Preliminary evaluation of the impact of TeamSTEPPS® training on hospital quality indicators

Previously, the authors have shown that ratings of teamwork behaviors on a hospital unit using the TeamSTEPPS® Performance Observation Tool (T-TPO) significantly improved after a TeamSTEPPS® training intervention for all unit faculty and care team members. The University Healthsystem Consortium (UHC) Clinical Database/Resource Manager was used to examine the impact of the TeamSTEPPS® training on quality/safety measures. Using the database, the authors compared quality indicator values each month for 10-months prior to and through 1-year after the intervention on the unit using a basic interrupted time-series (A-B) design. Permutation tests were used after testing and controlling for autocorrelation to determine whether significant changes occurred across a battery of UHC quality indicators pre-to post-TeamSTEPPS® training on the unit. Significant improvements were observed in mean hospital length-of-stay, number of length-of-stay outliers, mortality index, and the mean number of cases with complications following the TeamSTEPPS® training.