Background: In 1992 the Health Care Financing Administration introduced the Health Care Quality Improvement Program (HCQIP), through which quality improvement projects are conducted in partnership with quality improvement organizations (QIOs), hospitals, health plans, or physicians. An evaluation of HCQIP began in May 1996 in response to the QIOs' request for an independent assessment of their activities.
Methodology: The methodology and objectives of the evaluation were determined by an independent panel. The QIOs' full cohort of 970 HQIP projects could not be reviewed in the 10-month time frame available, but two topics were chosen: the management of warfarin or aspirin in patients with atrial fibrillation and the management of community-acquired pneumonia.
Findings: Analyses were limited to the 49 of the 68 projects that had progressed to the "improvement plan implemented" stage. However, only 39 of these 49 projects had information on outcomes, organization changes, and/or changes in process of care--and only 20 of the 49 had moved beyond the "improvement plan implemented" phase. Feedback of data led hospitals collaborating on improvement projects to revise or create processes of care.
Discussion: Although the assessment is the most comprehensive of its type to date, it should be viewed as a pilot study of some of the methods that could be incorporated in a more extensive and rigorous future evaluation of the impact of the HCQIP projects. Specific recommendations include random sampling of HCQIP projects across all clinical areas, conducting both prospective and retrospective assessments, developing uniform process and outcome program impact measures, and developing sustainable, ongoing automated data abstraction and analysis systems.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s1070-3241(16)30339-x | DOI Listing |
Dermatol Ther (Heidelb)
January 2025
Department of Dermatology, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.
Introduction: Patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD), a body surface area (BSA) of ≤ 40%, and an itch numerical rating scale (NRS) score of ≥ 7 ("BARI itch dominant") have been characterized as an important group to consider for the oral janus kinase (JAK) 1/2 inhibitor baricitinib (BARI). Herein we aim to evaluate quality of life (QoL) and functioning outcomes in adult patients with BSA ≤ 40% and itch NRS ≥ 7 at baseline (BL) who received BARI 4 mg in the topical corticosteroid (TCS) combination trial BREEZE-AD7.
Materials: BREEZE-AD7 was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group outpatient study involving adult patients with moderate-to-severe AD who received once-daily placebo or 2-mg or 4-mg BARI in combination with TCS for 16 weeks.
Curr Cardiol Rep
January 2025
Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA.
Purpose Of Review: To provide a contemporary update on the American Society of Echocardiography's ImageGuideEcho Registry and present a case study of an individual institution's experience with enrollment.
Recent Findings: Technical innovation in clinical echocardiography has expanded the impact of echocardiography in cardiovascular care and provides new opportunities to leverage clinical data to inform quality improvement initiatives and research. The ImageGuideEcho Registry is the first echocardiography-specific imaging registry in the United States and provides a data infrastructure for quality improvement and multicenter research.
Urologie
January 2025
Universitätsklinik für Urologie, Universität Bern, Inselspital Bern, Bern, Schweiz.
Background: Recent studies have also shown that clinical monitoring of quality of life (HRQoL) helps to recognize kidney transplant failure at an early stage.
Objectives: Given the potential of improving HRQoL for the long-term outcomes of kidney transplantation, we conducted a rapid review of the last 5 years of quality of life evaluation after adult allogeneic kidney transplantation.
Materials And Methods: A rapid evidence analysis was carried out using a literature search in MEDLINE in the period 2019-2024.
J Agric Food Chem
January 2025
State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Resources, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China.
is one of the commonly used hosts for heterologous enzyme expression, depending on media rich in carbon, nitrogen, and phosphate sources for optimal growth and enzyme production. Interestingly, our investigation of maltotetraose-forming amylase, a key enzyme for efficient maltotetraose synthesis, revealed that phosphate limitation significantly enhances the growth rate and production of heterologous enzymes in recombinant . Under phosphate-limited conditions in a 15 L fermenter, the enzyme activity reached 679.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUrogynecology (Phila)
January 2025
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA.
Importance: Tobacco smoking is linked to poor surgical outcomes, leading many physicians to avoid synthetic implants like mesh in smokers due to concerns about impaired healing. While long-term outcomes for smokers have been studied, the effect of smoking on 30-day postoperative complications, especially related to surgical mesh, is less understood.
Objectives: This study aimed to quantify the association between tobacco smoking and risk of postoperative infection, readmission, and reoperation within 30 days of minimally invasive apical prolapse repair.
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