Sample records for primary care teams
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Exploring primary care activities in ACT teams.
Vanderlip, Erik R; Williams, Nancy A; Fiedorowicz, Jess G; Katon, Wayne
2014-05-01
People with serious mental illness often receive inadequate primary and preventive care services. Federal healthcare reform endorses team-based care that provides high quality primary and preventive care to at risk populations. Assertive community treatment (ACT) teams offer a proven, standardized treatment approach effective in improving mental health outcomes for the seriously mentally ill. Much is known about the effectiveness of ACT teams in improving mental health outcomes, but the degree to which medical care needs are addressed is not established. The purpose of this study was to explore the extent to which ACT teams address the physical health of the population they serve. ACT team leaders were invited to complete an anonymous, web-based survey to explore attitudes and activities involving the primary care needs of their clients. Information was collected regarding the use of health screening tools, physical health assessments, provision of medical care and collaboration with primary care systems. Data was analyzed from 127 team leaders across the country, of which 55 completed the entire survey. Nearly every ACT team leader believed ACT teams have a role in identifying and managing the medical co-morbidities of their clientele. ACT teams report participation in many primary care activities. ACT teams are providing a substantial amount of primary and preventive services to their population. The survey suggests standardization of physical health identification, management or referral processes within ACT teams may result in improved quality of medical care. ACT teams are in a unique position to improve physical health care by virtue of having medically trained staff and frequent, close contact with their clients.
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Team-based primary care: The medical assistant perspective.
Sheridan, Bethany; Chien, Alyna T; Peters, Antoinette S; Rosenthal, Meredith B; Brooks, Joanna Veazey; Singer, Sara J
Team-based care has the potential to improve primary care quality and efficiency. In this model, medical assistants (MAs) take a more central role in patient care and population health management. MAs' traditionally low status may give them a unique view on changing organizational dynamics and teamwork. However, little empirical work exists on how team-based organizational designs affect the experiences of low-status health care workers like MAs. The aim of this study was to describe how team-based primary care affects the experiences of MAs. A secondary aim was to explore variation in these experiences. In late 2014, the authors interviewed 30 MAs from nine primary care practices transitioning to team-based care. Interviews addressed job responsibilities, teamwork, implementation, job satisfaction, and learning. Data were analyzed using a thematic networks approach. Interviews also included closed-ended questions about workload and job satisfaction. Most MAs reported both a higher workload (73%) and a greater job satisfaction (86%) under team-based primary care. Interview data surfaced four mechanisms for these results, which suggested more fulfilling work and greater respect for the MA role: (a) relationships with colleagues, (b) involvement with patients, (c) sense of control, and (d) sense of efficacy. Facilitators and barriers to these positive changes also emerged. Team-based care can provide low-status health care workers with more fulfilling work and strengthen relationships across status lines. The extent of this positive impact may depend on supporting factors at the organization, team, and individual worker levels. To maximize the benefits of team-based care, primary care leaders should recognize the larger role that MAs play under this model and support them as increasingly valuable team members. Contingent on organizational conditions, practices may find MAs who are willing to manage the increased workload that often accompanies team-based care.
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Kennedy, Norelee; Armstrong, Claire; Woodward, Oonagh; Cullen, Walter
2015-07-01
Team working is an integral aspect of primary care, but barriers to effective team working can limit the effectiveness of a primary care team (PCT). The establishment of new PCTs in Ireland provides an excellent opportunity to explore team working in action. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of team members working in a PCT. Team members (n = 19) from two PCTs were interviewed from May to June 2010 using a semi-structured interview guide. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Data were analysed using NVivo (version 8). Thematic analysis was used to explore the data. We identified five main themes that described the experiences of the team members. The themes were support for primary care, managing change, communication, evolution of roles and benefits of team working. Team members were generally supportive of primary care and had experienced benefits to their practice and to the care of their patients from participation in the team. Regular team meetings enabled communication and discussion of complex cases. Despite the significant scope for role conflict due to the varied employment arrangements of the team members, neither role nor interpersonal conflict was evident in the teams studied. In addition, despite the unusual team structure in Irish PCTs - where there is no formally appointed team leader or manager - general issues around team working and its benefits and challenges were very similar to those found in other international studies. This suggests, in contrast to some studies, that some aspects of the leadership role may not be as important in successful PCT functioning as previously thought. Nonetheless, team leadership was identified as an important issue in the further development of the teams. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Community nurses working in piloted primary care teams: Irish Republic.
LENUS (Irish Health Repository)
Burke, Triona
2010-08-01
Primary care health services in the Irish Republic have undergone fundamental transformation with the establishment of multidisciplinary primary care teams nationwide. Primary care teams provide a community-based health service delivered through a range of health professionals in an integrated way. As part of this initiative ten pilot teams were established in 2003. This research was undertaken in order to gain an understanding of nurse\\'s experiences of working in a piloted primary care team. The methodology used was a focus group approach. The findings from this study illustrated how community nurse\\'s roles and responsibilities have expanded within the team. The findings also highlighted the benefits and challenges of working as a team with various other community-based health-care disciplines.
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Job satisfaction of primary care team members and quality of care.
Mohr, David C; Young, Gary J; Meterko, Mark; Stolzmann, Kelly L; White, Bert
2011-01-01
In recent years, hospitals and payers have increased their efforts to improve the quality of patient care by encouraging provider adherence to evidence-based practices. Although the individual provider is certainly essential in the delivery of appropriate care, a team perspective is important when examining variation in quality. In the present study, the authors modeled the relationship between a measure of aggregate job satisfaction for members of primary care teams and objective measures of quality based on process indicators and intermediate outcomes. Multilevel analyses indicated that aggregate job satisfaction ratings were associated with higher values on both types of quality measures. Team-level job satisfaction ratings are a potentially important marker for the effectiveness of primary care teams in managing patient care.
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Mundt, Marlon P; Agneessens, Filip; Tuan, Wen-Jan; Zakletskaia, Larissa I; Kamnetz, Sandra A; Gilchrist, Valerie J
2016-06-01
Primary care teams play an important role in providing the best quality of care to patients with diabetes. Little evidence is available on how team communication networks and team climate contribute to high quality diabetes care. To determine whether primary care team communication and team climate are associated with health outcomes, health care utilization, and associated costs for patients with diabetes. A cross-sectional survey of primary care team members collected information on frequency of communication with other care team members about patient care and on team climate. Patient outcomes (glycemic, cholesterol, and blood pressure control, urgent care visits, emergency department visits, hospital visit days, medical costs) in the past 12 months for team diabetes patient panels were extracted from the electronic health record. The data were analyzed using nested (clinic/team/patient) generalized linear mixed modeling. 155 health professionals at 6 U.S. primary care clinics participated from May through December 2013. Primary care teams with a greater number of daily face-to-face communication ties among team members were associated with 52% (rate ratio=0.48, 95% CI: 0.22, 0.94) fewer hospital days and US$1220 (95% CI: -US$2416, -US$24) lower health-care costs per team diabetes patient in the past 12 months. In contrast, for each additional registered nurse (RN) who reported frequent daily face-to-face communication about patient care with the primary care practitioner (PCP), team diabetes patients had less-controlled HbA1c (Odds ratio=0.83, 95% CI: 0.66, 0.99), increased hospital days (RR=1.57, 95% CI: 1.10, 2.03), and higher healthcare costs (β=US$877, 95% CI: US$42, US$1713). Shared team vision, a measure of team climate, significantly mediated the relationship between team communication and patient outcomes. Primary care teams which relied on frequent daily face-to-face communication among more team members, and had a single RN communicating patient care
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Mundt, Marlon P.; Agneessens, Filip; Tuan, Wen-Jan; Zakletskaia, Larissa I.; Kamnetz, Sandra A.; Gilchrist, Valerie J.
2016-01-01
Background Primary care teams play an important role in providing the best quality of care to patients with diabetes. Little evidence is available on how team communication networks and team climate contribute to high quality diabetes care. Objective To determine whether primary care team communication and team climate are associated with health outcomes, health care utilization, and associated costs for patients with diabetes. Methods A cross-sectional survey of primary care team members collected information on frequency of communication with other care team members about patient care and on team climate. Patient outcomes (glycemic, cholesterol, and blood pressure control, urgent care visits, emergency department visits, hospital visit days, medical costs) in the past 12 months for team diabetes patient panels were extracted from the electronic health record. The data were analyzed using nested (clinic/team/patient) generalized linear mixed modeling. Participants 155 health professionals at 6 U.S. primary care clinics participated from May through December 2013. Results Primary care teams with a greater number of daily face-to-face communication ties among team members were associated with 52% (Rate Ratio=0.48, 95% CI: 0.22, 0.94) fewer hospital days and US$1220 (95% CI: -US$2416, -US$24) lower health-care costs per team diabetes patient in the past 12 months. In contrast, for each additional registered nurse (RN) who reported frequent daily face-to-face communication about patient care with the primary care practitioner (PCP), team diabetes patients had less-controlled HbA1c (Odds Ratio=0.83, 95% CI: 0.66, 0.99), increased hospital days (RR=1.57, 95% CI: 1.10, 2.03), and higher healthcare costs (β=US$877, 95% CI: US$42, US$1713). Shared team vision, a measure of team climate, significantly mediated the relationship between team communication and patient outcomes. Conclusions Primary care teams which relied on frequent daily face-to-face communication among more
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Development and validation of the primary care team dynamics survey.
Song, Hummy; Chien, Alyna T; Fisher, Josephine; Martin, Julia; Peters, Antoinette S; Hacker, Karen; Rosenthal, Meredith B; Singer, Sara J
2015-06-01
To develop and validate a survey instrument designed to measure team dynamics in primary care. We studied 1,080 physician and nonphysician health care professionals working at 18 primary care practices participating in a learning collaborative aimed at improving team-based care. We developed a conceptual model and administered a cross-sectional survey addressing team dynamics, and we assessed reliability and discriminant validity of survey factors and the overall survey's goodness-of-fit using structural equation modeling. We administered the survey between September 2012 and March 2013. Overall response rate was 68 percent (732 respondents). Results support a seven-factor model of team dynamics, suggesting that conditions for team effectiveness, shared understanding, and three supportive processes are associated with acting and feeling like a team and, in turn, perceived team effectiveness. This model demonstrated adequate fit (goodness-of-fit index: 0.91), scale reliability (Cronbach's alphas: 0.71-0.91), and discriminant validity (average factor correlations: 0.49). It is possible to measure primary care team dynamics reliably using a 29-item survey. This survey may be used in ambulatory settings to study teamwork and explore the effect of efforts to improve team-based care. Future studies should demonstrate the importance of team dynamics for markers of team effectiveness (e.g., work satisfaction, care quality, clinical outcomes). © Health Research and Educational Trust.
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A review of instruments to measure interprofessional team-based primary care.
