Dr. Wald joined the faculty at the University of Colorado Denver (UCD) as an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Divisions of Health Care Policy Research and General Internal Medicine in January 2007. Dr. Wald is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Geriatric Medicine. In addition Dr. Wald has completed a NRSA Primary Care Research Fellowship and an MSPH degree at UCD. Dr. Wald's work on catheter- associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) led to the development of a performance measure endorsed by the National Quality Forum. Dr. Wald's long term career goal is to become an independent investigator focused on patient safety for the hospitalized older adult. Her immediate goals are to 1) develop a framework in which to study evidence-based interventions for CAUTIs;2) obtain additional methodologic expertise with formal coursework;3) participate in related patient safety research for hospitalized older adults;and 4) confine to participate in the care of hospitalized older adults at the University of Colorado Hospital. The patient safety movement has revitalized efforts to reduce the hazards of hospitalization for older adults. This proposal seeks to create a framework to study evidence-based interventions to reduce the hazards of hospitalization using the CAUTI as a prototype. We will first develop a surveillance methodology and use it to measure the effectiveness audit and feedback of catheter duration on medical inpatients at the University of Colorado Hospital. Then, we will test the effectiveness of audit and feedback of catheter duration in multiple hospitals recruited from Nurses Improving the Care of Hospitalized Elders (NICHE). Dr. Wald's research office is in the Division of Health Care Policy Research which houses 45 health services researchers dedicated to studying health care quality in the older population. Dr. Wald's mentor is Andrew Kramer, MD, Professor of Medicine, Chief of the Division of Health Care Policy Research. Co- mentorship will be provided by Dr. Elizabeth Capezuti, Professor of Nursing at New York University, and Dr. Peter Lindenauer, Associate Professor of Medicine at Tufts University. Dr. Wald will work closely with several methodologic consultants.

Public Health Relevance

(See Instructions): The patient safety movement has resulted in unprecedented scrutiny of preventable adverse events in hospitals. One example is Medicare's recent policy of non-payment for """"""""hospital-acquired harms."""""""" Also known as hazards of hospitalization, these events were once largely ignored outside of the geriatrics community. The broad goal of this proposal is to create a framework for the study of evidence-based interventions for the hazards of hospitalization for older adults.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Type
Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23)
Project #
5K23AG034544-02
Application #
7929887
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZAG1-ZIJ-4 (M1))
Program Officer
Eldadah, Basil A
Project Start
2009-09-15
Project End
2013-08-31
Budget Start
2010-09-01
Budget End
2011-08-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2010
Total Cost
$118,895
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Colorado Denver
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
041096314
City
Aurora
State
CO
Country
United States
Zip Code
80045
Wald, Heidi L; Leykum, Luci K; Mattison, Melissa L P et al. (2015) A patient-centered research agenda for the care of the acutely ill older patient. J Hosp Med 10:318-27
Wald, Heidi L; Bandle, Brian; Richard, Angela A et al. (2014) A Trial of electronic surveillance feedback for quality improvement at Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders (NICHE) hospitals. Am J Infect Control 42:S250-6
Wald, Heidi L; Bandle, Brian; Richard, Angela A et al. (2014) Implementation of electronic surveillance of catheter use and catheter-associated urinary tract infection at Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders (NICHE) hospitals. Am J Infect Control 42:S242-9
Wald, Heidi L; Leykum, Luci K; Mattison, Melissa L P et al. (2014) Road map to a patient-centered research agenda at the intersection of hospital medicine and geriatric medicine. J Gen Intern Med 29:926-31
Fink, Regina; Gilmartin, Heather; Richard, Angela et al. (2012) Indwelling urinary catheter management and catheter-associated urinary tract infection prevention practices in Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders hospitals. Am J Infect Control 40:715-20
Wald, Heidi L (2012) Prevention of hospital-acquired geriatric syndromes: applying lessons learned from infection control. J Am Geriatr Soc 60:364-6
Wald, Heidi; Richard, Angela; Dickson, Victoria Vaughan et al. (2012) Chief nursing officers' perspectives on Medicare's hospital-acquired conditions non-payment policy: implications for policy design and implementation. Implement Sci 7:78