The processes of Ongoing Professional Practice Evaluation (OPPE) and Focused Professional Practice Evaluation (FPPE) are parts of a program introduced in 2007 by the Joint Commission (JCAHO) to make the decision of privileging by hospital management an objective and ongoing process. In addition, OPPE and FPPE offer important guidelines that cardiac cath lab management can actively implement to support performance improvement initiatives. In his blog, Paul Ziaya, MD, the Field Director for JCAHO, points out that OPPE metrics can be segmented for focused improvement. Dr. Ziaya provides the example of examining post-op infection rates, to evaluate practices and provide a baseline for data collection to support future programs aimed to lower infection rates.
In his article, Dr. Ziaya notes that providing data to individual physicians (especially when matched to peer or benchmark data) results in improved physician engagement in using the data for self-evaluation and practice modification. He notes that institutions which provide ongoing data access have found that many physicians will review their own data on a regular basis and begin the process of making changes to their practices on their own.
In addition, Dr. Ziaya writes that most physicians will make necessary changes when presented with data showing they are not performing at the same level as their peers. He notes that some practitioners (hopefully a small percentage) do not take appropriate action, even after reviewing the OPPE feedback. Hospitals can utilize OPPE and FPPE processes in these cases to provide records and tools for making necessary privileging decisions.
ACE provides the tools for healthcare institutions to collect meaningful data to support OPPE and FPPE over the long term. Our Quality Review program is a catalyst for positive change that is critical to the Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) effort. ACE can customize its Quality Review services with a collaborative, success-focused approach that engages the full cardiac cath lab team.