Zachary Grinspan, MD, MS

“To take what we've learned to impact patient outcomes and change the course of these illnesses; we need to work with our colleagues across multiple disciplines.”

Zachary Grinspan, MD, MS, director of the Pediatric Epilepsy Program, and Isaac Mayefsky, an MD candidate at Weill Cornell Medicine, reported results from their study of status epilepticus (SE) patients treated in the emergency department at the 

annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society

 (AES), December 6-10, 2019, in Baltimore, Maryland.

Of the outcomes observed, patients were receiving lower doses of benzodiazepines than recommended, with other deviations from SE protocol noted as well.

Grinspan stressed the importance of communication and collaboration between epilepsy specialists and the emergency department, noting that an increase in awareness of SE care will lead to less protocol deviation in future treatment. Mayefsky, a pupil of Grinspan’s, emphasized the importance mentorship has had on his early clinical experience and his career aspirations that include research on outcome improvement. 

 at AES 2019 to discuss ways of improving clinical outcomes in SE, as well as the data from their study.

Videos

The director of the Pediatric Epilepsy Program and an MD candidate at Weill Cornell Medicine detail the steps needed to take to improve outcomes in status epilepticus.

Zachary Grinspan, MD, MS: Collaborating Across Specialties to Improve Outcomes

“We want to help other centers understand where their benchmark should be and give them strategies to improve as well.”

 annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society

 (AES), Zachary Grinspan, MD, MS, director of the Pediatric Epilepsy Program at Weill Cornell Medicine, and colleagues reported results from a study that examined the rates of patients with infantile spasms who received recommended care.

Grinspan and colleagues utilized the Pediatric Epilepsy Learning Healthcare System (PELHS), a consortium of pediatric epilepsy centers that accumulate health data, to better understand and improve upon care standards. Grinspan suggested that education efforts from advocacy groups and professional organizations can help to increase compliance with first-line therapy recommendations, ultimately better defining recommended care.

, Grinspan discussed the state of recommended care and what necessary steps the epilepsy community can take towards achieving that 95% compliance rate.

The director of the Pediatric Epilepsy Program at Weill Cornell Medicine detailed ways to utilize quality measures to improve implementation of in patients with infantile spasms.

Zachary Grinspan, MD, MS: Quality Improvement in Care of Infantile Spasms

“What we’ve learned is that 90% was better than before, but not good enough. We want to do better. We’re setting our goal at 95% intentionally because we think 1 in 20 is the sweet spot for the approximate rate where there’s some reasonable exceptions that make sense.”

Results from a center-to-center study of recommended care in patients with infantile spasms (IS) presented at the 73

 annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society (AES) showed that 1 in 10 patients did not receive recommended care. Some of the barriers observed in implementing care standards included administration of an outside therapy, extreme or complex sickness, or intentional use of non-first line therapy.

Zachary Grinspan, MD, MS, the director of the Pediatric Epilepsy Program at Weill Cornell Medicine, and colleagues observed steady improvement from a prior study, which demonstrated only 1 in 7 patients with IS receiving recommended care. While Grinspan noted that he and his team were happy with the progress they have made, they’re still not satisfied. 

, Grinspan detailed the barriers that prevent recommended care, and what can be done to improve adherence to IS guidelines.

The director of the Pediatric Epilepsy Program at Weill Cornell Medicine detailed the reasons behind why patients with infantile spasms do not receive recommended care.

Zachary Grinspan, MD, MS

Articles

Zachary Grinspan, MD, MS: Collaborating Across Specialties to Improve Outcomes

Zachary Grinspan, MD, MS: Quality Improvement in Care of Infantile Spasms

Zachary Grinspan, MD, MS: Barriers in Receiving Standard Care in Infantile Spasms