Epilepsy Learning Healthcare System (ELHS)

Overview

The Epilepsy Learning Health System (ELHS) is a quality improvement and research network to improve outcomes for people with epilepsy. The ELHS is designed as a model of value-based chronic care for epilepsy as envisioned by the National Academies of Medicine Committee in their landmark reports "The Learning Health System" and "Epilepsy Across the Spectrum: Promoting Health and Understanding". The ELHS network is a collaboration among clinicians, patients and researchers that promotes the use of data for multiple purposes including one-on-one clinical care, population management, quality improvement and research. The ELHS Registry includes data on children and adults with epilepsy collected during the process of standard epilepsy care. These data are used to create population health reports and to track changes in outcomes over time. ELHS teams use quality improvement methods, such as Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles, to continuously learn how to improve care.

The Epilepsy Learning Healthcare System (ELHS; pronounced el-is) involves patients and families living with epilepsy, clinicians who provide epilepsy care (including pediatric and adult epileptologists, neurology nurses, and others), community services providers, as well as researchers with clinical research expertise in community-based, observational, interventional, implementation and dissemination studies. Each stakeholder agrees to work together to improve outcomes for people with epilepsy. NETWORK AIM The purpose of the network is to improve seizure control and quality of life for people with epilepsy through a learning healthcare system, in which clinical data are collected, analyzed, and rapidly disseminated to change practice. BACKGROUND Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder characterized by unprovoked seizures. Epidemiological data indicate that 10% of Americans will suffer at least one seizure at some point in their lives, and 1-2% of Americans have epilepsy. Active epilepsy affects 3.4 million Americans - currently estimated at 2.9 Million adults and around 460,000 children. At least 50% of the total population of individuals with epilepsy will have started having seizures at less than 20 years of age. More than half of U.S. adults with active epilepsy have high school diploma/GED or less education. Compared to the general public, people with epilepsy have higher rates of premature mortality, injury, cognitive impairment, depression, social isolation, and unemployment. In addition, there are health disparities (HD) in epilepsy that create worse health outcomes for individuals belonging to race/ethnicity minority groups or low-income households, those living in rural areas, and individuals with opposite or non-binary gender preferences. Epilepsy disparities result in worse mental health, more frequent emergency department visits, increased hospitalization rates, and increased risk of early death for these underserved groups. Epilepsy is not a single disease. Rather, it is a heterogeneous set of disorders with genetic and acquired etiologies. The diversity of seizure types, epilepsy syndromes, outcomes and etiologies, cannot be overstated. It is likely that the extreme heterogeneity of the epilepsies is at least partially responsible for slow progress towards meaningful treatment strategies to improve outcomes. For some, epilepsy is a manageable chronic illness -- affected individuals have risen to the highest echelons of professional success. However, for others, epilepsy is a devastating and progressive disease leading to cognitive regression and early death. Wide variations in epilepsy care delivery and clinical practice may also contribute to poor individual outcomes. The ELHS community will work towards its mission of improving outcomes for children and adults with Epilepsy by setting up a platform to support continuous and sustained improvement activities. The ELHS network uses the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's "Model for Improvement", focusing on the three questions - What are we trying to accomplish? How will we know that a change is an improvement? What change can we make that will result in improvement? Iterative Plan- Do-Study-Act (PDSA) learning cycles are used to test and implement changes. The Model for Improvement is widely accepted across healthcare systems as a method to improve quality and health outcomes. It is used successfully in a growing number of patient safety and disease-focused learning health networks. With guidance from experts in QI and care delivery, participating programs collect and share data, test specific changes in care, and determine how to redesign and incorporate improvements into daily practice. Most measures are reported monthly and shared transparently across the ELHS Network to generate discussion and drive QI efforts. Network-wide data are reviewed monthly on Action Period calls to learn from the variation amongst programs and to recognize and celebrate network-wide improvements.