Dana Kellis

Healthcare costs continue to increase dramatically, while quality remains a significant problem. Reform measures adopted by Congress will fuel expansion of these costs, further stressing taxpayers and employers and forcing hospitals to adopt transformational changes as they adjust to increased demands for services and shrinking reimbursement. Cost control and quality improvement can be achieved through increased competition or greater government intervention. Competition will require unpalatable changes to the healthcare system to decrease costs without further restricting access or decreasing quality. Increased government intervention will result in changes to reimbursement and hospital-physician relations and increased demands for improved care. To improve cost and quality while preserving increased access, we advocate for a universal standard coverage of Americans; accountable healthcare system leadership; leverage of information resources to make utilization decisions and evalua...

Over a decade ago, Dr. Robin expressed concern regarding overdiagnosis and overtreatment of pulmonary embolism. Since that time, significant advances have been forthcoming in the diagnosis and treatment of venous thromboembolic disease. Using Continuous Quality Improvement concepts, this study revisits Robin's concerns and assesses the conformance of clinical practice at one institution with established requirements for the diagnosis and treatment of venous thromboembolic disease to identify remaining opportunities to improve care. The study design is a retrospective chart review. Medical records of all patients (N = 63) discharged from a university-affiliated teaching hospital from 7/1/89 to 6/30/90 with a diagnosis of primary venous thromboembolic disease were studied. Requirements for the diagnosis and treatment were established through review of the medical literature. Conformance to these requirements was assessed and described. Descriptive statistics were used. Only 7 of 63 charts (11%) met all requirements for the diagnosis and treatment of venous thromboembolic disease. Fifty-six charts (89%) failed to meet at least one criterion. There was no evidence of overdiagnosis of venous thromboembolic disease in patients with a discharge diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (N = 17). Eight of 62 patients (13%) demonstrated potential overdiagnosis of venous thromboembolic disease involving the lower extremities. Nine of 60 (15%) heparin therapies demonstrated significant nonconformance to recommendations. Fifty-four of 59 (91%) warfarin therapies failed to conform to recommendations. Eighty-three percent of these warfarin errors were considered to be technical. However, 17% were determined to be clinically significant. Of 5 patients treated with a transvenous filter device, 1 failed to meet therapeutic requirements. No patients received thrombolytic therapy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)