Sponsors of the American Board of Medical Specialties Portfolio Program (ABMS Portfolio Program) are engaging in national collaboratives with other health care systems and stakeholders impacting patient care across the country. By working with other health care organizations, Sponsors are extending the reach of the Portfolio Program beyond their institutions’ walls to improve patient care on a national level. Many of these quality improvement (QI) initiatives provide a framework that can be adapted in other institutions. The following are examples of the far-reaching impact on patient care the Portfolio Program has had.
Reducing Inappropriate Prescribing for Bronchitis and URTIs
The Urgent Care Association implemented a multi-network QI collaborative to reduce inappropriate prescribing for bronchitis and viral upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) at member urgent care centers (UCCs). The antibiotic stewardship intervention was implemented at 50 UCCs in 27 different networks from 18 states, including one telemedicine site; 150 clinicians participated. Participating providers served as the QI team at each site. The intervention included signing a commitment statement and selecting from five different intervention options during three plan-do-study-act cycles. A three-month baseline and nine-month intervention period were compared. Among 15,385 encounters, the intervention was associated with a decrease in inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for bronchitis (by 48%) and in viral URTIs (by 33%) among actively engaged clinicians compared to baseline. The intervention did not result in significant changes for clinicians who were not actively engaged. This QI intervention was published online in January 2025 by Cambridge University Press, the publisher of Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.
Optimizing Migraine Treatment and Prevention
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine implemented a mentored QI initiative to reduce migraine burden in patients at community neurology clinics. The QI project was implemented at 13 sites across the country; 50 clinicians participated. The ECHO® model was employed to coach clinicians on how to integrate QI strategies for migraine prevention with clinical best practices in a monthly educational series. Participating sites were expected to form QI teams and leverage internal forums to engage stakeholders. A QI program manager offered feedback on QI deliverables. Eight sites completed the program and submitted data. Seven of the eight sites demonstrated an improvement in migraine burden for their patients. Participants reported gaining a deeper understanding of key QI concepts, expanded their knowledge of migraine prevention, and increased their readiness to implement QI initiatives in their practices. Additionally, several clinicians continued to sustain their QI initiatives in their practice after the QI project ended. This activity was implemented in partnership with Clinical Care Options and supported by an educational grant from Lilly.
© 2025 American Board of Medical Specialties
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