics to those battling depression, life and death often hinges on the smallest of details. Those details are a part of a 4-year study recently conducted by researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) which looked at care provided at health care practices within the Practice Partner Research Network (PPRNet).
Since 2002, five MUSC investigators, along with a colleague from the University of Southern California, have examined 99 outpatient primary care practices across the country linked through Practice Partner, a provider of electronic medical record software. In total, the practices represent approximately 850,000 patients. Researchers evaluated performance in the areas of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, immunizations, obesity, respiratory and infectious diseases, mental health and inappropriate medication prescribing among elderly patients. Over half of the practices participated in optional on-site visits, and less than half participated in annual network meetings. Of the 36 care processes and outcomes measured, 29 experienced significant improvements.
"The practices were able to make substantial improvements in the quality of care they provide to their patients, particularly in the areas of cancer screening and immunization delivery," said Paul J. Nietert, Ph.D., one of the co-investigators on the project. "With so many health care facilities across the country focused on improving quality of care for their patients, our findings are extremely timely and show just how responsive and willing practitioners are to implement changes to better serve their patients."
Practices showed no improvement when it came to processes such as blood pressure monitoring, providing Hepatitis-A vaccines to patients with liver disease, and prescribing beta blockers for patients with heart failure and antidepressants for clinically depressed patients.
"For certain measures like blood pressure monitoring, the practices didn't improve much because they were already performing extremely well at the beginning of our study," said Nietert. "For other measures, there is clearly still room for improvement."
The study was funded by the Agency for health care Research and Quality (AHRQ) as part of its Partnerships for Quality Initiative. In the future, lessons learned in this study and goals achieved by practices may be used for quality improvement in other outpatient settings as well.
About MUSC
Founded in 1824 in Charleston, The Medical University of South Carolina is the oldest medical school in the south. Today, MUSC continues the tradition of excellence in education, research and patient care. MUSC is home to over 3,000 students and residents, as well as nearly 10,000 employees, including 1,300 faculty members. As the largest non-federal employer in Charleston, the University and its affiliates have collective budgets in excess of $1.3 billion per year. MUSC operates a 600-bed medical center, which includes a nationally recognized Children's Hospital and a leading Institute of Psychiatry.
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