American College of Emergency Physicians
E-QUAL News Updates
The Emergency Quality Network (E-QUAL) recently published two white papers in the JACEP Open and the American Journal of Emergency Medicine.
Little academic investigation has been done to describe emergency department (ED) practice structure and quality improvement activities. The objective was to describe staffing, payment mechanisms, and quality improvement activities among EDs in a nationwide quality improvement network and also stratify results to descriptively compare:
- Single‐versus multi‐site EDs
- Small‐group versus large‐group EDs
The research showed that among EDs in E‐QUAL, staffing, payment, and quality improvement activities are similar between single‐ and multi‐site EDs. Group‐level analysis suggests that practice structure may influence adoption of quality improvement strategies. Future work is needed to further evaluate practice structure and its influence on quality improvement activities and quality.
The objective was to characterize performance among ED sites participating in the E-QUAL Avoidable Imaging Initiative for clinical targets on the American College of Emergency Physicians Choosing Wisely list. Early data from the E-QUAL Avoidable Imaging Initiative suggests QI interventions could potentially improve imaging stewardship and reduce low-value care. Further efforts to translate the Choosing Wisely recommendations into practice should promote data-driven benchmarking and learning collaboratives to achieve sustained practice improvement.
For more information on E-QUAL visit www.acep.org/equal or contact the E-QUAL team at equal@acep.org.
