Browsing by Author "Frankel, Richard M."

Now showing 1 - 10 of 49
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    Accuracy, thoroughness, and quality of outpatient primary care documentation in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
    (Springer Nature, 2024-07-18) Weiner, Michael; Flanagan, Mindy E.; Ernst, Katie; Cottingham, Ann H.; Rattray, Nicholas A.; Franks, Zamal; Savoy, April W.; Lee, Joy L.; Frankel, Richard M.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background: Electronic health records (EHRs) can accelerate documentation and may enhance details of notes, or complicate documentation and introduce errors. Comprehensive assessment of documentation quality requires comparing documentation to what transpires during the clinical encounter itself. We assessed outpatient primary care notes and corresponding recorded encounters to determine accuracy, thoroughness, and several additional key measures of documentation quality. Methods: Patients and primary care clinicians across five midwestern primary care clinics of the US Department of Veterans Affairs were recruited into a prospective observational study. Clinical encounters were video-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Using the Physician Documentation Quality Instrument (PDQI-9) added to other measures, reviewers scored quality of the documentation by comparing transcripts to corresponding encounter notes. PDQI-9 items were scored from 1 to 5, with higher scores indicating higher quality. Results: Encounters (N = 49) among 11 clinicians were analyzed. Most issues that patients initiated in discussion were omitted from notes, and nearly half of notes referred to information or observations that could not be verified. Four notes lacked concluding assessments and plans; nine lacked information about when patients should return. Except for thoroughness, PDQI-9 items that were assessed achieved quality scores exceeding 4 of 5 points. Conclusions: Among outpatient primary care electronic records examined, most issues that patients initiated in discussion were absent from notes, and nearly half of notes referred to information or observations absent from transcripts. EHRs may contribute to certain kinds of errors. Approaches to improving documentation should consider the roles of the EHR, patient, and clinician together.
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    Agenda Setting in Psychiatric Consultations: An Exploratory Study
    (2013) Frankel, Richard M.; Salyers, Michelle P.; Bonfils, Kelsey; Oles, Sylwia; Matthias, Marianne S.
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    “Anybody on this list that you're more worried about?” Qualitative analysis exploring the functions of questions during end of shift handoffs
    (BMJ, 2016-02) O'Brien, Colleen M.; Flanagan, Mindy E.; Bergman, Alicia A.; Ebright, Patricia R.; Frankel, Richard M.; Department of Health Policy and Management, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health
    Background Shift change handoffs are known to be a point of vulnerability in the quality, safety and outcomes of healthcare. Despite numerous efforts to improve handoff reliability, few interventions have produced lasting change. Although the opportunity to ask questions during patient handoff has been required by some regulatory bodies, the function of questions during handoff has been less well explored and understood. Objective To investigate questions and the functions they serve in nursing and medicine handoffs. Research design Qualitative thematic analysis based on audio recordings of nurse-to-nurse, medical resident-to-resident and surgical intern-to-intern handoffs. Subjects Twenty-seven nurse handoff dyads and 18 medical resident and surgical intern handoff dyads at one VA Medical Center. Results Our analysis revealed that the vast majority of questions were asked by the Incoming Providers. Although topics varied widely, the bulk of Incoming Provider questions requested information that would best help them understand individual patient conditions and plan accordingly. Other question types sought consensus on clinical reasoning or framing and alignment between the two professionals. Conclusions Handoffs are a type of socially constructed work. Questions emerge with some frequency in virtually all handoffs but not in a linear or predictable way. Instead, they arise in the moment, as necessary, and without preplanning. A checklist cannot model this process element because it is a static memory aid and questions occur in a relational context that is emergent. Studying the different functions of questions during end of shift handoffs provides insights into the interface between the technical context in which information is transferred and the social context in which meaning is created.
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    Appreciative Inquiry as Organizational Change in a Community Mental Health Setting
    (Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2013-04-05) Firmin, Ruth L.; Salyers, Michelle P.; Gerhart, Timothy; Frankel, Richard M.; Avery, Elizabeth
    Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is an approach to organizational change that focuses on the strengths of an organization – discovering what is working well, and generating ideas within the organization for building on those strengths. AI has been applied in a variety of contexts including education, social work, health care, and academia. Little to no research, however, has applied AI to mental health contexts. The current study reports themes from staff member interviews conducted in the early phases of AI applied in a community mental health center (CMHC); these themes paint a picture of this CMHC “at its best” and will be fed-back to employees to lay the foundation for change and enhancing morale among staff. Interviews were conducted by 11 staff who volunteered from various departments and were trained by research staff at an all-day training. Appreciative Interviews first involved asking staff to describe a time they were at their best at this organization. Next, participants were asked to share what it was about themselves, others, and the setting that contributed to this experience. Additionally, interviewees were asked to “dream into the future” and to describe what they wish to see for this organization. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and de-identified. Iterative, consensus-based coding was conducted by a multidisciplinary team that included CMHC staff. Several consistent themes emerged among participants’ stories. Staff at their best frequently reported feeling effective and seeing success in working with consumers. Other themes included working as a team, communicating well, and trusting one another. Stories also involved feeling valued and supported by their supervisors and coworkers. A foundational aspect involved believing in and caring about consumers with whom they work. Themes from participants’ interviews reflect perceptions of this community mental health center at its best and are consistent with tenets self-determination theory and future study.
