3Q's for QI | Q & A with Dr. Diane Christopher
Jan 23, 2024
Tell us about your approach to this project?
I was motivated to initiate this project because our practice uses a group care model where obstetric patients are seen by multiple clinicians. Before the project, information relayed to the patient in the first prenatal visit varied by clinician, and even varied between patient to patient with the same clinician. As such, it was unclear to the clinician performing the second obstetric visit what information the patient had received in the first prenatal visit.
Why is this work important?
Patients who are more comfortable in a medical clinic are more likely to ask questions. When patients ask questions, clinicians initiate in more dialogue with the patient and the visit typically covers more information. Patients who do not ask questions might not have any - or they might not feel safe asking anything. I did not feel comfortable with this discrepancy because it can be linked to health care inequities.
How do you think this will impact healthcare?
The major impact is that we are able to complete all recommended prenatal screening with high accuracy. This program also increased access to our entire clinic population by reducing no-shows and opening more visits per day. The first prenatal visit was reduced by 15 minutes which allowed us to add another patient visit.
Read the full article in Journal for Healthcare Quality here.
Check out more of Dr. Christopher's publications:
- Quality and Safety Practices Among Academic Obstetrics and Gynecology Departments - American Journal for Medical Quality