The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Common Program Requirements require residents to participate in real or simulated interprofessional patient safety activities. Root cause ...analysis (RCA) is widely used to respond to patient safety events; however, residents may lack knowledge about the process.
To improve clinicians' knowledge of the tools used to conduct an RCA and the science behind them, and to describe this course and discuss outcomes and feasibility.
A flipped classroom approach was used. Participants completed 5 hours of pre-course work then attended an 8.5-hour program including didactic sessions and small group, facilitator-led RCA simulations. Pre- and post-surveys, as well as a 10-month follow-up on knowledge of and comfort with the RCA process were compared. Statistical significance was evaluated for matched pairs using a repeated measures analysis of variance.
Of 162 participants trained, 59 were residents/fellows from 23 graduate medical education programs. Response rates were 96.9% (157 of 162) for pre-course, 92.6% (150 of 162) for post-course, and 81.5% (132 of 162) for 10-month follow-up survey. Most participants had never participated in an RCA (57%, 89 of 157) and had no prior training (87%, 136 of 157). Following the course, participants reported improved confidence in their ability to interview and participate in an RCA (
<.001, 95% CI 4.4-4.6). This persisted 10 months later (
<.001, 95% CI 4.2-4.4), most prominently among residents/fellows who had the highest rate (38.9%, 23 of 59) of participation in real-world RCAs following the training.
The course led to a sustained improvement in confidence participating in RCAs, especially among residents and fellows.
The objective of this study was to determine whether age <or=8 y is an independent predictor of mortality in noncoalition trauma patients at a US combat support hospital.
A retrospective chart review ...was conducted of 1132 noncoalition trauma patients who were admitted to a combat support hospital between December 2003 and December 2004. Data on age, severity of injury indices, and in-hospital mortality rates were analyzed. All variables that were associated with death on univariate analysis were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression to determine independent associations with mortality.
There were 38 young pediatric patients (aged <or=8 years) and 1094 older pediatric and adult patients (aged >8 years). Penetrating trauma accounted for 83% of all injuries. Young pediatric patients compared with older pediatric and adult patients had increased severity of injury indicated by decreased Glasgow Coma Scale score; increased incidence of hypotension, base deficit, and serum pH on admission; red blood cell transfusion amount; and increased injury severity scores on admission. Young pediatric patients compared with older pediatric and adult patients also had increased ICU lengths of stay (median 2 interquartile range 0-5 vs median 0 interquartile range 0-2 days) and in-hospital mortality rate (18% vs 4%), respectively. Multivariate logistic regression indicated that base deficit, injury severity score of >or=15, Glasgow Coma Scale score of <or=8, and age of <or=8 years were independently associated with mortality.
Young children who present to a combat support hospital have increased severity of injury compared with older children and adults. In a population with primarily penetrating injuries, after adjustment for severity of injury, young children may also have an independent increased risk for death compared with older children and adults. Providing forward-deployed medical staff with pediatric-specific equipment and training in the acute care of young children with severe traumatic injuries may improve outcomes in this population.
Initial waves of the COVID-19 pandemic have largely spared children. With the advent of vaccination in many older age groups and the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant, however, children ...now represent a growing percentage of COVID-19 cases. PICU capacity is far less than that of adult ICUs. Adult ICUs may need to support pediatric care, much as PICUs provided adult care earlier in the pandemic. Critically ill children selected for care in adult settings should be at least 12 years of age and ideally have conditions common in children and adults alike (eg, community-acquired sepsis, trauma). Children with complex, pediatric-specific disorders are best served in PICUs and are not recommended for transfer. The goal of such transfers is to maintain critical capacity for those children in greatest need of the PICU's unique abilities, therefore preserving systems of care for all children.
To formulate new "Choosing Wisely" for Critical Care recommendations that identify best practices to avoid waste and promote value while providing critical care.
Semistructured narrative literature ...review and quantitative survey assessments.
English language publications that examined critical care practices in relation to reducing cost or waste.
Practices assessed to add no value to critical care were grouped by category. Taskforce assessment, modified Delphi consensus building, and quantitative survey analysis identified eight novel recommendations to avoid wasteful critical care practices. These were submitted to the Society of Critical Care Medicine membership for evaluation and ranking.
Results from the quantitative Society of Critical Care Medicine membership survey identified the top scoring five of eight recommendations. These five highest ranked recommendations established Society of Critical Care Medicine's Next Five "Choosing" Wisely for Critical Care practices.
Five new recommendations to reduce waste and enhance value in the practice of critical care address invasive devices, proactive liberation from mechanical ventilation, antibiotic stewardship, early mobilization, and providing goal-concordant care. These recommendations supplement the initial critical care recommendations from the "Choosing Wisely" campaign.
To characterize the epidemiology of burn injury in pediatric patients and identify factors associated with mortality based on burn severity.
Retrospective cohort study.
U.S. military combat support ...hospitals and forward surgical hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Iraqi and Afghan children less than 18 years old admitted with isolated burn injury.
None.