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    ASPIRE: A Program for Developing Clinician Educators’ Scholarship, Advancement, and Sense of Comm
    (Springer, 2022) Cottingham, Ann H.; Sachs, Greg A.; Frankel, Richard M.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Introduction: Faculty development programs encouraging clinician educators' scholarship have been established at many medical schools. The same is true for programs that address the isolation and loneliness many faculty members feel in their day-to-day clinical work and administration. Few programs have explicitly combined development of scholarship and sense of community. Aim: The goals of the Advanced Scholars Program for Internists in Research and Education (ASPIRE) are as follows: (1) provide training in scholarship development including research methods, implementation, and dissemination; (2) provide expert mentoring and support for professional development; and (3) create a greater sense of campus community. Setting: ASPIRE scholars are clinician educators in the Department of Medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine. Program description: The program runs 18 months, includes intensive mentoring, covered time for scholars and mentors, resources, and two half-day educational sessions per month focused on scholarship and community development. Program evaluation: Institutional leaders' public statements and actions regarding ASPIRE were documented by program leadership. Data collected from ASPIRE mentors and scholars through interviews and free text survey responses were analyzed using an immersion/crystallization approach. Two central themes were identified for both scholars and mentors: benefits and challenges of the program. Benefits included mentors, program design, community development, increased confidence, skills development, improved patient care, and institutional impact. Challenges included time to accomplish the program, balance of community-building and skills development, and lack of a clear path post-ASPIRE. Discussion: Combining skills-based learning with safe psychological space were judged important elements of success for the ASPIRE program. Conversations are ongoing to identify opportunities for scholars who have completed the program to continue to pursue scholarship, expand their skills, and build community. We conclude that the program both is feasible and was well-received. Sustainability and generalizability are important next steps in ensuring the viability of the program.
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    A brief intervention to improve emotion-focused communication between newly licensed pediatric nurses and parents
    (2014-01-03) Fisher, Mark J.; Broome, Marion E.; Friesth, Barbara M.; Magee, Tracy; Frankel, Richard M.
    Parents have increasingly participated in their children’s bedside care. Parental participation has led to more provider-parent interactions and communication during such stressful events. Helping parents through such stressful events requires nurses to be skilled communicators. Brief methods of training emotion-focused communication with newly licensed nurses are needed, but as yet are rare. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a validated brief communication (Four Habits Model) training program for newly licensed pediatric nurses. The intervention focused on ways to improve nurses’ emotion-focused conversations with parents. Information processing and Benner’s novice to expert informed this study. The intervention is based on the four habits model, with “habits” providing a structure for nurses to organize their thinking and behavior during emotion-focused conversations with parents. Thirty-five pediatric nurses with 0–24 months of nursing experience at a large mid-western children’s hospital participated in the study. Mixed methods provided data for this experimental study, using a group-by-trials repeated measures ANOVA design. Participants randomized to the intervention group participated in a one-hour three-part training: adapted four habits model content, simulated nurse-parent communication activity, and debrief. Participants randomized to the control group observed a one-hour travel video. Key outcome variables were Preparation, Communication Skills, Relationships, Confidence, Anxiety, and Total Preparation. Compared with the controls, the intervention group improved significantly in the following areas: Preparation, F(1,33) = 28.833, p < .001; Communication Skills, F(1,33) = 9.726, p = .004; Relationships, F(1,33) = 8.337, p = .007; Confidence, F(1,33) = 36.097, p < .001; and Total Preparation, F(1,33) = 47.610, p < .001. Nurses’ experience level had no effect, with the exception of Anxiety. Nurses with more experience (≥ 12 m) showed a greater reduction in Anxiety, when compared to nurses with less experience (< 12 m), F(1,31) = 5.733, p = .023. Fifty-two percent of the nurses involved in the intervention later reported specific examples of implementing the four habits when working with parents in clinical settings. A one-hour four habits communication-training program is effective in improving newly licensed nurses’ preparation for emotion-focused conversations with parents.
