Treatment of Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure and ARDS With Protection, Paralysis, and Proning (TheraPPP) Pathway

Hypoxemic respiratory failure (HRF) and ARDS are common conditions among patients admitted to the Intensive care unit (ICU). Treatment of these patients is complex. Evidence based therapies that can improve survival exist; however, implementation is extremely inconsistent. As a potential solution to this problem, the investigators developed the Treatment of Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure (HRF) and ARDS with Protection, Paralysis, and Proning (TheraPPP) Pathway to reduce practice variation and improve adherence to evidence-informed therapy. The objective of this pilot before and after study is to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the TheraPPP Pathway. The pilot study will use a before and after quasi-experimental design to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the TheraPPP pathway. The TheraPPP pathway is a comprehensive evidence-based, stakeholder-informed pathway for the diagnosis and management of HRF. The study will be conducted in a single center mixed medical surgical ICU. The study population will include all patients who are admitted to the ICU and are mechanically ventilated. The pathway will be implemented over a one month period, followed by a one year post implementation assessment period. The comparison (control) therapy will be usual management assessed in the one year pre-implementation period. We estimate approximately 1000 patients will be included in the study. The primary objectives of the pilot study will be to assess feasibility and acceptability. To assess feasibility, the investigators will test the ability to measure: (1) Fidelity through 5 process of care indicators (2) Patient and economic outcomes. To assess the acceptability of the Pathway, the investigators will conduct a survey to clinicians who used the pathway. The acceptability survey will be sent to approximately 250 ICU clinicians. For data analysis, no specific comparisons will be made as the investigators are testing the ability to measure the outcomes. However, feasibility and acceptability data will be presented in aggregate as frequency with proportion or median with interquartile range, as appropriate.