Shoemaker, Sarah J; Parchman, Michael L; Fuda, Kathleen Kerwin; Schaefer, Judith; Levin, Jessica; Hunt, Meaghan; Ricciardi, Richard
2016-07-01
Interprofessional team-based care is increasingly regarded as an important feature of delivery systems redesigned to provide more efficient and higher quality care, including primary care. Measurement of the functioning of such teams might enable improvement of team effectiveness and could facilitate research on team-based primary care. Our aims were to develop a conceptual framework of high-functioning primary care teams to identify and review instruments that measure the constructs identified in the framework, and to create a searchable, web-based atlas of such instruments (available at: http://primarycaremeasures.ahrq.gov/team-based-care/ ). Our conceptual framework was developed from existing frameworks, the teamwork literature, and expert input. The framework is based on an Input-Mediator-Output model and includes 12 constructs to which we mapped both instruments as a whole, and individual instrument items. Instruments were also reviewed for relevance to measuring team-based care, and characterized. Instruments were identified from peer-reviewed and grey literature, measure databases, and expert input. From nearly 200 instruments initially identified, we found 48 to be relevant to measuring team-based primary care. The majority of instruments were surveys (n = 44), and the remainder (n = 4) were observational checklists. Most instruments had been developed/tested in healthcare settings (n = 30) and addressed multiple constructs, most commonly communication (n = 42), heedful interrelating (n = 42), respectful interactions (n = 40), and shared explicit goals (n = 37). The majority of instruments had some reliability testing (n = 39) and over half included validity testing (n = 29). Currently available instruments offer promise to researchers and practitioners to assess teams' performance, but additional work is needed to adapt these instruments for primary care settings.
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Work-Related Depression in Primary Care Teams in Brazil.
da Silva, Andréa Tenório Correia; Lopes, Claudia de Souza; Susser, Ezra; Menezes, Paulo Rossi
2016-11-01
To identify work-related factors associated with depressive symptoms and probable major depression in primary care teams. Cross-sectional study among primary care teams (community health workers, nursing assistants, nurses, and physicians) in the city of São Paulo, Brazil (2011-2012; n = 2940), to assess depressive symptoms and probable major depression and their associations with job strain and other work-related conditions. Community health workers presented higher prevalence of probable major depression (18%) than other primary care workers. Higher odds ratios for depressive symptoms or probable major depression were associated with longer duration of employment in primary care; having a passive, active, or high-strain job; lack of supervisor feedback regarding performance; and low social support from colleagues and supervisors. Observed levels of job-related depression can endanger the sustainability of primary care programs. Public Health implications. Strategies are needed to deliver care to primary care workers with depression, facilitating diagnosis and access to treatment, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Preventive interventions can include training managers to provide feedback and creating strategies to increase job autonomy and social support at work.
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An analysis of the effectiveness of Spanish primary health care teams.
Goñi, S
1999-08-01
One of the main objectives of the managers of public health systems in most developed countries is the modernisation of public services through managerial reforms as a way of resolving the traditional inefficiency of this sector. The objective of this article is to observe how the introduction of one tool traditionally used in the private sector, the organisation of work through teams, can contribute to improved performance in public health services. The study was conducted in the primary health care teams of Navarre, an autonomous region of Spain, where a new model of primary health care, based on teamwork was implanted. We analyse the relationship between team characteristics, team members' individual features and team performance from a stakeholder approach. We can conclude that teams are a form of organisational design useful for improving performance in primary health care because insofar as they function properly, they achieve greater degrees of job satisfaction for the employees, greater perceived quality by the users and greater efficiency for the Administration.
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Improving Care Teams' Functioning: Recommendations from Team Science.
Fiscella, Kevin; Mauksch, Larry; Bodenheimer, Thomas; Salas, Eduardo
2017-07-01
Team science has been applied to many sectors including health care. Yet there has been relatively little attention paid to the application of team science to developing and sustaining primary care teams. Application of team science to primary care requires adaptation of core team elements to different types of primary care teams. Six elements of teams are particularly relevant to primary care: practice conditions that support or hinder effective teamwork; team cognition, including shared understanding of team goals, roles, and how members will work together as a team; leadership and coaching, including mutual feedback among members that promotes teamwork and moves the team closer to achieving its goals; cooperation supported by an emotionally safe climate that supports expression and resolution of conflict and builds team trust and cohesion; coordination, including adoption of processes that optimize efficient performance of interdependent activities among team members; and communication, particularly regular, recursive team cycles involving planning, action, and debriefing. These six core elements are adapted to three prototypical primary care teams: teamlets, health coaching, and complex care coordination. Implementation of effective team-based models in primary care requires adaptation of core team science elements coupled with relevant, practical training and organizational support, including adequate time to train, plan, and debrief. Training should be based on assessment of needs and tasks and the use of simulations and feedback, and it should extend to live action. Teamlets represent a potential launch point for team development and diffusion of teamwork principles within primary care practices. Copyright © 2017 The Joint Commission. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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The role of the primary care team in the rapid response system.
O'Horo, John C; Sevilla Berrios, Ronaldo A; Elmer, Jennifer L; Velagapudi, Venu; Caples, Sean M; Kashyap, Rahul; Jensen, Jeffrey B
2015-04-01
The purpose of the study is to evaluate the impact of primary service involvement on rapid response team (RRT) evaluations. The study is a combination of retrospective chart review and prospective survey-based evaluation. Data included when and where the activations occurred and the patient's code status, primary service, and ultimate disposition. These data were correlated with survey data from each event. A prospective survey evaluated the primary team's involvement in decision making and the overall subjective quality of the interaction with primary service through a visual analog scale. We analyzed 4408 RRTs retrospectively and an additional 135 prospectively. The primary team's involvement by telephone or in person was associated with significantly more transfers to higher care levels in retrospective (P team involvement, with more frequent changes seen in the retrospective analysis (P = .01). Subjective ratings of communication by the RRT leader were significantly higher when the primary service was involved (P team involvement influences RRT activation processes of care. The RRT role should be an adjunct to, but not a substitute for, an engaged and present primary care team. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Doekhie, Kirti D; Buljac-Samardzic, Martina; Strating, Mathilde M H; Paauwe, Jaap
2017-12-28
Due to the growing prevalence of elderly patients with multi-morbidity living at home, there is an increasing need for primary care professionals from different disciplinary backgrounds to collaborate as primary care teams. However, it is unclear how primary care professionals conceptualize teams and what underlying factors influence their perception of being part of a team. Our research question is: What are primary care professionals' perceptions of teams and team membership among primary care disciplines and what factors influence their perceptions? We conducted a mixed-methods study in the Dutch primary care setting. First, a survey study of 152 professionals representing 12 primary care disciplines was conducted, focusing on their perceptions of which disciplines are part of the team and the degree of relational coordination between professionals from different disciplinary backgrounds. Subsequently, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 32 professionals representing 5 primary care disciplines to gain a deeper understanding of the underlying factors influencing their perceptions and the (mis)alignment between these perceptions. Misalignments were found between perceptions regarding which disciplines are members of the team and the relational coordination between disciplines. For example, general practitioners were viewed as part of the team by helping assistants, (district) nurses, occupational therapists and geriatric specialized practice nurses, whereas the general practitioners themselves only considered geriatric specialized practice nurses to be part of their team. Professionals perceive multidisciplinary primary care teams as having multiple inner and outer layers. Three factors influence their perception of being part of a team and acting accordingly: a) knowing the people you work with, b) the necessity for knowledge exchange and c) sharing a holistic view of caregiving. Research and practice should take into account the misalignment between
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Song, Hummy; Ryan, Molly; Tendulkar, Shalini; Fisher, Josephine; Martin, Julia; Peters, Antoinette S; Frolkis, Joseph P; Rosenthal, Meredith B; Chien, Alyna T; Singer, Sara J
Team-based care is essential for delivering high-quality, comprehensive, and coordinated care. Despite considerable research about the effects of team-based care on patient outcomes, few studies have examined how team dynamics relate to provider outcomes. The aim of this study was to examine relationships among team dynamics, primary care provider (PCP) clinical work satisfaction, and patient care coordination between PCPs in 18 Harvard-affiliated primary care practices participating in Harvard's Academic Innovations Collaborative. First, we administered a cross-sectional survey to all 548 PCPs (267 attending clinicians, 281 resident physicians) working at participating practices; 65% responded. We assessed the relationship of team dynamics with PCPs' clinical work satisfaction and perception of patient care coordination between PCPs, respectively, and the potential mediating effect of patient care coordination on the relationship between team dynamics and work satisfaction. In addition, we embedded a qualitative evaluation within the quantitative evaluation to achieve a convergent mixed methods design to help us better understand our findings and illuminate relationships among key variables. Better team dynamics were positively associated with clinical work satisfaction and quality of patient care coordination between PCPs. Coordination partially mediated the relationship between team dynamics and satisfaction for attending clinicians, suggesting that higher satisfaction depends, in part, on better teamwork, yielding more coordinated patient care. We found no mediating effects for resident physicians. Qualitative results suggest that sources of satisfaction from positive team dynamics for PCPs may be most relevant to attending clinicians. Improving primary care team dynamics could improve clinical work satisfaction among PCPs and patient care coordination between PCPs. In addition to improving outcomes that directly concern health care providers, efforts to
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Goh, Teik T; Eccles, Martin P
2009-01-01
Abstract Background Attributes of teams could affect the quality of care delivered in primary care. The aim of this study was to systematically review studies conducted within the UK NHS primary care that have measured team climate using the Team Climate Inventory (TCI), and to describe, if reported, the relationship between the TCI and measures of quality of care. Findings The databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL were searched. The reference lists of included article were checked and one re...
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Altschuler, Justin; Margolius, David; Bodenheimer, Thomas; Grumbach, Kevin
2012-01-01
PURPOSE Primary care faces the dilemma of excessive patient panel sizes in an environment of a primary care physician shortage. We aimed to estimate primary care panel sizes under different models of task delegation to nonphysician members of the primary care team. METHODS We used published estimates of the time it takes for a primary care physician to provide preventive, chronic, and acute care for a panel of 2,500 patients, and modeled how panel sizes would change if portions of preventive and chronic care services were delegated to nonphysician team members. RESULTS Using 3 assumptions about the degree of task delegation that could be achieved (77%, 60%, and 50% of preventive care, and 47%, 30%, and 25% of chronic care), we estimated that a primary care team could reasonably care for a panel of 1,947, 1,523, or 1,387 patients. CONCLUSIONS If portions of preventive and chronic care services are delegated to nonphysician team members, primary care practices can provide recommended preventive and chronic care with panel sizes that are achievable with the available primary care workforce.
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Primary care teams in Ireland: a qualitative mapping review of Irish grey and published literature.
O'Sullivan, M; Cullen, W; MacFarlane, A
2015-03-01
The Irish government published its primary care strategy, Primary Care: A New Direction in 2001. Progress with the implementation of Primary care teams is modest. The aim of this paper is to map the Irish grey literature and peer-reviewed publications to determine what research has been carried out in relation to primary care teams, the reform process and interdisciplinary working in primary care in Ireland. This scoping review employed three methods: a review of Web of Science, Medline and Embase databases, an email survey of researchers across academic institutions, the HSE and independent researchers and a review of Lenus and the Health Well repository. N = 123 outputs were identified. N = 14 were selected for inclusion. A thematic analysis was undertaken. Common themes identified were resources, GP participation, leadership, clarity regarding roles in primary care teams, skills and knowledge for primary care team working, communication and community. There is evidence of significant problems that disrupt team formation and functioning that warrants more comprehensive research.
