The Development and Implementation of a Reliable Method for Educating Provider Groups on Stroke Discharge Order Sets

THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A RELIABLE METHOD FOR EDUCATING PROVIDERS ON STROKE DISCHARGE ORDER SETS After receiving a comprehensive stroke certification from the Joint Commission, an academic tertiary care medical center created and revised 15 stroke order sets to ensure providers could easily place the correct orders for every stroke patient. Following certification, it was noted that there was inconsistent use of these order sets. This raised concerns that the process to treat a stroke patient may be delayed, creating serious potential risk for the patient. A goal of this performance improvement plan was to develop and implement a reliable, consistent and organized method for educating all provider groups on stroke order data within six months. Baseline metrics were collected to reflect the current state and a root cause analysis demonstrated the lack of educated providers in the use of stroke order sets. After implementing several countermeasures, data collected in the first four months has demonstrated a significant improvement in stroke order set utilization. To achieve the highest level of stroke certification, next steps include completing a KPI to effectively reach providers with education and work with medical chiefs to implement education of resident groups, physician assistants and advanced practice practitioners