MedStar Georgetown University Hospital / MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital, Washington, DC
Experiential Process Improvement Curriculum (EPIC)

Abstract

Background: We recognized the need for a comprehensive, sustainable experiential PI curriculum (EPIC) for our residency program that enables multiple quality projects. Our team's goal was to create an interactive QI curriculum that matches residents with attending physicians needing to complete a PI project for maintenance of certification (MOC). Curriculum projects will satisfy ABPMR MOC-4 for attending physicians, as well as ACGME Residency Review Committee requirements.

Methods: The team distributed a needs assessment survey to all inpatient attending physicians. Each physician who participated in our pilot curriculum was matched with a group of residents. Together they were to be led through an interactive online QI curriculum using Moodle, group meetings, and the PDSA framework.

Results: Per the initial needs assessment, 75% of respondents had not completed the MOC-4 requirement because they were not sure what to do with regard to PI methodology, 50% were not sure what to do with regard to MOC-4 requirements, and 37.5% were not able to find time in their schedules to complete the requirement. Although we saw clear interest in the project from both attending physicians and residents, we encountered a barrier to curriculum implementation in coordinating participant schedules and organizing the curriculum. Positive unintended consequences included increased awareness of the need for QI and its requirement for MOC.

Conclusions: We plan to fulfill our goals in the next few months after implementation of our online curriculum. We believe that enabling attending physicians to complete their required MOC PI project via this course will help sustain this initiative. As the participating groups complete the stages of EPIC, we expect to see a number of PI projects completed and several needed adjustments to our facility.