Acute Flaccid Paralysis Accompanying West Nile Meningitis Ahmed ...
Acute Flaccid Paralysis Accompanying West Nile Meningitis Ahmed ...
Acute Flaccid Paralysis Accompanying West Nile Meningitis Ahmed ...
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Benefits Of Resident-Researched Resource Manual In An Outpatient Resident Clinic- A<br />
Survey Based Quality Improvement Project<br />
Jasolosky, E, D.O., Johnson, M, D.O., Manyan, J, D.O.<br />
Kent Hospital, Warwick, RI<br />
Introduction: One of the great challenges for a resident entering a family medicine residency<br />
program in a new area is quickly developing familiarity with local resources and ancillary services<br />
available to deliver the best care possible to their patient panel. Being a relatively new residency<br />
program our continuity clinic has limited resources and no personnel with training in resource<br />
counseling. As family practice interns entering a suburban program practice in Rhode Island with<br />
no dedicated on site social services or coordinated care support, our research focused on<br />
improving access to those resources. Historically, residency practices tend to have more chronic<br />
illnesses and less health insurance than the larger population. We hope to be communityresponsive<br />
primary care providers with the ability to see the socio-cultural needs of the patient<br />
and connect them with community health resources as this is a method of training recognized to<br />
help create physicians capable of serving underserved populations. Providing patients with more<br />
health education material and greater access to care also improves their quality of care.<br />
Methods: Our initial investigation involved our local health department to determine if there was<br />
a consolidated resource available; there was no single resource to be found. We set out to<br />
create a resource manual to be used in the family and internal medicine residency practice to aid<br />
residents and attendings in connecting patients with appropriate resources as well as decreasing<br />
time to find these materials. A pre and post development survey was conducted of the family<br />
medicine and internal medicine residents, attendings, and staff members of our outpatient office.<br />
Results: Of those questioned, it was felt that patients would be happier if their physician was<br />
more resourceful and that more than half surveyed felt their current knowledge was inadequate to<br />
guide their patients with resources. Most people felt they did not know enough about resources<br />
for the elderly, pediatrics, uninsured, pain management, victims of abuse, or other free services.<br />
The majority of people surveyed felt that a consolidated resource manual would help them be<br />
better providers. The post survey was performed 6 weeks after the pre survey and all<br />
participants felt that a trained personnel would be of most benefit to the practice compared to a<br />
written manual.<br />
Conclusion: Our desire to improve what we saw as a gap in care for our patients was driven by<br />
a need for improved access to resource identification and utilization. The identification of<br />
healthcare support services and disease management as crucial to improving the health of the<br />
general population has spurred federal and local investment in these services in several<br />
communities and pilot studies. However, many primary care providers still do not have the<br />
financial ability to access resource experts. A manual that is easy to access has proven helpful,<br />
though not ideal, in our office setting. Moving forward other point of care resources that we see<br />
as helpful to develop and investigate would be a mobile smartphone application that would<br />
provide a similar service on a very local level. The need for health care and human resources is<br />
an international one, with studies showing that the more resources for health, the lower the<br />
morbidity and mortality for patients. We hope that in creating this resource manual we will<br />
improve our care of, and the health and wellness of our patients.