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Mundt, Marlon P; Zakletskaia, Larissa I; Shoham, David A; Tuan, Wen-Jan; Carayon, Pascale
2015-10-01
Identifying and engaging excessive alcohol users in primary care may be an effective way to improve patient health outcomes, reduce alcohol-related acute care events, and lower costs. Little is known about what structures of primary care team communication are associated with alcohol-related patient outcomes. Using a sociometric survey of primary care clinic communication, this study evaluated the relation between team communication networks and alcohol-related utilization of care and costs. Between May 2013 and December 2013, a total of 155 healthcare employees at 6 primary care clinics participated in a survey on team communication. Three-level hierarchical modeling evaluated the link between connectedness within the care team and the number of alcohol-related emergency department visits, hospital days, and associated medical care costs in the past 12 months for each team's primary care patient panel. Teams (n = 31) whose registered nurses displayed more strong (at least daily) face-to-face ties and strong (at least daily) electronic communication ties had 10% fewer alcohol-related hospital days (rate ratio [RR] = 0.90; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.84, 0.97). Furthermore, in an average team size of 19, each additional team member with strong interaction ties across the whole team was associated with $1,030 (95% CI: -$1,819, -$241) lower alcohol-related patient healthcare costs per 1,000 team patients in the past 12 months. Conversely, teams whose primary care practitioner (PCP) had more strong face-to-face communication ties and more weak (weekly or several times a week) electronic communication ties had 12% more alcohol-related hospital days (RR = 1.12; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.23) and $1,428 (95% CI: $378, $2,478) higher alcohol-related healthcare costs per 1,000 patients in the past 12 months. The analyses controlled for patient age, gender, insurance, and comorbidity diagnoses. Excessive alcohol-using patients may fair better if cared for by teams whose
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Mundt, Marlon P; Gilchrist, Valerie J; Fleming, Michael F; Zakletskaia, Larissa I; Tuan, Wen-Jan; Beasley, John W
2015-03-01
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in the United States. Primary care teams can be best suited to improve quality of care and lower costs for patients with cardiovascular disease. This study evaluates the associations between primary care team communication, interaction, and coordination (ie, social networks); quality of care; and costs for patients with cardiovascular disease. Using a sociometric survey, 155 health professionals from 31 teams at 6 primary care clinics identified with whom they interact daily about patient care. Social network analysis calculated variables of density and centralization representing team interaction structures. Three-level hierarchical modeling evaluated the link between team network density, centralization, and number of patients with a diagnosis of cardiovascular disease for controlled blood pressure and cholesterol, counts of urgent care visits, emergency department visits, hospital days, and medical care costs in the previous 12 months. Teams with dense interactions among all team members were associated with fewer hospital days (rate ratio [RR] = 0.62; 95% CI, 0.50-0.77) and lower medical care costs (-$556; 95% CI, -$781 to -$331) for patients with cardiovascular disease. Conversely, teams with interactions revolving around a few central individuals were associated with increased hospital days (RR = 1.45; 95% CI, 1.09-1.94) and greater costs ($506; 95% CI, $202-$810). Team-shared vision about goals and expectations mediated the relationship between social network structures and patient quality of care outcomes. Primary care teams that are more interconnected and less centralized and that have a shared team vision are better positioned to deliver high-quality cardiovascular disease care at a lower cost. © 2015 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.
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Goh, Teik T; Eccles, Martin P
2009-10-29
Attributes of teams could affect the quality of care delivered in primary care. The aim of this study was to systematically review studies conducted within the UK NHS primary care that have measured team climate using the Team Climate Inventory (TCI), and to describe, if reported, the relationship between the TCI and measures of quality of care. The databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL were searched. The reference lists of included article were checked and one relevant journal was hand-searched. Eight papers were included. Three studies used a random sample; the remaining five used convenience or purposive samples. Six studies were cross sectional surveys, whilst two were before and after studies. Four studies examined the relationship between team climate and quality of care. Only one study found a positive association between team climate and higher quality care in patients with diabetes, positive patient satisfaction and self-reported effectiveness. While the TCI has been used to measure team attributes in primary care settings in the UK it is difficult to generalise from these data. A small number of studies reported higher TCI scores being associated with only certain aspects of quality of care; reasons for the pattern of association are unclear. There are a number of methodological challenges to conducting such studies in routine service settings. Further research is needed in order to understand how to measure team functioning in relation to quality of care.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Goh Teik T
2009-10-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background Attributes of teams could affect the quality of care delivered in primary care. The aim of this study was to systematically review studies conducted within the UK NHS primary care that have measured team climate using the Team Climate Inventory (TCI, and to describe, if reported, the relationship between the TCI and measures of quality of care. Findings The databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL were searched. The reference lists of included article were checked and one relevant journal was hand-searched. Eight papers were included. Three studies used a random sample; the remaining five used convenience or purposive samples. Six studies were cross sectional surveys, whilst two were before and after studies. Four studies examined the relationship between team climate and quality of care. Only one study found a positive association between team climate and higher quality care in patients with diabetes, positive patient satisfaction and self-reported effectiveness. Conclusion While the TCI has been used to measure team attributes in primary care settings in the UK it is difficult to generalise from these data. A small number of studies reported higher TCI scores being associated with only certain aspects of quality of care; reasons for the pattern of association are unclear. There are a number of methodological challenges to conducting such studies in routine service settings. Further research is needed in order to understand how to measure team functioning in relation to quality of care.
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Zygmunt, Austin; Asada, Yukiko; Burge, Frederick
2017-10-01
As in many jurisdictions, the delivery of primary care in Canada is being transformed from solo practice to team-based care. In Canada, team-based primary care involves general practitioners working with nurses or other health care providers, and it is expected to improve equity in access to care. This study examined whether team-based care is associated with fewer access problems and less unmet need and whether socioeconomic gradients in access problems and unmet need are smaller in team-based care than in non-team-based care. Data came from the 2008 Canadian Survey of Experiences with Primary Health Care (sample size: 10,858). We measured primary care type as team-based or non-team-based and socioeconomic status by income and education. We created four access problem variables and four unmet need variables (overall and three specific components). For each, we ran separate logistic regression models to examine their associations with primary care type. We examined socioeconomic gradients in access problems and unmet need stratified by primary care type. Primary care type had no statistically significant, independent associations with access problems or unmet need. Among those with non-team-based care, a statistically significant education gradient for overall access problems existed, whereas among those with team-based care, no statistically significant socioeconomic gradients existed.
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Tierney, E; O'Sullivan, M; Hickey, L; Hannigan, A; May, C; Cullen, W; Kennedy, N; Kineen, L; MacFarlane, A
2016-11-22
Primary care is the cornerstone of healthcare reform with policies across jurisdictions promoting interdisciplinary team working. The effective implementation of such health policies requires understanding the perspectives of all actors. However, there is a lack of research about health professionals' views of this process. This study compares Primary Healthcare Professionals' perceptions of the effectiveness of the Primary Care Strategy and Primary Care Team (PCT) implementation in Ireland. Design and Setting: e-survey of (1) General Practitioners (GPs) associated with a Graduate Medical School (N = 100) and (2) Primary Care Professionals in 3 of 4 Health Service Executive (HSE) regions (N = 2309). After piloting, snowball sampling was used to administer the survey. Descriptive analysis was carried out using SPSS. Ratings across groups were compared using non-parametric tests. There were 569 responses. Response rates varied across disciplines (71 % for GPs, 22 % for other Primary Healthcare Professionals (PCPs). Respondents across all disciplines viewed interdisciplinary working as important. Respondents agreed on lack of progress of implementation of formal PCTs (median rating of 2, where 1 is no progress at all and 5 is complete implementation). GPs were more negative about the effectiveness of the Strategy to promote different disciplines to work together (median rating of 2 compared to 3 for clinical therapists and 3.5 for nurses, P = 0.001). Respondents identified resources and GP participation as most important for effective team working. Protected time for meetings and capacity to manage workload for meetings were rated as very important factors for effective team working by GPs, clinical therapists and nurses. A building for co-location of teams was rated as an important factor by nurses and clinical therapists though GPs rated it as less important. Payment to attend meetings and contractual arrangements were considered important factors by
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Helfrich, Christian D; Simonetti, Joseph A; Clinton, Walter L; Wood, Gordon B; Taylor, Leslie; Schectman, Gordon; Stark, Richard; Rubenstein, Lisa V; Fihn, Stephan D; Nelson, Karin M
2017-07-01
Work-related burnout is common in primary care and is associated with worse patient safety, patient satisfaction, and employee mental health. Workload, staffing stability, and team completeness may be drivers of burnout. However, few studies have assessed these associations at the team level, and fewer still include members of the team beyond physicians. To study the associations of burnout among primary care providers (PCPs), nurse care managers, clinical associates (MAs, LPNs), and administrative clerks with the staffing and workload on their teams. We conducted an individual-level cross-sectional analysis of survey and administrative data in 2014. Primary care personnel at VA clinics responding to a national survey. Burnout was measured with a validated single-item survey measure dichotomized to indicate the presence of burnout. The independent variables were survey measures of team staffing (having a fully staffed team, serving on multiple teams, and turnover on the team), and workload both from survey items (working extended hours), and administrative data (patient panel overcapacity and average panel comorbidity). There were 4610 respondents (estimated response rate of 20.9%). The overall prevalence of burnout was 41%. In adjusted analyses, the strongest associations with burnout were having a fully staffed team (odds ratio [OR] = 0.55, 95% CI 0.47-0.65), having turnover on the team (OR = 1.67, 95% CI 1.43-1.94), and having patient panel overcapacity (OR = 1.19, 95% CI 1.01-1.40). The observed burnout prevalence was 30.1% lower (28.5% vs. 58.6%) for respondents working on fully staffed teams with no turnover and caring for a panel within capacity, relative to respondents in the inverse condition. Complete team staffing, turnover among team members, and panel overcapacity had strong, cumulative associations with burnout. Further research is needed to understand whether improvements in these factors would lower burnout.
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The health educator as a team leader in primary health care.
Brieger, W R; Ramakrishna, J
1986-01-01
Health teams naturally vary in size and composition according to their goals and objectives. Leadership of these teams should also be based on these goals. The goals of community-based primary health care, local involvement, cultural relevance, effective use of local resources, imply an important leadership role for health educators. The experience in the Ibarapa Local Government Area in Nigeria shows that health educators can be effective leaders in guiding a primary health care work group through various stages of program development. The use of a flexible, contractual model of team formation fits in well with the health educator's abilities to coordinate various program inputs and serve as mediator between professionals and the communities they serve. The ultimate mark of the health educator's leadership skills is the incorporation of community members into the health team.
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[Community health in primary health care teams: a management objective].
