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CONTINUUM: measuring and managing the patient care process
P E Collins1, J R Skafel, D I Atkinson
1St. Thomas-Elgin General Hospital.
Healthcare Management Forum
|March 4, 1995
Summary
The CONTINUUM project uses a daily evaluation tool to assess patient care appropriateness and timeliness. This quality improvement initiative identifies care barriers and optimizes hospital resource use for better patient outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Healthcare Management
- Quality Improvement
- Patient Care Evaluation
Background:
- Managing patient care appropriateness, timeliness, and acceptability is crucial.
- Continuous improvement requires data-driven strategies.
- Community hospitals face challenges in optimizing care processes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the CONTINUUM project for concurrent patient care management.
- To implement a quality and data-driven approach for continuous improvement.
- To identify and stratify barriers to appropriate patient care.
Main Methods:
- Initiated the CONTINUUM project in a community hospital setting.
- Developed and applied a concurrent care plan evaluation tool daily.
- Utilized the ACTIVITY index to categorize patients as ACTIV (appropriate) or non-ACTIV (inappropriate).
Main Results:
- Identified practice patterns and hospital resource utilization.
- Stratified non-ACTIV patients by "barriers to care" (service, hospital, physician-related factors).
- Described operational dimensions (bedside, organization, community) and change process factors.
Conclusions:
- The CONTINUUM project provides a framework for real-time patient care assessment.
- This needs-based strategy facilitates rapid identification of care inefficiencies.
- The approach supports continuous quality improvement in hospital settings.