Burn severity was classified as mild, moderate, and severe based on external Abbreviated Injury Scale score. Patient characteristics and outcomes were described according to burn severity. A multivariate logistic regression was performed on univariate associations with mortality. Of 4,743 pediatric patients, 549 (11.6%) had isolated burn injury. Overall mortality was 13%, median external Abbreviated Injury Scale was 3 (interquartile range, 2-4), and 67% were male. Variables included in the logistic regression were external Abbreviated Injury Scale score, abnormal heart rate for age, hypotension, mechanical ventilation, transfusion, Glasgow Coma Scale, international normalized ratio, base deficit, hematocrit, and platelet count. Factors independently associated with mortality were international normalized ratio (odds ratio, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.2-5.8; p = 0.021) and external Abbreviated Injury Scale (odds ratio, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.3-4.7; p = 0.004). Mortality increased with burn severity: mild 1.7%, moderate 7.2%, and severe 47% (p < 0.001).
This is the first in-depth study of pediatric burn injuries in combat. Children with severe burns (total body surface area > 39% or > 29% if < 5 yr) had a high mortality and required significant resources in a setting that is not primarily resourced for long-term care of severe pediatric burn injury. Extraordinary measures are therefore used for the long-term care of these burned children within the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Critical Care Internal Medicine (CCIM) is vital to the U.S. Military as evidenced by the role CCIM played in the COVID-19 pandemic response and wartime operations. Although the proficiency needs of ...military surgeons have been well studied, this has not been the case for CCIM. The objective of this study was to compare the patient volume and acuity of military CCIM physicians working solely at Military Treatment Facilities (MTFs) with those at MTFs also working part-time in a military-civilian partnership (MCP) at the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada (UMC).
We analyzed FY2019 critical care coding data from the Military Health System and UMC comparing the number of critical care encounters, the number of high-acuity critical care encounters, and the Abilities/Activity component of the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities/Clinical Activity (KSA) score. This analysis was restricted to critical care encounters defined by Current Procedural Terminology codes for critical care (99291 and 99292). A critical care encounter was considered high acuity if the patient had ICD-10 codes for shock, respiratory failure, or cardiac arrest or had at least three codes for critical care in the same episode.
The five AF CCIM physicians in the MCP group performed 2,019 critical care encounters in 206 days, with 63.1% (1,273) being defined as high acuity. The total number of MTF critical care encounters was 16,855 across all providers and services, with 28.9% (4,864) of encounters defined as high acuity. When limited to CCIM encounters, MTFs had 6,785 critical care encounters, with 32.0% being high acuity (2,171). Thus, the five AF CCIM physicians, while working 206 days at the UMC, equated to 12.0% (2,019/16,855) of the total critical care MTF encounters, 27.2% (1,273/4,684) of the total high-acuity MTF critical care encounters, and 29.8% (2,019/6,785) of the MTF CCIM encounters, with 58.6% (1,273/2,171) of the MTF CCIM high-acuity encounters.The USAF CCIM physicians in the MCP group performed 454,395 KSAs in 206 days, with a KSA density per day of 2,206. In the MTF group, CCIM providers generated 2,344,791 total KSAs over 10,287 days, with a KSA density per day of 227.9. Thus, the five CCIM physicians at the UMC accounted for 19.38% of the MTF CCIM KSAs, with a KSA density over 10 times higher (2,206 vs. 227.9).
The volume and acuity of critical care at MTFs may be insufficient to maintain CCIM proficiency under the current system. Military-civilian partnerships are invaluable in maintaining clinical proficiency for military CCIM physicians and can be done on a part-time basis while maintaining beneficiary care at an MTF. Future CCIM expeditionary success is contingent on CCIM physicians and team members having the required CCIM exposure to grow and maintain clinical proficiency.Limitations of this study include the absence of off-duty employment (moonlighting) data and difficulty filtering military data down to just CCIM physicians, which likely caused the MTF CCIM data to be overestimated.
ABSTRACT
Introduction
Graduate medical education (GME) faculty and trainees have required scholarly activities to meet accreditation requirements. The impact of this contribution to the Military ...Health System, especially regarding innovations in military medicine, has not been previously examined. This study measured the contribution of GME in published manuscripts from a tertiary military medical center.
Materials and Methods
Utilizing the Scopus database, published manuscripts from the primary military GME institutions for the San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium were identified from 2008 to 2018. Manuscripts were sorted based on the number of citations in Scopus and analyzed for their overall impact in medicine to include military unique topics.
Results
A total of 3,700 manuscripts were identified through Scopus and based on a 10 citation minimum, 1,365 manuscripts were further analyzed; 1,152 (84.4%) included authors with GME affiliation and 554 (40.6%) had direct applicability to unique aspects of military medicine. The mean number of citations per manuscript was 39.2 ± 63.6; Mean Cite Score was 2.97 ± 2.14 and Field Weighted Citation Index of 2.22 ± 3.27. Analysis of number of citations (10-19; 20-39; or >40) did not show any significant differences in Cite Score or military relevance, whereas the percentage of military relevant articles remained consistent yearly.
Conclusions
These findings highlight the importance of military medical research and addressing specific medical needs of the warfighter. Graduate medical education in a tertiary Military Health System facility has enormous impact in scholarly activity, in particular the importance related to military medicine topics that emphasize combat casualty care and military readiness.
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