Patient Safety/Quality Improvement Primer, Part I: What PS/QI Means to Your Otolaryngology Practice

Abstract

Patient safety/quality improvement (PS/QI) is the cornerstone of 21st-century health care. Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery is excited to provide a dedicated PS/QI primer. The overarching goal for this PS/QI series is to provide a comprehensive and practical resource that assists readers, authors, and peer reviewers in understanding PS/QI research, its unique methodology, and the associated reporting standards for trustworthy performance measures. The target audience includes resident and fellows, faculty from the private sector and academia, and allied health professionals. This inaugural primer reviews PS/QI background as it relates to otolaryngology practice. It explores the history, goals, and development of performance measurement. In addition, it highlights opportunities for integrating PS/QI into otolaryngology practice. Payers will drive patients to quality care based on outcomes. Otolaryngologists have a responsibility to embrace a culture of PS/QI. In doing so, we will define optimal, quality otolaryngology care through objective data and metrics.

American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery/Foundation Reg‐ent Registry: Purpose, Properties, and Priorities

“…At an individual provider level, Reg-ent serves as a tool to objectively assess the application of quality measures in one's practice without a significant administrative burden. 11 The quality dashboard is customized by the individual Regent member or department chair/practice administrator and provides a means of comparison with peers in one's practice, as well as against national benchmarks. Such comparisons are imperative to ongoing quality improvement.…”

“…The MIPS is a component of the act by which participants earn performance-based payments linked to evidence-based outcomes specific to one's practice. 11 Reg-ent has achieved CMS designation as a Qualified Clinical Data Registry and Qualified Registry every year since inception, thereby allowing the registry to support MIPS reporting. In an effort to meet AAO-HNS/F membership needs, this reporting mechanism was the focus of phase 1 for Reg-ent and likely accounts for the fact that 80% of members are from the private practice sector.…”

Tackling the Minority Tax: A Roadmap to Redistributing Engagement in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives

“…Some DEI opportunities involve innovative mentoring by clinician educators 30 . Other possibilities exist in implementation science or big data, which can be used to improve access to care and quality of care 50 . The transformation of health care by machine learning and artificial intelligence also has important DEI implications.…”

“…30 Other possibilities exist in implementation science or big data, which can be used to improve access to care and quality of care. 50 The transformation of health care by machine learning and artificial intelligence also has important DEI implications. An equity lens is needed to prevent ''machine bias'' from skewed data sets and biased algorithms that affect health care and society.…”

Opioid prescribing and consumption after head and neck free flap reconstruction: what is the evidence for multimodal analgesia?

“…Multidisciplinary approaches are particularly valuable in patients with tracheostomy or other complex needs ( 21 , 22 ). Furthermore, engaging learners is a key step in application of quality improvement initiatives ( 23 , 24 ) and affords the opportunity of cultivating future champions for effective opioid stewardship. Best practice in perioperative management of head and neck surgery patients continues to rely heavily on consensus expertise ( 25 ).…”