Background/Purpose:   Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) can affect many organ systems and lead to significant morbidities.  Methods to standardize and improve care in this patient population have recently been established with development of quality indicators.  Education is a common theme throughout many of the quality domains addressed.  Our project sought to create a standard process for providers to educate SLE patients and their families and document its occurrence, in addition to collecting data pertaining to disease activity and damage.  This pilot study will also establish baseline performance of these parameters that can lead to future quality improvement work. 

Methods:  Patient education materials were compiled pertaining to certain quality indicators:  sun precautions, eye exams, vitamin D and calcium recommendations, smoking avoidance and cessation, risk of hypertension, risk of diabetes, weight management, exercise, and vaccination against influenza, pneumococcus, meningococcus, and Haemophilus influenzae.  Previsit planning identified SLE patients and what educational topics they were in need of.  Teaching materials pertaining to the identified educational topics were given to the patient at each routine visit and education was provided.  A SLE-specific flow sheet was created and incorporated into our electronic medical record where education was documented and tracked.  Additional information including provider global assessment, parent/patient global assessment, disease activity score, and disease damage score were recorded in the flow sheet as well. 

Results:   Preliminary results have been recorded on 45 SLE patients during 99 clinic visits in a 15-week period from February to May 2014.  A total of 162 separate educational variables (range 0-10 per person) were discussed in 88.9% of patients.  The most common educational topics discussed (Table 1) and documented include:  sun precautions (53.3% of patients), annual eye exams (51.1%), vitamin D recommendation (48.9%), calcium recommendation (46.7%), and pneumococcal vaccination (31.1%).  Provider global assessment was recorded at least once in 93.3% of patients and patient/parent global assessment in 66.7%.  Disease activity and disease damage scores were calculated in 64.4% of patients. 

Conclusion:   Our pilot study has been successful in developing an educational curriculum for our SLE patients, establishing a process for documenting and tracking educational topics, and creating a method for recording disease activity and disease damage parameters.  Baseline performance on these measures is helpful to target areas for future quality improvement efforts.