Effect of intervention on a quality measure of pain management at Medstar Washington Cancer Institute. 

 -  2013 
<br/><br/>Available online from MWHC library: 1999 - present, Available in print through MWHC library: 1999 - 2008 
<br/><br/> 144 Background: Medstar Washington Cancer Institute (MWCI) has participated in Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI) since 2008. Adherence to pain assessment and intensity documentation was high, but lower in plan of care for moderate/severe pain documentation (69%, compared to QOPI aggregate of 79%) during the fall 2011 round. One potential explanation for the discrepancy was lack of communication between the nursing staff assessing the pain and the physician treating pain. We hypothesized that the use of pain card can improve the communication between nurses and doctors, as well as prompt physicians to document the plan of care for moderate/severe pain.  CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates pain card improved communication between nurse and physician resulting improved documentation of pain by physician. [Table: see text].  METHODS: MWCI created a team of physicians, nurses, quality resources, and administrative staff in December 2011. We abstracted up to 10 patients charts per oncologist for those patientswho reported moderate to severe pain (pain score of more than 3 of 10 on numeric rating scale) each quarter during 2012.We used data for quarter 1 and 2 as a baseline. We implemented the use of pain card by nurses to report pain for these patients to the physician in quarter 3 and 4. Chi square test was used to compare documentation rate in the first two quarters and last two quarters.  RESULTS: The total number of charts evaluated, pain documentation as well as confidence intervals for each quarter are shown in the table. Our results show significant improvement in pain documentation by physician in last two quarters compared to first two quarters ( p = 0.0007). 
<br/><br/><br/>English 
<br/><br/><label>ISSN: </label>0732-183X 
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Topical Terms: </label><br/>IN PROCESS -- NOT YET INDEXED
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Geographic Terms: </label><br/>MedStar Washington Hospital Center<br/>Washington Cancer Institute
<br/><br/><label>Index Terms--Occupation: </label><br/>Quality Management
<br/><br/><label>Index Terms--Function: </label><br/>Journal Article