Sample Narrative QI Report for Audiologists

Important aspect of care and service:

Timeliness of intervention for patients referred to the audiology clinic.

Indicators:

All acute and rehab inpatients referred for evaluation are seen within 48 hours.

Means to trigger evaluation:

100% compliance expected.

Collection and organization of data:

1. Data source: Clinical record
2. Data collection method: Retrospective

Evaluation:

Conducted in _________ (month/year).

Summary of results:

1. Sample size: 10 acute care patients were referred for evaluation and 5 rehab patients
2. Number of rehab patients seen:
   Within 48 hours: 5 (100%)
   > 48 hours: 0
3. Number of acute care patients seen:
   Within 48 hours: 9 (90%)
   > 48 hours: 1 (10%)

Problems noted/Analysis:

1. Patients referred from rehab service were all seen within 48 hours. Performance on this indicator was satisfactory.
2. All but 1 of the patients were referred from the acute care service were seen within 48 hours. The one patient not seen during this time was transferred to another service in the hospital prior within 24 hours of being admitted.

Proposed actions to improve care and service:

1. Audiology staff given in-service on follow up of patients referred for audiologic evaluations to confirm patient's presence on the acute care ward.
2. Audiology scheduling staff will contact ward morning of appointment.

Summary:

These results present a baseline from which to enhance the timeliness of scheduling patients referred from the acute care and rehab wards.

The above to be re-assessed in six months.

Respectfully submitted,

XYZ, CCC-A

Adapted from: Lynn, D. & Riquelme, L.F. (1997). Q.I. - The Easy Way: A Practical Guide for Developing Quality Improvement Programs. Glenmont, NY: New York State Speech-Language-Hearing Association.