Physical therapy consultation in the hospital is a valuable, yet limited resource, and ordered for a large proportion of admitted patients. IHQSE faculty members, Dr. Emily Gottenborg and Dr. Moksha Patel, recently published their work to address inappropriate overuse of physical therapy consultation, decreasing the rates from 25% to <10%.  We spoke with Dr. Gottenborg to learn more about how her team approached this challenge and the impact it could have for both hospitals and patients. 

Tell us about your approach to this project? 
The team identified that a valuable and overused resource was being wasted in the hospital – the time and energy of the physical therapy team, resulting in delays in patient care for those who would benefit from this resource, and dissatisfaction from the rehabilitation team around their scope of work. The team used the Six Sigma approach to identify root causes of the problem, namely that most providers are unfamiliar with what an appropriate consult indication is.  We addressed this in two ways, embedding clinical decision-making support in the order itself, and empowering nurses to have ownership over physical therapy consultation ordering.  

Why is this work important? 
The inpatient setting is the most expensive healthcare environment and is ridden with waste and inefficiencies. By targeting these areas of waste, we can use those resources to provide better, more valuable care for our patients.  

How do you think this will impact healthcare? 
In an era where healthcare is riddled with burnout and many healthcare workers even leaving the profession, we need to understand the needs of our workforce, optimize their time and energy, and target areas of discontent or inefficiency. Deploying quality improvement frameworks can support this work, while also bettering the care for patients.  

Read the full article from Journal for Healthcare Quality here.