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    Challenges with Delivering Gender-Specific and Comprehensive Primary Care to Women Veterans
    (Elsevier, 2015-01) Bergman, Alicia A.; Frankel, Richard M.; Hamilton, Alison B.; Yano, Elizabeth M.; Department of Medicine, IU School of Medicine
    Background The growing presence of women veterans in Veterans Administration (VA) settings has prompted the need for greater attention to clinical proficiency related to women's health (WH) primary care needs. Instead of making appointments for multiple visits or referring patients to a WH clinic or alternate site for gender-specific care, a comprehensive primary care model now allows for women veteran patients be seen by primary care providers (PCPs) who have WH training/experience and can see patients for both primary and WH care in the context of a single visit. However, little is currently known about the barriers and facilitators WH-PCPs face in using this approach to incorporate gender-specific services into women veterans' primary care services. Methods We conducted qualitative in-depth interviews with 22 WH-PCPs at one Midwestern VA Medical Center. All participants were members of one of four outpatient primary care clinics within the main medical center, one off-site satellite clinic, or two off-site community-based outpatient clinics. Results Inductive thematic analysis identified six themes: 1) Time constraints, 2) importance of staff support, 3) necessity of sufficient space and equipment/supplies, 4) perceptions of discomfort among patients with trauma histories, 5) lack of education/training, and 6) challenges with scheduling/logistics. Conclusion Although adequate staff was a key facilitator, the findings suggest that there may be barriers that undermine the ability of VA WH-PCPs to provide high-quality, comprehensive primary and gender-specific care. The nature of these barriers is multifactorial and multilevel in nature, and may therefore require special policy and practice action.
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    Comparing neonatal morbidity and mortality estimates across specialty in periviable counseling
    (Taylor & Francis, 2015-12) Edmonds, Brownsyne Tucker; McKenzie, Fatima; Panoch, Janet; Frankel, Richard M.; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, IU School of Medicine
    Objective To describe and compare estimates of neonatal morbidity and mortality communicated by neonatologists and obstetricians in simulated periviable counseling encounters. Methods A simulation-based study of 16 obstetricians (OBs) and 15 neonatologists counseling standardized patients portraying pregnant women with ruptured membranes at 23 weeks gestation. Two investigators tabulated all instances of numerically-described risk estimates across individuals and by specialty. Results Overall, 12/15 (80%) neonatologists utilized numeric estimates of survival; 6/16 (38%) OBs did. OBs frequently deferred the discussion of “exact numbers” to neonatologists. The twelve neonatologists provided 13 unique numeric estimates, ranging from 3% to 50% survival. Half of those neonatologists provided 2-3 different estimates in a single encounter. By comparison, six OBs provided 4 unique survival estimates (“50%”, “30-40%”, “1/3-1/2”, “<10%”). Only 2/15 (13%) neonatologists provided numeric estimates of survival without impairment. None of the neonatologists used the term ‘intact’ survival, while 5 OBs did. Three neonatologists gave numeric estimates of long-term disability and one OB did. Conclusion We found substantial variation in estimates and noteworthy omissions of discussions related to long-term morbidity. Across specialties, we noted inconsistencies in the use and meaning of terms like ‘intact survival.’ More tools and training are needed to improve the quality and consistency of periviable risk-communication.
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    Content counts, but context makes the difference in developing expertise: a qualitative study of how residents learn end of shift handoffs
    (BMC, 2018-11-03) Rattray, Nicholas A.; Ebright, Patricia; Flanagan, Mindy E.; Militello, Laura G.; Barach, Paul; Franks, Zamal; Rehman, Shakaib U.; Gordon, Howard S.; Frankel, Richard M.; Anthropology, School of Liberal Arts
    BACKGROUND: Handoff education is both formal and informal and varies widely across medical school and residency training programs. Despite many efforts to improve clinical handoffs, little evidence has shown meaningful improvement. The objective of this study was to identify residents' perspectives and develop a deeper understanding on the necessary training to conduct safe and effective patient handoffs. METHODS: A qualitative study focused on the analysis of cognitive task interviews targeting end-of-shift handoff experiences with 35 residents from three geographically dispersed VA facilities. The interview data were analyzed using an iterative, consensus-based team approach. Researchers discussed and agreed on code definitions and corresponding case examples. Grounded theory was used to analyze the transcripts. RESULTS: Although some residents report receiving formal training in conducting handoffs (e.g., medical school coursework, resident boot camp/workshops, and handoff debriefing), many residents reported that they were only partially prepared for enacting them as interns. Experiential, practice-based learning (i.e., giving handoffs, covering night shift to match common issues to handoff content) was identified as the most suited and beneficial for delivering effective handoff training. Six skills were described as critical to learning effective handoffs: identifying pertinent information, providing anticipatory guidance, applying acquired clinical knowledge, being concise, incorporating delivery strategies, and appreciating the styles/preferences of handoff recipients. CONCLUSIONS: Residents identified the immersive performance and the experience of covering night shifts as the most important aspects of learning to execute effective handoffs. Formal education alone can miss the critical role of real-time sense-making throughout the process of handing off from one trainee to another. Interventions targeting senior resident mentoring and night shift could positively influence the cognitive and performance capacity for safe, effective handoffs.