Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this project is to use tympanometry (TPM), a diagnostic tool, to aid in a more accurate diagnoses of acute otitis media (AOM) and due to tympanometry use, see a 25% decrease in AOM diagnoses.|Background: Acute otitis media is a frequently diagnosed illness with a common group of symptoms and a leading cause for prescribing antibiotics (Balasundaram et al., 2019; Danishyar, & Ashurst, 2019; Monasta et al., 2012; Shirai & Preciado, 2019). Accurately diagnosing AOM can be challenging for both experienced and inexperienced providers. Acute otitis media is such a common problem that over diagnosing and/or a misdiagnosis will make a significant difference in the patient’s plan of care.|Sample/Setting: The setting was at a rural Walk-In clinic in Northern Minnesota. The sample included nine providers and varying medical support staff to obtain tympanograms on all patients presenting with complaints of otalgia, and/or otorrhea, and/or hearing loss, or ear complaints over a 10-week period.|Methods: An anonymous pre-questionnaire and post-questionnaire were used to assess knowledge of diagnostic tools, current guideline recommendation, and if management practices changed after using tympanometry and plans for future use. An interactive workshop was completed to educate providers and medical support staff on how to use and interpret tympanometry results. Data collection included retrospective comparison of tenth revision (ICD10) diagnosis codes and current procedural terminology (CPT) billing codes from September to December 2019 and 2020 compared to September to December 2021.|Results: Acute otitis media decreased from 67% to 12% when tympanometry was used. Postquestionnaire response showed that 88.8% of the providers will continue to use TPM for future practice.|Conclusion: Adherence to recommended guidelines for using diagnostic tools to aid in diagnoses of AOM remains a problem and could be improved with further educational workshops. Tympanometry was shown to be a useful tool in decreasing AOM diagnoses when it was used.