Article Text
Abstract
Method This project aims to implement the HCV birth cohort screening guidelines over a 9-month period in the primary care setting at the University of Kansas Health System General Internal Medicine Division.The project team measured the number of patients in the baby boomer population who received a one-time screen for HCV. An electronic medical record (EMR) intervention was implemented to identify baby boomers who did not have an HCV screening or diagnosis. Additionally, education was provided to all primary care providers in the clinic to increase awareness of the HCV birth cohort screening.
Results The quality improvement methods increased the percentage of baby boomers who obtained a one-time screening test for HCV from a baseline of 30% to a 55% screening rate during the nine-month project period.
Conclusion Identifying the HCV screening needs and creating a visual reminder in the EMR can be used to facilitate sustainable awareness and improvement of screening rates. The project team recognizes that continued work is required to close the HCV screening care gaps in the primary care setting.
- primary care
- quality improvement
- healthcare quality improvement
- PDSA
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Footnotes
Contributors CS takes primary responsibility for communication with the journal during the manuscript submission, peer review and publication process.
Competing interests None declared.
Ethics approval The quality improvement protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the University of Kansas Medical Center.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.