Implementation of the Epilepsy Center of Excellence to improve access to and quality of care--protocol for a mixed methods study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

To address the growing problem of epilepsy among aging Veterans and younger Veterans who have experienced a traumatic brain injury (TBI), the Veterans Health Administration (VA) has implemented 16 Epilepsy Centers of Excellence (ECOE) to assure increased access to high quality of care for Veterans with epilepsy. Each ECOE consists of a network of regional hubs to which spoke facilities refer Veterans for subspecialty treatment. The ECOEs are expected to improve access to and quality of epilepsy care through patient care, consultation and education. This study aims to: evaluate the effectiveness of the ECOE structure by describing changes in the quality of and access to care for epilepsy before and after the ECOE initiative using QUality Indicators in Epilepsy Treatment (

SUBMITTER: Pugh MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4022083 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature