QI proposal for Team B

Ok, I haven't talked with team B yet but this is what I have so far....plenty of room for improvement but I think could be nicely done....

Mirko.

QI research project proposal x Team B

Clinical question:
Does early recognition and patient awareness improves the outcome in newly diagnosed metabolic syndrome patients?


Hypothesis:
Early diagnosis and patient awareness of metabolic syndrome and it's long term implications could potentially lead to a significant decrease in cardiovascular risk factors (Primary endpoint) and improvement of quality measurement values i.e HbA1c, LDL, BP, etc. (Secondary endpoint)


Methods:
Not clear yet but this is what I was thinking.

1. Population determination: First we would have to decide if we want to work with newly diagnosed MS (metabolic syndrome) patients or instead make a chart review from year X to year Z and after that contact the patients. Also consider variables such as sex, age, etc.

2. After we have the population defined, we could create 2 big groups of patients, one of those groups(if ethical, yet to be determined)will attend to a single "professional scary session" where we show them slide of cases of end stage renal disease, advanced DM etc. and the other group of patients we just do what we regularly do on a health maintenance visit; we mention to them that they meet criteria for MS and that they should make lifestyle changes( i.e. exercise and diet). Other option could consist of putting together a Power Point Slide set for patient education, showing the natural progress and terrible outcomes of MS if not addressed on time. This PP would have to be peer–reviewed and considered a standarized tool that later on we could all use and show to the patients, so at the same time with this study we could potentially validate such tool.?

3. We follow all those patients on 15 minute appointments at 3, 6 and 9 months (those could essentially be nurse only visits?) where we check specifically BP, waist circumference, weight & height (we could include other variables here too, but the idea is too keep it simple so is easy and affordable). Another approach to these follow up visits could be introducing a short questionnaire asking about physical activity changes, dietary changes, etc.

4. After 6-12 months (we would have to define time frame) we check all the data gathered and hopefully we will see some improvement on our study variables, or not, as well as on quality improvement variables and overall patient condition.