OUT OF COMMITTEE | OREBM and PSQI

Research and Quality staff support the work of the Outcomes Research and Evidence-Based Medicine (OREBM) and the Patient Safety Quality Improvement (PSQI) Committees, which continue their highly productive work contributing research, publications, and Annual Meeting Panel Presentations designed to assist members in all areas of practice. Both OREBM and PSQI are 2022 recipients of Committee of Excellence Award.

OREBM

The OREBM Committee continues to excel in its charge to cultivate a repository of expertise on health services research, evidence-based medicine, and outcomes/effectiveness research in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery. During the 2021-2022 year, the committee has been prolific in generating Annual Meeting Panel Presentations and Expert Lectures, Academy articles, and published contributions to Otolaryngology–Head Neck Surgery. The OREBM Committee maintains and expands a prioritized list of ongoing and future project areas for high-impact research and state-of-the-art reviews. The committee curates the best evidence on outcomes and clinical effectiveness and also advises and supports other Academy and Foundation committees. OREBM liaisons with the PSQI Committee on clinical practice guidelines, welcomes collaboration with Reg-ent^SM, and also develops education materials.

Building on these core efforts, OREBM launched three strategic priorities during the past year:

1. To grow diverse future leaders in OREBM through purposeful inclusion and engagement of women and individuals from underrepresented communities in otolaryngology, enhancing the diversity of authors of all scholarly works.
2. To enhance cross-pollination between AAO-HNS/F committees through intentional outreach and collaboration, beginning with the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, PSQI Committee, Medical Devices and Drugs Committee, and CORE.
3. To catalyze productivity of early career, aspiring NIH-funded investigators in otolaryngology by building a learning community across the career continuum to scaffold research efforts. 

Amid the successive waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, the OREBM Committee forged new collaborations and reinforced existing ones. The strategic priorities above underscore the value of AAO-HNS members as our most precious asset. The OREBM Committee orchestrates projects that not only generate evidence but also enhance our specialty’s human capital and capabilities. The committee places a premium on nurturing potential and celebrates the intangible value of growing strong and deepening relationships—both within the committee and by partnering with other committees in 2021-2022 and beyond. Committees are the lifeblood of the AAO-HNS/F, and OREBM Committee members have drawn on deep reserves of energy and talent to advance the art, science, and ethical practice of otolaryngology.

PSQI

The PSQI Committee remains an active and engaged committee with members focusing on assisting and directing their fellow members on myriad patient safety and quality issues, which are then applied as best practices within the AAO-HNS/F and throughout both member and nonmember institutions. Each year there are dozens of members applying to be new members of this highly sought-after committee.

The PSQI Committee had a prolific response to the Call for Science with 19 submissions and seven joint submissions, with 21 accepted for presentation. The committee has made it a goal to work together with other committees and has always sought to engage younger physicians in presentations at each Annual Meeting, and, this year specifically, focused on increasing alliances with a diverse group of practitioners in gender and race and partnered with the Diversity and Inclusion Committee on improving patient access to underserved patient populations. 

Each PSQI meeting throughout the year began with discussion of an institutional best practice or safety/quality story. The topics were the role of an Associate Chief Patient Experience Officer at MD Anderson Cancer Center, which oversees patient advocacy, and the launch of a TeamSTEPPS educational initiative across an institution’s Surgical Care Line Team in coordination with the Department of Quality and Safety. 

The committee has continued to provide Bulletin articles on timely topics of interest and did so throughout 2021 with the following articles: 

• Improving Safety by Studying Why Things Go Terribly Right 
• Equitable Head and Neck Cancer Care
• Fostering Wellness through Intentionality and Community.

Multiple journal articles were published on safest and highest quality care for tracheostomy delivery in the COVID-19 pandemic, including publishing in Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Lancet Respiratory, and Head and Neck journals. The committee submitted the COVID-19 Anosmia Reporting Tool: Subsequent Findings, an article summarizing final results of the anosmia survey to add the test status of the subject in April 2020 and to provide edited wording of questions and instructions to encourage patient self-reporting. 

The PSQI Committee continues to be at the forefront of committee work for the AAO-HNS/F, with a highly engaged membership pursuing quality and safety goals to guide the future direction.