Internal Medicine Residency update (2/13/2011)

The Internal Medicine Residency newsletter is sent by email each Sunday to trainees, faculty and others associated with the program. Beginning Feb. 13, the newsletter will also be posted to the MedicineNews blog.

From the Program Director, Diana McNeill, MD

Quality Improvement (QI) and Patient Safety Outcomes We will dedicate this section to reports and opportunities in QI and Patient Safety, beginning this week with two initiatives.

1. Continuity Study at the DOC We are fortunate to be part of a multi-center observational study evaluating how residents are taught in the ambulatory clinics. the study is capturing information about how patients are scheduled (how often do you see "your" patients), what are the clinical outcomes of patients (specifically diabetic metrics such as A1C testing, BP, LDL, etc), patient satisfaction and resident satisfaction. All information collected will be de-identified so that neither patient PHI or resident ID will be noted. We do need your consent for the study as the deidentified information will be sent to the coordinating site (Texas Tech). Drs. Bowlby, Greenblatt and Bae will be explaining the study to you in clinic and giving you an opportunity to ask questions, and then to either consent or decline to participate. Consenting has begun, so please be on the lookout for Drs. Bowlby, Greenblatt and Bae at the DOC to hear more about the study.
2. Patient Hand Offs The second project we are reporting on is the exciting role the Residency Program is taking on regarding hand offs, expanding on the work recently reported by the GME PSQ Handoff Task Force to the ICGME in January. Residents will have key roles in what will become a longitudinal project at three sites - Duke, VA, and ambulatory, including the planning, implementation, study, reporting, and dissemination of best practices. The team spearheading this project includes: Brian Griffith, Aubrey Jolly Graham, Johanna Chan, Rohit Gupta, Megan Brooks, Daniel Fox, Tara Spector, Stephen Bergin, Krish Patel, Matthew Chung, Tian Zhang, and Priya Gopwani.The first step will be to take stock of what is happening currently on GM with particular attention to the written/printed handoff forms, while continuing collaboration with GME PSQ Council and coordination of efforts with hospital leadership.Tasks currently in process include drafting IRB proposal, brainstorming for desired content on written/printed handoff tools, and data collection processes/tools.

Training Opportunity Karen Frush, MD, chief patient safety officer for the Duke University Health System, has offered us the opportunity for a core group of faculty, residents, and chief residents to attend a day long program on QI and Patient Safety. Those attending the session on March 4 will not only receive training, but also have the opportunity to work with real project data. We are extending an invitation to attend to both residents and faculty. If you are interested, please contact Randy Heffelfinger as soon as possible for additional information. We will be finalizing a list of QI projects and those who will be attending the meeting this week.

From the Chief Residents

From the Medical Residency Office