Driving Evidence-Based Catheter-Associated UTI Care Practices
The U.S. healthcare system faces many challenges as efforts are made to improve the quality and safety patient care. The EHR was proposed by the Institute of Medicine in 2001 as a catalyst to improve safety, quality, and efficiency in the healthcare system (Stoten, 2009). Consequently, in 2004, U.S. President George W. Bush outlined a plan to move the health care, paper-record system to an EHR by 2014. This mandate has afforded the opportunity for healthcare providers and quality improvement teams to strive to prevent hospital-acquired infections by integrating evidence-based guidelines or standards of care into the EHR to document evidence of delivering safe, high quality patient care. Members of QI teams are encouraged to use EHRs in a meaningful manner, integrating applicable functions that drive the sustainability of documentation related to patient care practice, and to consult clinical informatics staff early in the planning process to assure feasibility of the project.
In summary, the primary goals of the CAUTI project were to implement foley catheter practices based on CDC Guidelines and best practices and to embed an electronic infrastructure that would drive and sustain these care practices. In 2012, sustainability of the CAUTI process was analyzed via one-way ANOVA as four 7-month periods were compared (Figure 5). Compared to the first seven months of the project, the post-implementation data demonstrated that CAUTI patient care practices continue to reflect that sustainability of the process has been integrated into our patient care delivery system. Sustainability of these practices is further substantiated by a reduction in the variability of CAUTI practices, thus demonstrating foley catheter practices are being ingrained into the daily patient care. Ownership at the unit level continues to elicit a steady increase in compliance; and staff members recognize the EHR as a fundamental catalyst that supports, drives, and sustains EBP in CAUTI preventive care and documentation.
Conclusion
The U.S. healthcare system faces many challenges as efforts are made to improve the quality and safety patient care. The EHR was proposed by the Institute of Medicine in 2001 as a catalyst to improve safety, quality, and efficiency in the healthcare system (Stoten, 2009). Consequently, in 2004, U.S. President George W. Bush outlined a plan to move the health care, paper-record system to an EHR by 2014. This mandate has afforded the opportunity for healthcare providers and quality improvement teams to strive to prevent hospital-acquired infections by integrating evidence-based guidelines or standards of care into the EHR to document evidence of delivering safe, high quality patient care. Members of QI teams are encouraged to use EHRs in a meaningful manner, integrating applicable functions that drive the sustainability of documentation related to patient care practice, and to consult clinical informatics staff early in the planning process to assure feasibility of the project.
In summary, the primary goals of the CAUTI project were to implement foley catheter practices based on CDC Guidelines and best practices and to embed an electronic infrastructure that would drive and sustain these care practices. In 2012, sustainability of the CAUTI process was analyzed via one-way ANOVA as four 7-month periods were compared (Figure 5). Compared to the first seven months of the project, the post-implementation data demonstrated that CAUTI patient care practices continue to reflect that sustainability of the process has been integrated into our patient care delivery system. Sustainability of these practices is further substantiated by a reduction in the variability of CAUTI practices, thus demonstrating foley catheter practices are being ingrained into the daily patient care. Ownership at the unit level continues to elicit a steady increase in compliance; and staff members recognize the EHR as a fundamental catalyst that supports, drives, and sustains EBP in CAUTI preventive care and documentation.