Quality Improvement

Our residents receive longitudinal training in Quality Improvement (QI) throughout their residency. As a part of our QI curriculum, residents learn to evaluate their own practice and examine patient care in a systems-based manner. Our residents are provided "report cards" on their care of patients in their practice panel. These reports are produced quarterly for all to review as we have healthy competition across the Firm teams best quality metrics. 

Our curriculum features a "Quality Improvement Week" during which local and visiting speakers introduce and reinforce concepts of QI and patient safety. Our novel curriculum has been presented on a national scale to other medical educators at the Association of Internal Medicine Program Director’s meeting and the AAMC Southern Group of Educational Affairs meeting.

Residents are divided into QI teams each year. Each team is mentored by a faculty attending with experience in quality and patient safety. In addition, each team receives assistance from a quality improvement coach and/or members of our patient safety department. Each QI team identifies a clinical problem, conducts a root cause analysis, defines an Aim statement, and implements small-scale interventions through multiple PDSA cycles with the goal of improving care.

Each QI group presents their findings to the entire department at our Annual Resident QI Project Presentation Day. In addition, our residents have presented their QI work at the state, regional, and national level.

Recent resident-led QI projects include:

2023

• Improving Screening for Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease in At-Risk Patients at a Resident Continuity Clinic
• Enhancing Resident Wellness in the Department of Internal Medicine
• Improving Lung Cancer Screening Rates: A Quality Improvement Project
• Flowing Towards Renal Wellness: Surfing the SLGT2i Wave
• Turn Off the Tele – Reducing Inappropriate Telemetry Use
• Improving Home Medicine Reconciliation when Transferring out of ICU

2022

• Improving Resident Education on Ordering Vaccinations
• Utilizing an Order Set to Optimize Bowel Preperation for Inpatient Colonoscopy
• Taking Our Best Shot Against HPV Related Cancers: Increasing HPV Vaccine Uptake in the Clinic Setting
• Evaluation of Ways to Improve Resident Satisfaction and Attendance at Noon Conference

2021

• Stress Ulcer Prophylaxis Quality Improvement Initiative
• Resident Education and Blood Glucose Log Utility
• Improving Medication Reconciliation at Myers Park Clinic
• Improving Screening for Social Determinants of Health
• Improving Covid Vaccination Booster Rates at Myers Park Clinic

2020

• Increasing COVID-19 Vaccination Among Myers Park IM Patients
• Improving the Code Blue Alert System for Faster Response Times and Reduced Provider Burnout
• Simplifying Blood Glucose Logs
• Nutrition Education for CMC Internal Medicine Residents and Attendings
• Increasing SGLT2-Inhibitor Use in Qualifying Patients at Myers Park IM Clinic
• Promoting Medication-Assisted-Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder in the Ambulatory Clinic
• Encouraging Smoking Cessation at Myers Park Internal Medicine Clinic
• Increasing Understanding and Completion of the Care Alignment Tool at Myers Park Internal Medicine Clinic
• Decreasing Inappropriate Measurement of Ammonia Levels in the Inpatient Setting
• Improving Patient Utilization of Dietician Appointments at Myers Park Internal Medicine Clinic

2019

• Bringing Office-based Opioid-Use-Disorder Treatment to Primary Care
• The Butt Stops Here: Increasing Smoking Cessation Counseling at Myers Park Clinic
• Procalcitonin Collection to Facilitate Potential Antibiotic De-escalation
• Increasing Colon Cancer Screening Rates Amongst the Latino Population at Myers Park Internal Medicine Clinic
• Increasing HPV Vaccination Awareness and Usage at Myers Park Internal Medicine Clinic

 2018

• Catch your breath: Increasing Lung Cancer Screening at Myers Park Internal Medicine Clinic
• Wheezing Without Worry: A COPD Power Plan Utilization Project
• Behavioral Health Integration (BHI) Project
• Improving H. Pylori Identification and Eradication
• Increasing the Use of the Sickle Cell Disease Power Plan
• Identifying Food Insecurity in the Outpatient Setting

2017

• Improving Resident Wellness Through Increased Volunteerism
• Improving the Use of Advanced Directives at Myers Park Clinic
• Improving Mammography Screening at Myers Park Internal Medicine Clinic
• Improving Hepatitis C Screening and Linkage to Care
• Examining the Social Determinants of Health at Myers Park Internal Medicine Clinic
• Improving Myers Park Internal Medicine Clinic Phone Line Usage and Care
• Improving Linkage to Early Lung Cancer Screening

2016

• Decreasing Inappropriate PPI Use in the Outpatient Setting
• Increasing Hepatitis C Screening in the Ambulatory Setting (Winner of the departmental top QI project award)
• Improving Resident Comfort and Competency with Inpatient Procedures
• Improving EMR Documentation of the Family and Social History
• “Hopping on the Bus” to Improved Breast Cancer Screening