Title: The path(way) to a clean colon: Improving the management of functional constipation
Authors: Sarah Nichols, D.O. Pediatrics Resident, Nathan Justice, M.D. Pediatrics Hospital Medicine, Anjali Malkani, M.D. Pediatric Gastroenterology, David Wood, M.D., MPH General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine
Purpose / Objectives: Hospitalization for the treatment of functional constipation is a leading cause among encounters that incur a financial loss at our institution. There are few resources that describe best practices or quality improvement efforts in the management of children who are hospitalized with functional constipation. A clinical pathway was implemented to promote interventions that improve hospital resource utilization for this group of children.
Design / Methods: A clinical pathway was developed by a multidisciplinary team of stakeholders. The pathway emphasized interventions known to improve resource utilization and believed to facilitate a more effective and efficient cleanout. The inpatient arm of the pathway was implemented on a 24-bed medical/surgical unit; members of the medical and clinical staff of this unit received education with dissemination of the pathway. An electronic order set was implemented concurrently to facilitate practitioners’ application of pathway recommendations. Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles were used to monitor process measures and outcomes. Inpatient utilization was selected as the primary outcome for this effort’s first iteration; length of stay and frequency of readmissions were monitored as a secondary outcome and balancing measure, respectively.
Results: Pathway utilization reached 65% within two periods of implementation. Adherence to selected process measures exceeded 80% within two periods. Inpatient utilization demonstrated initial improvement, increasing from 20% at baseline to 50% post-implementation; however, it subsequently fell below baseline performance after third-party payers revised admission criteria during period 6. Length of stay and frequency of readmissions remained unchanged post-intervention.
Conclusion / Discussion: A clinical pathway for the treatment of functional constipation was quickly adopted by clinicians within two periods of implementation (spanning two months). The pathway was effective at promoting interventions that improved inpatient utilization; however, these improvements could not be sustained in the face of an unanticipated, external force. Future improvement cycles will be directed at reducing the length of stay to improve hospital resource utilization.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ETSU/oai:dc.etsu.edu:asrf-1510 |
| Date | 05 May 2020 |
| Creators | Nichols, Sarah, Justice, Nathan, Malkani, Anjali, Wood, David |
| Publisher | Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University |
| Source Sets | East Tennessee State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Appalachian Student Research Forum |
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