Nebot Adell, Carme; Pasarin Rua, Maribel; Canela Soler, Jaume; Sala Alvarez, Clara; Escosa Farga, Alex
2016-12-01
To describe the process of development of community health in a territory where the Primary Health Care board decided to include it in its roadmap as a strategic line. Evaluative research using qualitative techniques, including SWOT analysis on community health. Two-steps study. Primary care teams (PCT) of the Catalan Health Institute in Barcelona city. The 24 PCT belonging to the Muntanya-Dreta Primary Care Service in Barcelona city, with 904 professionals serving 557,430 inhabitants. Application of qualitative methodology using SWOT analysis in two steps (two-step study). Step 1: Setting up a core group consisting of local PCT professionals; collecting the community projects across the territory; SWOT analysis. Step 2: From the needs identified in the previous phase, a plan was developed, including a set of training activities in community health: basic, advanced, and a workshop to exchange experiences from the PCTs. A total of 80 team professionals received specific training in the 4 workshops held, one of them an advanced level. Two workshops were held to exchange experiences with 165 representatives from the local teams, and 22 PCTs presenting their practices. In 2013, 6 out of 24 PCTs have had a community diagnosis performed. Community health has achieved a good level of development in some areas, but this is not the general situation in the health care system. Its progression depends on the management support they have, the local community dynamics, and the scope of the Primary Health Care. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.
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Analyzing the Interprofessional Working of a Home-Based Primary Care Team.
Smith-Carrier, Tracy; Neysmith, Sheila
2014-09-01
Increasingly, interprofessional teams are responsible for providing integrated health care services. Effective teams, however, are not the result of chance but require careful planning and ongoing attention to team processes. Based on a case study involving interviews, participant observation, and a survey, we identified key attributes for effective interprofessional working (IPW) within a home-based primary care (HBPC) setting. Recognizing the importance of a theoretical model that reflects the multidimensional nature of team effectiveness research, we employed the integrated team effectiveness model to analyze our findings. The results indicated that a shared vision, common goals, respect, and trust among team members – as well as processes for ongoing communication, effective leadership, and mechanisms for conflict resolution – are vital in the development of a high-functioning IPW team. The ambiguity and uncertainty surrounding the context of service provision (clients' homes), as well the negotiation of external relationships in the HBPC field, require further investigation.
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[Burnout and teamwork in primary care teams].
Vilà Falgueras, Maite; Cruzate Muñoz, Carlota; Orfila Pernas, Francesc; Creixell Sureda, Joan; González López, María Pilar; Davins Miralles, Josep
2015-01-01
To estimate the prevalence of burnout and the perception of teamwork in Primary Care teams from Barcelona. Multicenter cross-sectional. Primary Health Care Teams from Barcelona. Institut Català de la Salut. All permanent employees or temporary professionals of all categories from 51 teams (N=2398). A total of 879 responses (36.7%) were obtained. The Maslach Burnout Inventory questionnaire, with 3 dimensions, was sent by emotional exhaustion (AE), depersonalization (DP), and personal accomplishment (RP). Burnout is considered present when two or more dimensions scored high marks. Perception of teamwork and evaluation of leaders was evaluated using an ad hoc questionnaire. The prevalence of burnout was17.2% (two or more dimensions affected), and 46.2% had at least one of the three dimensions with a high level. A high level of AE was found in 38.2%, of DP in 23.8%, and 7.7% had low RP. Almost half (49.2%) believe that teamwork is encouraged in their workplace. Social workers overall, have a higher average of dimensions affected at a high level, followed by administrative personnel, dentists, doctors and nurses (p<0.001). Permanent staff have a greater degree of emotional exhaustion (p<0.002). Those who rated their leaders worst and least rated teamwork had more emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and higher level of burnout in general (p<0.001). The level of burnout among professionals is considerable, with differences existing between occupational categories. Teamwork and appreciating their leaders protect from burnout. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.
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[Team cohesiveness: opinions of a group of primary health care professionals from Salamanca].
González, F J; de Cabo, A; Morán, M J; Manzano, J M
1993-04-01
To assess the view of a group of Primary care professionals on their level of perception of group cohesiveness in their teams' work dynamic. A descriptive and sectional study. Four urban health centres in Salamanca with a recognised teaching activity. Both health professionals and those outside the Health Service, working in Primary Care, who had been members of their teams for more than a year (N = 90). Descriptive statistics and "Chi squared" tests were employed. 72%. A high level of agreement on the need for team work (95.23%). They perceived their group cohesiveness as being very low (84.21% affirmed that they encounter problems of cohesiveness). The main statements concerning this lack of cohesiveness were: "lack of common objectives" (25.5%), "intolerance between workers" (20.13%), "work not shared" (19.46%) and "the taking of decisions individually" (19.44%). The main causes given were: lack of support from Management (23.74%) and too little training for team work (21.58%). There is a high degree of conviction that the team work model is the most efficacious way of developing Primary Care. However in three of the four teams questioned, there were serious problems preventing the teams' reaching an adequate level of group cohesiveness.
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Wranik, W Dominika; Hayden, Jill A; Price, Sheri; Parker, Robin M N; Haydt, Susan M; Edwards, Jeanette M; Suter, Esther; Katz, Alan; Gambold, Liesl L; Levy, Adrian R
2016-10-04
Western publicly funded health care systems increasingly rely on interdisciplinary teams to support primary care delivery and management of chronic conditions. This knowledge synthesis focuses on what is known in the academic and grey literature about optimal structural characteristics of teams. Its goal is to assess which factors contribute to the effective functioning of interdisciplinary primary care teams and improved health system outcomes, with specific focus on (i) team structure contribution to team process, (ii) team process contribution to primary care goals, and (iii) team structure contribution to primary care goals. The systematic search of academic literature focuses on four chronic conditions and co-morbidities. Within this scope, qualitative and quantitative studies that assess the effects of team characteristics (funding, governance, organization) on care process and patient outcomes will be searched. Electronic databases (Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PAIS, Web of Science) will be searched systematically. Online web-based searches will be supported by the Grey Matters Tool. Studies will be included, if they report on interdisciplinary primary care in publicly funded Western health systems, and address the relationships between team structure, process, and/or patient outcomes. Studies will be selected in a three-stage screening process (title/abstract/full text) by two independent reviewers in each stage. Study quality will be assessed using the Mixed Methods Assessment Tool. An a priori framework will be applied to data extraction, and a narrative framework approach is used for the synthesis. Using an integrated knowledge translation approach, an electronic decision support tool will be developed for decision makers. It will be searchable along two axes of inquiry: (i) what primary care goals are supported by specific team characteristics and (ii) how should teams be structured to support specific primary care goals? The results of this evidence
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The association between culture, climate and quality of care in primary health care teams.
Hann, Mark; Bower, Peter; Campbell, Stephen; Marshall, Martin; Reeves, David
2007-09-01
Culture and climate represent shared beliefs and values that may influence quality of care in health care teams, and which could be manipulated for quality improvement. However, there is a lack of agreement on the theoretical and empirical relationships between climate and culture, and their relative power as predictors of quality of care. This study sought to examine the association between self-report measures of climate and culture in primary care teams and comprehensive measures of quality of care. The data were derived from a cross-sectional survey of 492 professionals in 42 general practices in England. Self-report measures of culture (the Competing Values Framework) and climate (the Team Climate Inventory) were used, together with validated measures of quality of care from medical records and self-report. The majority of practices could be characterized as 'clan' culture type. Practices with a dominant clan culture scored higher on climate for participation and teamwork. There were no associations between culture and quality of care, and only limited evidence of associations between climate and quality. The current analysis would not support the hypothesis that culture and climate are important predictors of quality of care in primary care. Although larger studies are required to provide a definitive test, the results may suggest the need for a more complex model of the associations between culture, climate and outcomes, and further research may be required into the interaction between culture and climate with other determinants of behaviour such as internal and external incentives.
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Helfrich, Christian D; Dolan, Emily D; Fihn, Stephan D; Rodriguez, Hector P; Meredith, Lisa S; Rosland, Ann-Marie; Lempa, Michele; Wakefield, Bonnie J; Joos, Sandra; Lawler, Lauren H; Harvey, Henry B; Stark, Richard; Schectman, Gordon; Nelson, Karin M
2014-12-01
Team-based care is central to the patient-centered medical home (PCMH), but most PCMH evaluations measure team structure exclusively. We assessed team-based care in terms of team structure, process and effectiveness, and the association with improvements in teams׳ abilities to deliver patient-centered care. We fielded a cross-sectional survey among 913 VA primary care clinics implementing a PCMH model in 2012. The dependent variable was clinic-level respondent-reported improvements in delivery of patient-centered care. Independent variables included three sets of measures: (1) team structure, (2) team process, and (3) team effectiveness. We adjusted for clinic workload and patient comorbidity. 4819 surveys were returned (25% estimated response rate). The highest ratings were for team structure (median of 89% of respondents being assigned to a teamlet, i.e., a PCP working with the same clinical associate, nurse care manager and clerk) and lowest for team process (median of 10% of respondents reporting the lowest level of stress/chaos). In multivariable regression, perceived improvements in patient-centered care were most strongly associated with participatory decision making (β=32, Pteam processes). A stressful/chaotic clinic environment was associated with higher barriers to patient centered care (β=0.16-0.34, P=Team process and effectiveness measures, often omitted from PCMH evaluations, had stronger associations with perceived improvements in patient-centered care than team structure measures. Team process and effectiveness measures may facilitate synthesis of evaluation findings and help identify positive outlier clinics. Published by Elsevier Inc.
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Doekhie, K.; Buljac, M.; Strating, M.; Paauwe, J.
2017-01-01
Background: Due to the growing prevalence of elderly patients with multi-morbidity living at home, there is an increasing need for primary care professionals from different disciplinary backgrounds to collaborate as primary care teams. However, it is unclear how primary care professionals
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K.D. Doekhie (Kirti); M. Buljac-Samardzic (Martina); M.M.H. Strating (Mathilde); J. Paauwe (Jaap)
2017-01-01
markdownabstract__Background:__ Due to the growing prevalence of elderly patients with multi-morbidity living at home, there is an increasing need for primary care professionals from different disciplinary backgrounds to collaborate as primary care teams. However, it is unclear how primary care
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Is the job satisfaction of primary care team members associated with patient satisfaction?
Szecsenyi, Joachim; Goetz, Katja; Campbell, Stephen; Broge, Bjoern; Reuschenbach, Bernd; Wensing, Michel
2011-01-01
Background Previous research has shown a correlation between physician job satisfaction and patient satisfaction with quality of care, but the connection between job satisfaction of other primary care team members and patient satisfaction is yet unclear. Objective To evaluate whether there is an association between patient satisfaction and job satisfaction of the members of patient care teams. Design The study was based on data from the European Practice Assessment and used an observational d...
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Role of the primary health care team in preventing accidents to children.
Kendrick, D
1994-01-01
Accidents are the most common cause of mortality in children and account for considerable childhood morbidity. The identification of risk factors for childhood accidents suggests that many are predictable and therefore preventable. Numerous interventions have been found to be effective in reducing the morbidity and mortality from childhood accidents. The scope for accident prevention within the primary care setting and the roles of the members of the primary health care team are discussed. Fi...
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Advancing team-based primary health care: a comparative analysis of policies in western Canada.
