Johns Hopkins and AANP Lead Evidence-based Performance Improvement Initiative to Deliver Tangible Benefits in Constipation Treatment & Outcomes

Business Wire, Oct 6, 2008

Johns Hopkins & American Academy of Nurse Practitioners launch results-driven program to address doctors' performance gaps and improve patient care

NEW YORK CITY -- The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) today announced the launch of the Performance Improvement component of the Educational Initiative on Constipation (EIC) at the Collective Clinical Forum: EIC, a satellite symposium that took place during the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) annual meeting on October 5, 2008, in Orlando, Fla. The evidence-based, participatory performance improvement activity enables healthcare providers to apply performance measures related to constipation to their current practice and then assess their performance for significant care delivery improvements according to outcomes-based metrics.

"The Performance Improvement activity, a core element of the EIC, allows gastroenterologists, primary care physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants to learn established best practices for treating chronic constipation (CC) and irritable bowel syndrome-constipation (IBS-C) through a collaborative, multi-interventional process that includes webcasts, live meetings, symposia, broadcasts and other learning modalities," said Mark Donowitz, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Physiology, the LeBoff Professor for Research in Digestive Diseases at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and past president of the American Gastroenterological Association Institute, and EIC Course Director. "As a result, participants will be able to successfully implement performance changes to their own practice, resulting in improved patient diagnosis, treatment and quality of life."

The six-month Performance Improvement activity is designed to enhance the quality of patient care by implementing the following strategies:

* Allow healthcare providers to obtain a "snapshot" of their current practice patterns

* Leverage tools and resources based on Rome III criteria to improve the quality of care delivered

* Reevaluate practice and providers post-program for measurable trends based on their performance

In 2006, the Rome Foundation issued the Rome III criteria to establish symptom-based diagnostic criteria for functional gastrointestinal disorders, including chronic constipation and IBS-C, due to a lack of diagnostic biologic markers. However, this diagnostic criteria still has not yet reached many providers, contributing significantly to patients being misdiagnosed or underdiagnosed, adversely affecting their quality of life.

"This national program is the first of its kind to offer healthcare providers the opportunity to participate in an evidence-based, multidisciplinary activity leading to measurable changes in their practice and in patient outcomes," said Julia Pallentino, M.S.N., J.D., A.R.N.P. at GI Associates of Tallahassee, an active member of the AANP. "The Performance Improvement activity aligns with both the Rome III clinical criteria and the American Board of Medical Specialties' (ABS) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) criteria, supplying providers with the knowledge to comply with these professional guidelines."

The Performance Improvement activity launched during the ACG annual meeting at the Collective Clinical Forum on October 5, 2008, at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. The Collective Clinical Forum is a satellite symposium that is neither sponsored nor endorsed by the ACG. The EIC course directors and co-chairs of the Collective Clinical Forum include Mark Donowitz, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Physiology, Director of the Hopkins Center for Epithelial Disorders, LeBoff Professor for Research in Digestive Diseases, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md. and Henry Parkman, M.D., Director, Gastrointestinal Motility Laboratory Director, Temple Clinical Research Unit Chair, Research Committee, Department of Medicine, Professor of Medicine, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pa.

Participants in the Performance Improvement activity may qualify for additional AMA PRA Category 1 Credits[TM] through the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, as well as continuing education credit through the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. The program is supported by an educational grant from Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Takeda Pharmaceuticals of North America, Inc. For more information or to register, visit www.hopkinscme.edu/ofp/eic or call 908-253-9001.

As part of the broader EIC program, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has launched the Award for Clinical Excellence (ACE(TM)) program. This professional award recognizes physicians, physician groups, nurse practitioners and physician assistants who have demonstrated expanded knowledge, skills and attitudes, as well as improved care and positive results for patients with chronic constipation and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) with constipation (IBS-C) as a result of their participation in the JHU and AANP EIC initiative.