Epilepsy can profoundly impact a person’s quality of life due to physical, social, and psychological consequences. Quality of life is partly dependent on seizure frequency, but is also impacted by other factors, such as overall health status, intellectual and physical functioning, side effects from antiseizure medications, and social factors like employment and marital status.1 Screening for quality of life should occur at every outpatient appointment. This performance improvement project will detail why screening for quality of life is important, increase knowledge on validated quality of life screening tools available for the epilepsy patient population, and assist the participant in creating interventions to improve baseline of screening using quality improvement methodologies.
This is a self-directed, web-based activity designed to help you evaluate the delivery of care in your clinical setting. The activity will take a minimum of 40-45 days to complete. The activity is comprised of 3 stages:
Stage A - Perform 10 chart reviews, evaluate, and reflect on results of the chart audit, and self-identify areas for improvement.
Stage B - Based on the results of Stage A, review the learning content and tools to develop and implement a plan to:
Ensure documentation is in patient charts that:
1) a proper* medical plan is in place,
2) a screening instrument for quality of life was completed,
3) the provider acknowledges the information from the instrument, and
4) a plan is in place for improvement or to address concerns (if applicable). *Proper medical plan describes the steps being taken to address concerns if any are identified in the quality-of-life screening ***Note: You must wait 30 days from completing all content in Stage B and implement the plan before you can begin Stage C.
Stage C- Evaluate the impact of your plan and perform a second chart review for 10 patients seen after your plan implementation.