Suter, Esther; Mallinson, Sara; Misfeldt, Renee; Boakye, Omenaa; Nasmith, Louise; Wong, Sabrina T
2017-07-17
We analyzed and compared primary health care (PHC) policies in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan to understand how they inform the design and implementation of team-based primary health care service delivery. The goal was to develop policy imperatives that can advance team-based PHC in Canada. We conducted comparative case studies (n = 3). The policy analysis included: Context review: We reviewed relevant information (2007 to 2014) from databases and websites. Policy review and comparative analysis: We compared and contrasted publically available PHC policies. Key informant interviews: Key informants (n = 30) validated narratives prepared from the comparative analysis by offering contextual information on potential policy imperatives. Advisory group and roundtable: An expert advisory group guided this work and a key stakeholder roundtable event guided prioritization of policy imperatives. The concept of team-based PHC varies widely across and within the three provinces. We noted policy gaps related to team configuration, leadership, scope of practice, role clarity and financing of team-based care; few policies speak explicitly to monitoring and evaluation of team-based PHC. We prioritized four policy imperatives: (1) alignment of goals and policies at different system levels; (2) investment of resources for system change; (3) compensation models for all members of the team; and (4) accountability through collaborative practice metrics. Policies supporting team-based PHC have been slow to emerge, lacking a systematic and coordinated approach. Greater alignment with specific consideration of financing, reimbursement, implementation mechanisms and performance monitoring could accelerate systemic transformation by removing some well-known barriers to team-based care.
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[Family Health Teams in Ontario: Ideas for Germany from a Canadian Primary Care Model].
Ulrich, Lisa-R; Pham, Thuy-Nga Tia; Gerlach, Ferdinand M; Erler, Antje
2017-07-11
The German healthcare system is struggling with fragmentation of care in the face of an increasing shortage of general practitioners and allied health professionals, and the time-demanding healthcare needs of an aging, multimorbid patient population. Innovative interprofessional, intersectoral models of care are required to ensure adequate access to primary care across a variety of rural and urban settings into the foreseeable future. A team approach to care of the complex multimorbid patient population appears particularly suitable in attracting and retaining the next generation of healthcare professionals, including general practitioners. In 2014, the German Advisory Council on the Assessment of Developments in the Health Care System highlighted the importance of regional, integrated care with community-based primary care centres at its core, providing comprehensive, population-based, patient-centred primary care with adequate access to general practitioners for a given geographical area. Such centres exist already in Ontario, Canada; within Family Health Teams (FHT), family physicians work hand-in-hand with pharmacists, nurses, nurse practitioners, social workers, and other allied health professionals. In this article, the Canadian model of FHT will be introduced and we will discuss which components could be adapted to suit the German primary care system. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.
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Wagner, Daniel J; Durbin, Janet; Barnsley, Jan; Ivers, Noah M
2017-12-02
Despite its popularity, the effectiveness of audit and feedback in support quality improvement efforts is mixed. While audit and feedback-related research efforts have investigated issues relating to feedback design and delivery, little attention has been directed towards factors which motivate interest and engagement with feedback interventions. This study explored the motivating factors that drove primary care teams to participate in a voluntary audit and feedback initiative. Interviews were conducted with leaders of primary care teams who had participated in at least one iteration of the audit and feedback program. This intervention was developed by an organization which advocates for high-quality, team-based primary care in Ontario, Canada. Interview transcripts were coded using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research and the resulting framework was analyzed inductively to generate key themes. Interviews were completed with 25 individuals from 18 primary care teams across Ontario. The majority were Executive Directors (14), Physician leaders (3) and support staff for Quality Improvement (4). A range of motivations for participating in the audit and feedback program beyond quality improvement were emphasized. Primarily, informants believed that the program would eventually become a best-in-class audit and feedback initiative. This reflected concerns regarding existing initiatives in terms of the intervention components and intentions as well as the perception that an initiative by primary care, for primary care would better reflect their own goals and better support desired patient outcomes. Key enablers included perceived obligations to engage and provision of support for the work involved. No teams cited an evidence base for A&F as a motivating factor for participation. A range of motivating factors, beyond quality improvement, contributed to participation in the audit and feedback program. Findings from this study highlight that efforts to
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Conflict on interprofessional primary health care teams--can it be resolved?
Brown, Judith; Lewis, Laura; Ellis, Kathy; Stewart, Moira; Freeman, Thomas R; Kasperski, M Janet
2011-01-01
Increasingly, primary health care teams (PHCTs) depend on the contributions of multiple professionals. However, conflict is inevitable on teams. This article examines PHCTs members' experiences with conflict and responses to conflict. This phenomenological study was conducted using in-depth interviews with 121 participants from 16 PHCTs (10 urban and 6 rural) including a wide range of health care professionals. An iterative analysis process was used to examine the verbatim transcripts. The analysis revealed three main themes: sources of team conflict; barriers to conflict resolution; and strategies for conflict resolution. Sources of team conflict included: role boundary issues; scope of practice; and accountability. Barriers to conflict resolution were: lack of time and workload; people in less powerful positions; lack of recognition or motivation to address conflict; and avoiding confrontation for fear of causing emotional discomfort. Team strategies for conflict resolution included interventions by team leaders and the development of conflict management protocols. Individual strategies included: open and direct communication; a willingness to find solutions; showing respect; and humility. Conflict is inherent in teamwork. However, understanding the potential barriers to conflict resolution can assist PHCTs in developing strategies to resolve conflict in a timely fashion.
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O'Reilly, Pauline; Lee, Siew Hwa; O'Sullivan, Madeleine; Cullen, Walter; Kennedy, Catriona; MacFarlane, Anne
2017-01-01
Interdisciplinary team working is of paramount importance in the reform of primary care in order to provide cost-effective and comprehensive care. However, international research shows that it is not routine practice in many healthcare jurisdictions. It is imperative to understand levers and barriers to the implementation process. This review examines interdisciplinary team working in practice, in primary care, from the perspective of service providers and analyses 1 barriers and facilitators to implementation of interdisciplinary teams in primary care and 2 the main research gaps. An integrative review following the PRISMA guidelines was conducted. Following a search of 10 international databases, 8,827 titles were screened for relevance and 49 met the criteria. Quality of evidence was appraised using predetermined criteria. Data were analysed following the principles of framework analysis using Normalisation Process Theory (NPT), which has four constructs: sense making, enrolment, enactment, and appraisal. The literature is dominated by a focus on interdisciplinary working between physicians and nurses. There is a dearth of evidence about all NPT constructs apart from enactment. Physicians play a key role in encouraging the enrolment of others in primary care team working and in enabling effective divisions of labour in the team. The experience of interdisciplinary working emerged as a lever for its implementation, particularly where communication and respect were strong between professionals. A key lever for interdisciplinary team working in primary care is to get professionals working together and to learn from each other in practice. However, the evidence base is limited as it does not reflect the experiences of all primary care professionals and it is primarily about the enactment of team working. We need to know much more about the experiences of the full network of primary care professionals regarding all aspects of implementation work. International
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Is the job satisfaction of primary care team members associated with patient satisfaction?
Szecsenyi, J.; Goetz, K.; Campbell, S.M.; Broge, B.; Reuschenbach, B.; Wensing, M.J.P.
2011-01-01
BACKGROUND Previous research has shown a correlation between physician job satisfaction and patient satisfaction with quality of care, but the connection between job satisfaction of other primary care team members and patient satisfaction is yet unclear. OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether there is an
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Building teams in primary care: what do nonlicensed allied health workers want?
Saba, George W; Taché, Stephanie; Ward, Lisa; Chen, Ellen H; Hammer, Hali
2011-01-01
Nonlicensed allied health workers are becoming increasingly important in collaborative team care, yet we know little about their experiences while filling these roles. To explore their perceptions of working as health coaches in a chronic-disease collaborative team, the teamlet model, we conducted a qualitative study to understand the nature and dynamics of this emerging role. During semistructured interviews, 11 health coaches reflected on their yearlong experience in the teamlet model at an urban underserved primary care clinic. Investigators conducted a thematic analysis of transcriptions of the interviews using a grounded theory process. Four themes emerged: 1) health-coach roles and responsibilities included acting as a patient liaison between visits, providing patient education and cultural brokering during medical visits, and helping patients navigate the health care system; 2) communication and relationships in the teamlet model of care were defined by a triad of the patient, health coach, and resident physician; 3) interest in the teamlet model was influenced by allied health workers' prior education and health care roles; and 4) factors influencing the effectiveness of the model were related to clinical and administrative time pressures and competing demands of other work responsibilities. Nonlicensed allied health workers participating in collaborative teams have an important role in liaising between patients and their primary care physicians, advocating for patients through cultural brokering, and helping patients navigate the health care system. To maximize their job satisfaction, their selection should involve strong consideration of motivation to participate in these expanded roles, and protected time must be provided for them to carry out their responsibilities and optimize their effectiveness.
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Ashcroft, Rachelle; McMillan, Colleen; Ambrose-Miller, Wayne; McKee, Ryan; Brown, Judith Belle
2018-05-01
Primary health care systems are increasingly integrating interprofessional team-based approaches to care delivery. As members of these interprofessional primary health care teams, it is important for social workers to explore our experiences of integration into these newly emerging teams to help strengthen patient care. Despite the expansion of social work within primary health care settings, few studies have examined the integration of social work's role into this expanding area of the health care system. A survey was conducted with Canadian social work practitioners who were employed within Family Health Teams (FHTs), an interprofessional model of primary health care in Ontario emerging from a period of health care reform. One hundred and twenty-eight (N = 128) respondents completed the online survey. Key barriers to social work integration in FHTs included difficulties associated with a medical model environment, confusion about social work role, and organizational barriers. Facilitators for integration of social work in FHTs included adequate education and competencies, collaborative engagement, and organizational structures.
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Patient-centered variables in primary and team nursing.
Hamera, E; O'Connell, K A
1981-03-01
Patient-centered variables and their relationship to primary and team nursing have rarely been studied. In the present study the investigation focused on the following patient-centered variables: nurturance received, patient involvement, and frequency of nurse-patient contacts. Baseline observational data were collected on 12 adult medical patients experiencing team nursing care. A primary nursing care approach was then implemented on the same nursing unit, and 6 months later 12 patients were observed under this system. Patients were directly observed 24 hours a day for 5 days of hospitalization and audiotaped, using a specimen record method. This method produced transcripts that were coded for nurturance, involvement, and nurse-patient contacts. Results of the study showed that there were no differences between primary and team nursing care groups in the number of contacts, nurturance, or patient involvement with all nursing personnel or with professional nurses. However, when the primary group was adjusted to include only those patients for whom primary nursing care was fully implemented, the primary group received more nurturance (p less than .05) and had a tendency to be more active involved than did the team group (p less than .10). These findings indicate that the institution of primary nursing care is related to increased quality of nursing care.
