Adherence to Epilepsy Quality Measures Among Neurologists and Epileptologists in a Tertiary Care Hospital
Salma Bashayreh1, Omar Zihlif2, Ahmed Yassin2, Mohammad Alhazaimeh4, Ghaith Al Azzeh2, Abdelkader Khattab2, Marwan Shoman2, Omar Khanfar2, Shoroq Manasra2, Heba Okour3, Khalid Kheirallah2, Khalid El-Salem2
1Neurology, Jordan University of science and technology, 2Jordan University of Science and Technology, 3Public Health, Jordan University of Science and Technology, 4Al Yarmouk University
Objective:
1. Determine compliance with the American Academy of Neurology epilepsy quality measures. 2. Identifying the least compliant measures to implement tools needed to drive performance improvement in epilepsy care.
3. Explore whether the involvement of an epileptologists was associated with better adherence to epilepsy quality measures and superior patient care.
Background:

Epilepsy is a common neurologic condition with significant personal, societal, medical, and economic burdens. There are considerable gaps in the quality of care delivered to epilepsy patients.  We aim to examine adherence to the revised epilepsy quality indicators in a single tertiary hospital.

Design/Methods:

Electronic charts of adults (18 years and older), with an established diagnosis of epilepsy, who receive their medical care at King Abdullah University Hospital in Jordan between Jan,2022-Jan,2023 were reviewed. Quality care was assessed as percent adherence to 6 updated eligible EQM.

Results:

This study investigated a total of 558 patients' records diagnosed with epilepsy (48.9% females, mean of age was 38.64 (SD=15.53)).  The overall compliance with the 2017 quality measures was suboptimal. The highest adherence was seizure type and frequency documentation (80%) and the least compliant measure was Comprehensive Epilepsy Center Referral or Discussion for Patients with Intractable Epilepsy (10%).

  • Compliance with other measures was as follows: Counseling for WWE (22%), Quality of Life Assessment for Patients with Epilepsy (18%), Depression and Anxiety Screening for Patients with Epilepsy (16%), Quality of Life Outcome for Patients with Epilepsy (13%).

In addition, epileptologists showed more compliance compared to neurologists across all measured variables. Of note, using epilepsy template note in clinic was more frequent in epileptologists group compared to neurologists. 

Conclusions:

Adherence to the 2017 Epilepsy Quality Measurement set among Neurologists and Epileptologists was NOT optimal, with will-defined discrepancies between these two groups. Future interventions should focus on health care provider education and improving documentation using epilepsy template note. 

10.1212/WNL.0000000000212075
Disclaimer: Abstracts were not reviewed by Neurology® and do not reflect the views of Neurology® editors or staff.