Please select the eligibility criteria that correspond to the clinical trial below.
Title: IATROREF III: a Multifaceted Program for Improving Quality of Care in Critically Ill Patients
Brief Summary: Medical errors that affect patient safety have generated huge concern since the publication of "To Err Is Human" 6 years ago \[1\]. Given the complexity of management in the intensive care unit (ICU) and the nature of human activities, critically ill patients are exposed to adverse events (AEs) induced by medical errors. A large number of studies have focused on AEs and medical errors in ICUs \[2-6\], one of their main goals being to identify strategies for preventing AEs and thereby improving patient outcomes. Choosing the best AE to serve as an indicator for the risk of medical error is challenging. In 2005, our group conducted a systematic literature review and presented the results to 30 national experts with clinical backgrounds in internal, emergency, and intensive care medicine. Using the Delphi technique, these experts selected 14 AEs that had the following characteristics: high frequency, easy and reproducible definition, association with morbidity and mortality, and ease of reporting without fear of punishment (Iatroref I study) (ref abstract). These AEs were used in a French multicenter study (75 ICUs) for a weeklong incidence evaluation (Iatroref II study) (ref abstract). Preliminary evaluation of the results allowed us to choose the following AEs for the current Iatroref III study: error in insulin administration, error in anticoagulant administration, error in anticoagulant prescription, unplanned extubation, and unplanned removal of central venous catheter. Evidence suggests that guidelines alone without reinforcing strategies may be insufficient to change provider behavior and that the most effective interventions may be multifaceted rather than single-component strategies (\[7\]). This study will test a composite intervention program. The objectives of the study are to determine whether the introduction of a composite intervention program decreases the predefined AEs.

Study hypothesis: The intervention program will decrease the incidence of the predefined AEs.


Options:
A: Inclusion/exclusion criteria are based on practice characteristics. Practices are considered the study participants. However, because of the individual nature of the intervention tool, individual healthcare providers in the participating practices will be asked to participate voluntarily in the intervention and data collection. We anticipate approximately 320 healthcare providers to be included in these 64 practices. The research study will not directly intervene on patients of participating healthcare providers. However, patient charts will be assessed to evaluate changes in the practice's screening and management behaviors. Patient records will be included in this project in proportion to patient representation in participating primary care practices in NC and in proportion to their rates of cholesterol screening.

Potentially eligible patients for the chart abstraction sample will be adults, ages 21 through 84 years, seen in the participating primary care practices during the baseline (July 1, 2001 - June 30, 2003) or follow-up (March 1, 2004 - February 28, 2006) periods. We are examining two-year periods to increase the proportion of patients that has been screened. We can include "year 0" (July 1, 2001 - June 30, 2002), because ATPIII was published in May 2001. Although the guidelines do not exclude persons older than 84 years, at present we propose to restrict the evaluation sample to the aforementioned age group, due to acknowledged controversies regarding the appropriate preventive strategies in the very old.

Practice Inclusion Criteria:

Primary Care Practices (Internal Medicine or Family Medicine) Within 3-hour driving radius of WFUSM At least 50% of practice's providers willing to participate in study Willingness to accept randomization assignment Willingness to participate in chart audit Have a computer suitable for connectivity with the PDAs for installation of software upgrades and for printing of patient-specific reports for medical record documentation purposes

Practice Exclusion Criteria:

Academic practices

Provider Inclusion Criteria:

Practicing healthcare provider affiliated with a primary care practice participating in GLAD Heart.

Willingness to participate

Provider Exclusion Criteria:

None

Potentially eligible patients for the chart abstraction sample will be adults, ages 21 through 84 years, seen in the participating primary care practices during the baseline (July 1, 2001 - June 30, 2003) or follow-up (March 1, 2004 - February 28, 2006) periods. We are examining two-year periods to increase the proportion of patients that has been screened. We can include "year 0" (July 1, 2001 - June 30, 2002), because ATPIII was published in May 2001. Although the guidelines do not exclude persons older than 84 years, at present we propose to restrict the evaluation sample to the aforementioned age group, due to acknowledged controversies regarding the appropriate preventive strategies in the very old.
B: Inclusion Criteria:

* Randomized, controlled subjects were VA inpatient rehabilitation teams. Secondary data included telephone surveys from discharged patients treated by the rehabilitation teams.

Exclusion Criteria:

* VA sites which did not submit data to the VA-FSOD - the national functional outcomes database
C: Inclusion Criteria:

* patients hospitalised in ICU

Exclusion Criteria:

* age under 18 years
D: Inclusion Criteria:

* family physicians in Ontario who have signed data sharing agreements with the CCORT-ICES EMR team

Exclusion Criteria:

* specializing in an area (such as palliative care) where general guidelines do not apply

Answer: C