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Helfrich, Christian D; Dolan, Emily D; Simonetti, Joseph; Reid, Robert J; Joos, Sandra; Wakefield, Bonnie J; Schectman, Gordon; Stark, Richard; Fihn, Stephan D; Harvey, Henry B; Nelson, Karin
2014-07-01
A high proportion of the US primary care workforce reports burnout, which is associated with negative consequences for clinicians and patients. Many protective factors from burnout are characteristics of patient-centered medical home (PCMH) models, though even positive organizational transformation is often stressful. The existing literature on the effects of PCMH on burnout is limited, with most findings based on small-scale demonstration projects with data collected only among physicians, and the results are mixed. To determine if components of PCMH related to team-based care were associated with lower burnout among primary care team members participating in a national medical home transformation, the VA Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT). Web-based, cross-sectional survey and administrative data from May 2012. A total of 4,539 VA primary care personnel from 588 VA primary care clinics. The dependent variable was burnout, and the independent variables were measures of team-based care: team functioning, time spent in huddles, team staffing, delegation of clinical responsibilities, working to top of competency, and collective self-efficacy. We also included administrative measures of workload and patient comorbidity. Overall, 39 % of respondents reported burnout. Participatory decision making (OR 0.65, 95 % CI 0.57, 0.74) and having a fully staffed PACT (OR 0.79, 95 % CI 0.68, 0.93) were associated with lower burnout, while being assigned to a PACT (OR 1.46, 95 % CI 1.11, 1.93), spending time on work someone with less training could do (OR 1.29, 95 % CI 1.07, 1.57) and a stressful, fast-moving work environment (OR 4.33, 95 % CI 3.78, 4.96) were associated with higher burnout. Longer tenure and occupation were also correlated with burnout. Lower burnout may be achieved by medical home models that are appropriately staffed, emphasize participatory decision making, and increase the proportion of time team members spend working to the top of their competency level.
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The knowledge of family health team on the action of physical therapist in primary care
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Greicimar de Oliveira
2011-12-01
Full Text Available Objective: To evaluate the knowledge of health team from Basic Health Units in the city of Coari-AM, Brazil, on the action of physical therapist in primary care. Methods: A quantitative,exploratory and descriptive study, like a field survey conducted in 11 primary care units in Coari, Amazonas state. The data were collected through a questionnaire comprising closed questions regarding the action of physical therapist in primary care. 76 professionals joinedin the survey by category: (05 physicians, (10 nurses, (08 nursing technicians and (53 community health workers. Results: 61.64% (n = 45 of the professionals working in the family health team reported knowing the action of physical therapist in primary care; 79.45%(n = 58 referred it in secondary level and 69.86% (n = 51 at the tertiary level of health care. Conclusion: This work showed some knowledge of professionals on the professional action of physical therapists in primary care; however, the knowledge for this level presents itself disadvantaged in relation to other levels of health care. We demonstrated that a share of professionals presented difficulties to consider the possibility of physiotherapeuticintervention in diseases mostly worked in primary care, but the reference to the viability of action of physical therapist for different publics was satisfactory. This conclusion does notexhaust the possibility of discussing the proposed theme.
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Sibbald, Shannon L.; Wathen, C. Nadine; Kothari, Anita; Day, Adam M. B.
2013-01-01
Objective: Improving the process of evidence-based practice in primary health care requires an understanding of information exchange among colleagues. This study explored how clinically oriented research knowledge flows through multidisciplinary primary health care teams (PHCTs) and influences clinical decisions. Methods: This was an exploratory mixed-methods study with members of six PHCTs in Ontario, Canada. Quantitative data were collected using a questionnaire and analyzed with social network analysis (SNA) using UCINet. Qualitative data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed with content analysis procedures using NVivo8. Results: It was found that obtaining research knowledge was perceived to be a shared responsibility among team members, whereas its application in patient care was seen as the responsibility of the team leader, usually the senior physician. PHCT members acknowledged the need for resources for information access, synthesis, interpretation, or management. Conclusion: Information sharing in interdisciplinary teams is a complex and multifaceted process. Specific interventions need to be improved such as formalizing modes of communication, better organizing knowledge-sharing activities, and improving the active use of allied health professionals. Despite movement toward team-based models, senior physicians are often gatekeepers of uptake of new evidence and changes in practice. PMID:23646028
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Wranik, W Dominika; Haydt, Susan M; Katz, Alan; Levy, Adrian R; Korchagina, Maryna; Edwards, Jeanette M; Bower, Ian
2017-05-15
Reliance on interdisciplinary teams in the delivery of primary care is on the rise. Funding bodies strive to design financial environments that support collaboration between providers. At present, the design of financial arrangements has been fragmented and not based on evidence. The root of the problem is a lack of systematic evidence demonstrating the superiority of any particular financial arrangement, or a solid understanding of options. In this study we develop a framework for the conceptualization and analysis of financial arrangements in interdisciplinary primary care teams. We use qualitative data from three sources: (i) interviews with 19 primary care decision makers representing 215 clinics in three Canadian provinces, (ii) a research roundtable with 14 primary care decision makers and/or researchers, and (iii) policy documents. Transcripts from interviews and the roundtable were coded thematically and a framework synthesis approach was applied. Our conceptual framework differentiates between team level funding and provider level remuneration, and characterizes the interplay and consonance between them. Particularly the notions of hierarchy, segregation, and dependence of provider incomes, and the link between funding and team activities are introduced as new clarifying concepts, and their implications explored. The framework is applied to the analysis of collaboration incentives, which appear strongest when provider incomes are interdependent, funding is linked to the team as a whole, and accountability does not have multiple lines. Emergent implementation issues discussed by respondents include: (i) centrality of budget negotiations; (ii) approaches to patient rostering; (iii) unclear funding sources for space and equipment; and (iv) challenges with community engagement. The creation of patient rosters is perceived as a surprisingly contentious issue, and the challenges of funding for space and equipment remain unresolved. The development and
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O’Reilly, Pauline; Lee, Siew Hwa; O’Sullivan, Madeleine; Cullen, Walter; Kennedy, Catriona; MacFarlane, Anne
2017-01-01
Background Interdisciplinary team working is of paramount importance in the reform of primary care in order to provide cost-effective and comprehensive care. However, international research shows that it is not routine practice in many healthcare jurisdictions. It is imperative to understand levers and barriers to the implementation process. This review examines interdisciplinary team working in practice, in primary care, from the perspective of service providers and analyses 1 barriers and facilitators to implementation of interdisciplinary teams in primary care and 2 the main research gaps. Methods and findings An integrative review following the PRISMA guidelines was conducted. Following a search of 10 international databases, 8,827 titles were screened for relevance and 49 met the criteria. Quality of evidence was appraised using predetermined criteria. Data were analysed following the principles of framework analysis using Normalisation Process Theory (NPT), which has four constructs: sense making, enrolment, enactment, and appraisal. The literature is dominated by a focus on interdisciplinary working between physicians and nurses. There is a dearth of evidence about all NPT constructs apart from enactment. Physicians play a key role in encouraging the enrolment of others in primary care team working and in enabling effective divisions of labour in the team. The experience of interdisciplinary working emerged as a lever for its implementation, particularly where communication and respect were strong between professionals. Conclusion A key lever for interdisciplinary team working in primary care is to get professionals working together and to learn from each other in practice. However, the evidence base is limited as it does not reflect the experiences of all primary care professionals and it is primarily about the enactment of team working. We need to know much more about the experiences of the full network of primary care professionals regarding all aspects
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Conducting a team-based multi-sited focused ethnography in primary care
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
A.P. Bikker
2017-09-01
Full Text Available Abstract Focused ethnography is an applied and pragmatic form of ethnography that explores a specific social phenomenon as it occurs in everyday life. Based on the literature a problem-focused research question is formulated before the data collection. The data generation process targets key informants and situations so that relevant results on the pre-defined topic can be obtained within a relatively short time-span. As part of a theory based evaluation of alternative forms of consultation (such as video, phone and email in primary care we used the focused ethnographic method in a multisite study in general practice across the UK. To date there is a gap in the literature on using focused ethnography in healthcare research. The aim of the paper is to build on the various methodological approaches in health services research by presenting the challenges and benefits we encountered whilst conducing a focused ethnography in British primary care. Our considerations are clustered under three headings: constructing a shared understanding, dividing the tasks within the team, and the functioning of the focused ethnographers within the broader multi-disciplinary team. As a result of using this approach we experienced several advantages, like the ability to collect focused data in several settings simultaneously within in a short time-span. Also, the sharing of experiences and interpretations between the researchers contributed to a more holistic understanding of the research topic. However, mechanisms need to be in place to facilitate and synthesise the observations, guide the analysis, and to ensure that all researchers feel engaged. Reflection, trust and flexibility among the team members were crucial to successfully adopt a team focused ethnographic approach. When used for policy focussed applied healthcare research a team-based multi-sited focused ethnography can uncover practices and understandings that would not be apparent through surveys or
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Conducting a team-based multi-sited focused ethnography in primary care.
Bikker, A P; Atherton, H; Brant, H; Porqueddu, T; Campbell, J L; Gibson, A; McKinstry, B; Salisbury, C; Ziebland, S
2017-09-12
Focused ethnography is an applied and pragmatic form of ethnography that explores a specific social phenomenon as it occurs in everyday life. Based on the literature a problem-focused research question is formulated before the data collection. The data generation process targets key informants and situations so that relevant results on the pre-defined topic can be obtained within a relatively short time-span. As part of a theory based evaluation of alternative forms of consultation (such as video, phone and email) in primary care we used the focused ethnographic method in a multisite study in general practice across the UK. To date there is a gap in the literature on using focused ethnography in healthcare research.The aim of the paper is to build on the various methodological approaches in health services research by presenting the challenges and benefits we encountered whilst conducing a focused ethnography in British primary care. Our considerations are clustered under three headings: constructing a shared understanding, dividing the tasks within the team, and the functioning of the focused ethnographers within the broader multi-disciplinary team.As a result of using this approach we experienced several advantages, like the ability to collect focused data in several settings simultaneously within in a short time-span. Also, the sharing of experiences and interpretations between the researchers contributed to a more holistic understanding of the research topic. However, mechanisms need to be in place to facilitate and synthesise the observations, guide the analysis, and to ensure that all researchers feel engaged. Reflection, trust and flexibility among the team members were crucial to successfully adopt a team focused ethnographic approach. When used for policy focussed applied healthcare research a team-based multi-sited focused ethnography can uncover practices and understandings that would not be apparent through surveys or interviews alone. If conducted with
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A shared computer-based problem-oriented patient record for the primary care team.
