Improving quality of preventive care at a student-run free clinic

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 8; no. 11; p. e81441
• Main Authors: Butala, Neel M, Chang, Harry, Horwitz, Leora I, Bartlett, Mary, Ellis, Peter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 21.11.2013; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adult; Ambulatory Care Facilities; Blood glucose; Cervical cancer; Cervix; Charts; Clinics; Community; Curricula; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus; Dyslipidemia; Fasting; Female; Guidelines; Health care; Health education; Health screening; Health services; HIV tests; Humans; Intervention; Laboratory testing; Low income groups; Male; Mass Screening; Medical research; Medical schools; Medical screening; Medical tests; Metabolic disorders; Middle Aged; Patient care; Patients; Physical Examination; Physicians; Preventive Health Services - standards; Preventive medicine; Primary care; Primary Health Care - standards; Quality; Quality Improvement; Socioeconomics; Students; Students, Medical; Systematic review; Teams; Uninsured people; Volunteers; Womens health; Young Adult; United States > US; Connecticut
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0081441

Student-run clinics increasingly serve as primary care providers for patients of lower socioeconomic status, but studies show that quality of care at student-run clinics has room for improvement. To examine change in provision of preventive services in a student-run free clinic after implementation of a student-led QI intervention involving prompting. Review of patient charts pre- and post-intervention, examining adherence to screening guidelines for diabetes, dyslipidemia, HIV, and cervical cancer. Adherence to guidelines among eligible patients increased after intervention in 3 of 4 services examined. Receipt of HIV testing increased from 33% (80/240) to 48% (74/154; p = 0.004), fasting lipid panel increased from 53% (46/86) to 72% (38/53; p = 0.033), and fasting blood glucose increased from 59% (27/46) to 82% (18/22; p = 0.059). This student-run free clinic implemented a student-led QI intervention that increased provision of prevention. Such a model for QI could extend to other student-run clinics nationally.