Moderator: Jake Magel, PhD, PT
Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common symptoms prompting a health care visit in the United States. Patients may receive escalated care such as advanced imaging or invasive procedures prior to guideline recommended options offered by physical therapists. A concordant alternative care pathway—RapidAccess--was implemented that emphasizes early physical therapy for patients with LBP prior to a consultation with a physiatrist. Faculty will discuss the collaboration between physical therapists and physiatrists in the University of Utah health care system, the principles of value driven health care, and quality improvement. Additional discussion will include the challenges of building a quality improvement infrastructure within a university-based outpatient physical therapy clinic as well as the challenges and lessons learned surrounding real-world implementation of the RapidAccess care pathway. The evaluation of implementing RapidAccess centered within a RE-AIM framework.
Upon completion of this session, participants should gain strategies to:
- Understand the principles of value-based health care, implementation science, and quality improvement;
- Understand the common challenges to building and sustaining quality improvement infrastructure;
- Understand the key elements in planning a quality improvement project;
- Understand the common challenges to implementation of projects aimed at improving patient centered outcomes.
Agenda
Principals of Quality Improvement
Anne Thackeray, PT, PhD, MPH
Creating a Quality Improvement Infrastructure
Kim Cohee, DPT, MS, MBA
Audience Participation: Share Smart Goals
Jake Magel, PhD, PT
Introduction of Rapid Access Program
Jake Magel, PhD, PT
Results of RapidAccess Program
Julie Fritz, PhD, PT
Frontline Clinician Experience (Physical Therapy and Physiatry)
Whitney Meier, DPT, OCS; Pamela Hansen, MD
Audience Participation: Share Challenges/Successes of Implementing Care Pathways
Jake Magel, PhD, PT