Linnarsson, R; Nordgren, K
1995-01-01
1. INTRODUCTION. A computer-based patient record (CPR) system, Swedestar, has been developed for use in primary health care. The principal aim of the system is to support continuous quality improvement through improved information handling, improved decision-making, and improved procedures for quality assurance. The Swedestar system has evolved during a ten-year period beginning in 1984. 2. SYSTEM DESIGN. The design philosophy is based on the following key factors: a shared, problem-oriented patient record; structured data entry based on an extensive controlled vocabulary; advanced search and query functions, where the query language has the most important role; integrated decision support for drug prescribing and care protocols and guidelines; integrated procedures for quality assurance. 3. A SHARED PROBLEM-ORIENTED PATIENT RECORD. The core of the CPR system is the problem-oriented patient record. All problems of one patient, recorded by different members of the care team, are displayed on the problem list. Starting from this list, a problem follow-up can be made, one problem at a time or for several problems simultaneously. Thus, it is possible to get an integrated view, across provider categories, of those problems of one patient that belong together. This shared problem-oriented patient record provides an important basis for the primary care team work. 4. INTEGRATED DECISION SUPPORT. The decision support of the system includes a drug prescribing module and a care protocol module. The drug prescribing module is integrated with the patient records and includes an on-line check of the patient's medication list for potential interactions and data-driven reminders concerning major drug problems. Care protocols have been developed for the most common chronic diseases, such as asthma, diabetes, and hypertension. The patient records can be automatically checked according to the care protocols. 5. PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE. The Swedestar system has been implemented in a
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Strumpf, Erin; Ammi, Mehdi; Diop, Mamadou; Fiset-Laniel, Julie; Tousignant, Pierre
2017-09-01
We investigate the effects on health care costs and utilization of team-based primary care delivery: Quebec's Family Medicine Groups (FMGs). FMGs include extended hours, patient enrolment and multidisciplinary teams, but they maintain the same remuneration scheme (fee-for-service) as outside FMGs. In contrast to previous studies, we examine the impacts of organizational changes in primary care settings in the absence of changes to provider payment and outside integrated care systems. We built a panel of administrative data of the population of elderly and chronically ill patients, characterizing all individuals as FMG enrollees or not. Participation in FMGs is voluntary and we address potential selection bias by matching on GP propensity scores, using inverse probability of treatment weights at the patient level, and then estimating difference-in-differences models. We also use appropriate modelling strategies to account for the distributions of health care cost and utilization data. We find that FMGs significantly decrease patients' health care services utilization and costs in outpatient settings relative to patients not in FMGs. The number of primary care visits decreased by 11% per patient per year among FMG enrolees and specialist visits declined by 6%. The declines in costs were of roughly equal magnitude. We found no evidence of an effect on hospitalizations, their associated costs, or the costs of ED visits. These results provide support for the idea that primary care organizational reforms can have impacts on the health care system in the absence of changes to physician payment mechanisms. The extent to which the decline in GP visits represents substitution with other primary care providers warrants further investigation. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Asselin, J; Osunlana, A M; Ogunleye, A A; Sharma, A M; Campbell-Scherer, D
2016-04-01
Increasingly, research is directed at advancing methods to address obesity management in primary care. In this paper we describe the role of interdisciplinary collaboration, or lack thereof, in patient weight management within 12 teams in a large primary care network in Alberta, Canada. Qualitative data for the present analysis were derived from the 5As Team (5AsT) trial, a mixed-method randomized control trial of a 6-month participatory, team-based educational intervention aimed at improving the quality and quantity of obesity management encounters in primary care practice. Participants (n = 29) included in this analysis are healthcare providers supporting chronic disease management in 12 family practice clinics randomized to the intervention arm of the 5AsT trial including mental healthcare workers (n = 7), registered dietitians (n = 7), registered nurses or nurse practitioners (n = 15). Participants were part of a 6-month intervention consisting of 12 biweekly learning sessions aimed at increasing provider knowledge and confidence in addressing patient weight management. Qualitative methods included interviews, structured field notes and logs. Four common themes of importance in the ability of healthcare providers to address weight with patients within an interdisciplinary care team emerged, (i) Availability; (ii) Referrals; (iii) Role perception and (iv) Messaging. However, we find that what was key to our participants was not that these issues be uniformly agreed upon by all team members, but rather that communication and clinic relationships support their continued negotiation. Our study shows that firm clinic relationships and deliberate communication strategies are the foundation of interdisciplinary care in weight management. Furthermore, there is a clear need for shared messaging concerning obesity and its treatment between members of interdisciplinary teams. © 2016 World Obesity.
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2011-01-01
Background This mixed methods study was designed to explore the acceptability and impact of feedback of team performance data to primary care interdisciplinary teams. Methods Seven interdisciplinary teams were offered a one-hour, facilitated performance feedback session presenting data from a comprehensive, previously-conducted evaluation, selecting highlights such as performance on chronic disease management, access, patient satisfaction and team function. Results Several recurrent themes emerged from participants' surveys and two rounds of interviews within three months of the feedback session. Team performance measurement and feedback was welcomed across teams and disciplines. This feedback could build the team, the culture, and the capacity for quality improvement. However, existing performance indicators do not equally reflect the role of different disciplines within an interdisciplinary team. Finally, the effect of team performance feedback on intentions to improve performance was hindered by a poor understanding of how the team could use the data. Conclusions The findings further our understanding of how performance feedback may engage interdisciplinary team members in improving the quality of primary care and the unique challenges specific to these settings. There is a need to develop a shared sense of responsibility and agenda for quality improvement. Therefore, more efforts to develop flexible and interactive performance-reporting structures (that better reflect contributions from all team members) in which teams could specify the information and audience may assist in promoting quality improvement. PMID:21443806
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Foster, Michele M; Mitchell, Geoffrey K
2015-10-01
This study investigated the views of primary care patients in receipt of Medicare-funded team care for chronic disease management (CDM) in Australia. A qualitative study using a repeat in-depth interview design. Twenty-three patients (17 female), aged 32-89, were recruited over a six-month period from two purposively selected general practices: one urban and one regional practice in Queensland, Australia. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants 6 months apart. An interview guide was used to ensure consistency of topics explored. Interviews were recorded and transcribed, and a thematic analysis was conducted. Patients in this study viewed the combined contributions of a GP and other health professionals in team care as thorough and reassuring. In this case of Medicare-funded team care, patients also saw obligations within the structured care routine which cultivated a personal ethics of CDM. This was further influenced by how patients viewed their role in the health-care relationship. Aside from personal obligations, Medicare funding got patients engaged in team care by providing financial incentives. Indeed, this was a defining factor in seeing allied health professionals. However, team care was also preferential due to patients' valuations of costs and benefits. Patients are likely to engage with a structured team care approach to CDM if there is a sense of personal obligation and sufficient financial incentive. The level of engagement in team care is likely to be optimized if patient expectations and preferences are considered in decisions. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
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MacNaughton, Kate; Chreim, Samia; Bourgeault, Ivy Lynn
2013-11-24
The move towards enhancing teamwork and interprofessional collaboration in health care raises issues regarding the management of professional boundaries and the relationship among health care providers. This qualitative study explores how roles are constructed within interprofessional health care teams. It focuses on elucidating the different types of role boundaries, the influences on role construction and the implications for professionals and patients. A comparative case study was conducted to examine the dynamics of role construction on two interprofessional primary health care teams. The data collection included interviews and non-participant observation of team meetings. Thematic content analysis was used to code and analyze the data and a conceptual model was developed to represent the emergent findings. The findings indicate that role boundaries can be organized around interprofessional interactions (giving rise to autonomous or collaborative roles) as well as the distribution of tasks (giving rise to interchangeable or differentiated roles). Different influences on role construction were identified. They are categorized as structural (characteristics of the workplace), interpersonal (dynamics between team members such as trust and leadership) and individual dynamics (personal attributes). The implications of role construction were found to include professional satisfaction and more favourable wait times for patients. A model that integrates these different elements was developed. Based on the results of this study, we argue that autonomy may be an important element of interprofessional team functioning. Counter-intuitive as this may sound, we found that empowering team members to develop autonomy can enhance collaborative interactions. We also argue that while more interchangeable roles could help to lessen the workloads of team members, they could also increase the potential for power struggles because the roles of various professions would become less
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Ogunleye, Ayodele; Osunlana, Adedayo; Asselin, Jodie; Cave, Andrew; Sharma, Arya Mitra; Campbell-Scherer, Denise Lynn
2015-12-22
Despite opportunities for didactic education on obesity management, we still observe low rates of weight management visits in our primary care setting. This paper describes the co-creation by front-line interdisciplinary health care providers and researchers of the 5As Team intervention to improve obesity prevention and management in primary care. We describe the theoretical foundations, design, and core elements of the 5AsT intervention, and the process of eliciting practitioners' self-identified knowledge gaps to inform the curricula for the 5AsT intervention. Themes and topics were identified through facilitated group discussion and a curriculum relevant to this group of practitioners was developed and delivered in a series of 12 workshops. The research question and approach were co-created with the clinical leadership of the PCN; the PCN committed internal resources and a practice facilitator to the effort. Practice facilitation and learning collaboratives were used in the intervention For the content, front-line providers identified 43 topics, related to 13 themes around obesity assessment and management for which they felt the need for further education and training. These needs included: cultural identity and body image, emotional and mental health, motivation, setting goals, managing expectations, weight-bias, caregiver fatigue, clinic dynamics and team-based care, greater understanding of physiology and the use of a systematic framework for obesity assessment (the "4Ms" of obesity). The content of the 12 intervention sessions were designed based on these themes. There was a strong innovation values fit with the 5AsT intervention, and providers were more comfortable with obesity management following the intervention. The 5AsT intervention, including videos, resources and tools, has been compiled for use by clinical teams and is available online at http://www.obesitynetwork.ca/5As_Team . Primary care interdisciplinary practitioners perceive important
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Is the job satisfaction of primary care team members associated with patient satisfaction?
Goetz, Katja; Campbell, Stephen; Broge, Bjoern; Reuschenbach, Bernd; Wensing, Michel
2011-01-01
Background Previous research has shown a correlation between physician job satisfaction and patient satisfaction with quality of care, but the connection between job satisfaction of other primary care team members and patient satisfaction is yet unclear. Objective To evaluate whether there is an association between patient satisfaction and job satisfaction of the members of patient care teams. Design The study was based on data from the European Practice Assessment and used an observational design. Setting 676 primary care practices in Germany. Participants 47 168 patients, 676 general practitioners (practice principals), 305 physician colleagues (trainees and permanently employed physicians) and 3011 non-physician practice members (nurses, secretaries). Main outcome measures Patient evaluation was measured using the 23-item EUROPEP questionnaire. Job satisfaction was measured using the 10-item Warr–Cook–Wall job satisfaction scale and further items relating to practice structure. Bivariate correlations were applied in which factors of patient satisfaction and practice structure were compared with physicians and non-physicians satisfaction. Results Patient satisfaction correlates positively with the general job satisfaction of the non-physician (r=0.25, ppatient satisfaction was higher than the correlation between satisfaction of physicians and patients. Patients seem to be sensitive to aspects of practice structure. PMID:21262790
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Schwartz, Mark D; Jensen, Ashley; Wang, Binhuan; Bennett, Katelyn; Dembitzer, Anne; Strauss, Shiela; Schoenthaler, Antoinette; Gillespie, Colleen; Sherman, Scott
2015-07-01
Panel Management can expand prevention and chronic illness management beyond the office visit, but there is limited evidence for its effectiveness or guidance on how best to incorporate it into practice. We aimed to test the effectiveness of incorporating panel management into clinical practice by incorporating Panel Management Assistants (PMAs) into primary care teams with and without panel management education. We conducted an 8-month cluster-randomized controlled trial of panel management for improving hypertension and smoking cessation outcomes among veterans. Twenty primary care teams from the Veterans Affairs New York Harbor were randomized to control, panel management support, or panel management support plus education groups. Teams included 69 clinical staff serving 8,153 hypertensive and/or smoking veterans. Teams assigned to the intervention groups worked with non-clinical Panel Management Assistants (PMAs) who monitored care gaps and conducted proactive patient outreach, including referrals, mail reminders and motivational interviewing by telephone. Measurements included mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure, proportion of patients with controlled blood pressure, self-reported quit attempts, nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) prescriptions, and referrals to disease management services. Change in mean blood pressure, blood pressure control, and smoking quit rates were similar across study groups. Patients on intervention teams were more likely to receive NRT (OR = 1.4; 95% CI 1.2-1.6) and enroll in the disease management services MOVE! (OR = 1.2; 95% CI 1.1-1.6) and Telehealth (OR = 1.7, 95% CI 1.4-2.1) than patients on control teams. Panel Management support for primary care teams improved process, but not outcome variables among veterans with hypertension and smoking. Incorporating PMAs into teams was feasible and highly valued by the clinical staff, but clinical impact may require a longer intervention.
