Qstream Mobile, Game-Based Platform Utilized at University of California Medical Centers

Developed at Harvard, “Qstreams” are Fast, Easy and Clinically Proven to Boost On-the-Job Performance of Healthcare Workers

BURLINGTON, MA (January 7, 2014) – Qstream today announced that its mobile platform for reinforcing on-the-job behaviors of healthcare workers has been deployed by the five medical centers of the University of California Health Quality Improvement Network as part of a system-wide initiative to improve transitions of care during hospital discharge. The first module of the five-part program, “Enhancing Quality in Practice (UC EQuIP)”, is now in use by more than 600 front-line clinicians across California, with additional modules debuting in mid-2014.

According to recent reports, nearly one in five patients in the U.S. are discharged from the hospital experiencing an adverse outcome – 50 percent of these deemed preventable – while health systems face increasing financial penalties for high readmission rates. The Qstream platform is an innovative approach to delivering education and driving meaningful behavior changes during discharge planning activities.

Developed at Harvard Medical School, Qstream uses a “spaced delivery” methodology that is clinically proven to increase knowledge retention by up to 170 percent and durably change on-the-job behaviors. Qstreams for patient safety, palliative care, infection control and emergency medicine are used daily by top hospitals and healthcare education leaders.

Instead of asking busy doctors and residents to make time for yet another class – and finding enough senior staff with the time to teach them – UC clinicians receive “Qstreams” or sets of challenge questions delivered to their mobile devices twice each week over a three-month period. Game-based mechanics such as leaderboards add a sense of fun, while an adaptive delivery engine personalizes question streams based on user responses. Clinicians answer questions in just 3 to 5 minutes a day during their free time between rounds, while Qstream’s powerful data engine tracks progress, providing both summary data and detailed analyses by clinician and by topic for further review by faculty or continuing medical education funders.