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Goicolea, Isabel; Hurtig, Anna-Karin; San Sebastian, Miguel; Vives-Cases, Carmen; Marchal, Bruno
2015-06-09
Despite the progress made on policies and programmes to strengthen primary health care teams' response to Intimate Partner Violence, the literature shows that encounters between women exposed to IPV and health-care providers are not always satisfactory, and a number of barriers that prevent individual health-care providers from responding to IPV have been identified. We carried out a realist case study, for which we developed and tested a programme theory that seeks to explain how, why and under which circumstances a primary health care team in Spain learned to respond to IPV. A realist case study design was chosen to allow for an in-depth exploration of the linkages between context, intervention, mechanisms and outcomes as they happen in their natural setting. The first author collected data at the primary health care center La Virgen (pseudonym) through the review of documents, observation and interviews with health systems' managers, team members, women patients, and members of external services. The quality of the IPV case management was assessed with the PREMIS tool. This study found that the health care team at La Virgen has managed 1) to engage a number of staff members in actively responding to IPV, 2) to establish good coordination, mutual support and continuous learning processes related to IPV, 3) to establish adequate internal referrals within La Virgen, and 4) to establish good coordination and referral systems with other services. Team and individual level factors have triggered the capacity and interest in creating spaces for team leaning, team work and therapeutic responses to IPV in La Virgen, although individual motivation strongly affected this mechanism. Regional interventions did not trigger individual and/ or team responses but legitimated the workings of motivated professionals. The primary health care team of La Virgen is involved in a continuous learning process, even as participation in the process varies between professionals. This
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Goicolea, Isabel; Marchal, Bruno; Hurtig, Anna-Karin; Vives-Cases, Carmen; Briones-Vozmediano, Erica; San Sebastián, Miguel
2017-12-09
To analyse how team level conditions influenced health care professionals' responses to intimate partner violence. We used a multiple embedded case study. The cases were four primary health care teams located in a southern region of Spain; two of them considered "good" and two s "average". The two teams considered good had scored highest in practice issues for intimate partner violence, measured via a questionnaire (PREMIS - Physicians Readiness to Respond to Intimate Partner Violence Survey) applied to professionals working in the four primary health care teams. In each case quantitative and qualitative data were collected using a social network questionnaire, interviews and observations. The two "good" cases showed dynamics and structures that promoted team working and team learning on intimate partner violence, had committed social workers and an enabling environment for their work, and had put into practice explicit strategies to implement a women-centred approach. Better individual responses to intimate partner violence were implemented in the teams which: 1) had social workers who were knowledgeable and motivated to engage with others; 2) sustained a structure of regular meetings during which issues of violence were discussed; 3) encouraged a friendly team climate; and 4) implemented concrete actions towards women-centred care. Copyright © 2017 SESPAS. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.
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Core competencies in sexual and reproductive health for the interprofessional primary care team.
Cappiello, Joyce; Levi, Amy; Nothnagle, Melissa
2016-05-01
A primary care workforce that is well prepared to provide high-quality sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care has the potential to enhance access to care and reduce health disparities. This project aimed to identify core competencies to guide SRH training across the primary care professions. A six-member interprofessional expert working group drafted SRH competencies for primary care team members. Primary care providers including family physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives, physician assistants and pharmacists were invited to participate in a three-round electronic Delphi survey. In each round, participants voted by email to retain, eliminate or revise each competency, with their suggested edits to the competencies incorporated by the researchers after each round. Fifty providers from six professions participated. In Round 1, 17 of 33 draft competencies reached the 75% predetermined agreement level to be accepted as written. Five were combined, reducing the total number to 28. Based on Round 2 feedback, 21 competencies were reworded, and 2 were combined. In Round 3, all 26 competencies reached at least 83.7% agreement, with 9 achieving 100% agreement. The 33 core competencies encompass professional ethics and reproductive justice, collaboration, SRH services and conditions affecting SRH. These core competencies will be disseminated and adapted to each profession's scope of practice to inform required curricula. SRH competencies for primary care can inform the required curricula across professions, filling the gap between an established standard of care necessary to meet patient needs and the outcomes of that care. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Edwards, Samuel T; Helfrich, Christian D; Grembowski, David; Hulen, Elizabeth; Clinton, Walter L; Wood, Gordon B; Kim, Linda; Rose, Danielle E; Stewart, Greg
2018-01-01
Appropriate delegation of clinical tasks from primary care providers (PCPs) to other team members may reduce employee burnout in primary care. However, (1) the extent to which delegation occurs within multidisciplinary teams, (2) factors associated with greater delegation, and (3) whether delegation is associated with burnout are all unknown. We performed a national cross-sectional survey of Veterans Affairs (VA) PCP-nurse dyads in Department of VA primary care clinics, 4 years into the VA's patient-centered medical home initiative. PCPs reported the extent to which they relied on other team members to complete 15 common primary care tasks; paired nurses reported how much they were relied on to complete the same tasks. A composite score of task delegation/reliance was developed by taking the average of the responses to the 15 questions. We performed multivariable regression to explore predictors of task delegation and burnout. Among 777 PCP-nurse dyads, PCPs reported delegating tasks less than nurses reported being relied on (PCP mean ± standard deviation composite delegation score, 2.97± 0.64 [range, 1-4]; nurse composite reliance score, 3.26 ± 0.50 [range, 1-4]). Approximately 48% of PCPs and 35% of nurses reported burnout. PCPs who reported more task delegation reported less burnout (odds ratio [OR], 0.62 per unit of delegation; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.49-0.78), whereas nurses who reported being relied on more reported more burnout (OR, 1.83 per unit of reliance; 95% CI, 1.33-2.5). Task delegation was associated with less burnout for PCPs, whereas task reliance was associated with greater burnout for nurses. Strategies to improve work life in primary care by increasing PCP task delegation must consider the impact on nurses. © Copyright 2018 by the American Board of Family Medicine.
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Raskin, Lynne
2010-01-01
The uptake of family health teams in Ontario has been tremendous. And the creation of group practices in primary care has taken root in other provinces as well. For many people, being involved with something new is exciting. At the same time, once they are committed, they discover the challenges that can be simultaneously exhilarating and frustrating. This issue of Healthcare Quarterly offers two articles that provide interesting reflections on what has been learned so far from the perspectives of both team leadership and the team members themselves within a transforming primary care system.
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Beaulieu, Marie-Dominique; Dragieva, Nataliya; Del Grande, Claudio; Dawson, Jeremy; Haggerty, Jeannie L; Barnsley, Jan; Hogg, William E; Tousignant, Pierre; West, Michael A
2014-02-01
Evaluate the psychometric properties of the French version of the short 19-item Team Climate Inventory (TCI) and explore the contributions of individual and organizational characteristics to perceived team effectiveness. The TCI was completed by 471 of the 618 (76.2%) healthcare professionals and administrative staff working in a random sample of 37 primary care practices in the province of Quebec. Exploratory factor analysis confirmed the original four-factor model. Cronbach's alphas were excellent (from 0.88 to 0.93). Latent class analysis revealed three-class response structure. Respondents in practices with professional governance had a higher probability of belonging to the "High TCI" class than did practices with community governance (36.7% vs. 19.1%). Administrative staff tended to fall into the "Suboptimal TCI" class more frequently than did physicians (36.5% vs. 19.0%). Results confirm the validity of our French version of the short TCI. The association between professional governance and better team climate merits further exploration. Copyright © 2014 Longwoods Publishing.
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Lukewich, Julia; Edge, Dana S; VanDenKerkhof, Elizabeth; Williamson, Tyler; Tranmer, Joan
2018-04-15
Various organizational-level attributes are being implemented in primary healthcare to improve healthcare delivery. There is a need to describe the distribution and nature of these attributes and explore differences across practices.AimThe aim of this study was to better understand organizational attributes of primary care teams, focusing specifically on team composition, nursing roles, and strategies that support chronic disease management. We employed a cross-sectional survey design. Team composition, nursing roles, availability of health services, and chronic disease management activities were described using the 'Measuring Organizational Attributes of Primary Health Care Survey.'FindingsA total of 76% (n=26 out of 34) of practice locations completed the survey, including family health teams (FHT; n=21) and community health centers (CHC; n=4). Nurse practitioners (NPs) and registered nurses (RNs) were the most common non-physician providers, and CHCs had a greater proportion of non-physician providers than FHTs. There was overlap in roles performed by NPs and RNs, and registered practical nurses engaged in fewer roles compared with NPs and RNs. A greater proportion of FHTs had systematic chronic disease management services for hypertension, depression and Alzheimer's disease compared with CHC practices. The 'Measuring Organizational Attributes of Primary Health Care Survey' was a useful tool to highlight variability in organizational attributes across PHC practices. Nurses are prominent within PHC practices, engaging in a wide range of roles related to chronic disease management, suggesting a need to better understand their contributions to patient care to optimize their roles.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Gucciardi Enza
2012-09-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background There is evidence to suggest that delivery of diabetes self-management support by diabetes educators in primary care may improve patient care processes and patient clinical outcomes; however, the evaluation of such a model in primary care is nonexistent in Canada. This article describes the design for the evaluation of the implementation of Mobile Diabetes Education Teams (MDETs in primary care settings in Canada. Methods/design This study will use a non-blinded, cluster-randomized controlled trial stepped wedge design to evaluate the Mobile Diabetes Education Teams' intervention in improving patient clinical and care process outcomes. A total of 1,200 patient charts at participating primary care sites will be reviewed for data extraction. Eligible patients will be those aged ≥18, who have type 2 diabetes and a hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c of ≥8%. Clusters (that is, primary care sites will be randomized to the intervention and control group using a block randomization procedure within practice size as the blocking factor. A stepped wedge design will be used to sequentially roll out the intervention so that all clusters eventually receive the intervention. The time at which each cluster begins the intervention is randomized to one of the four roll out periods (0, 6, 12, and 18 months. Clusters that are randomized into the intervention later will act as the control for those receiving the intervention earlier. The primary outcome measure will be the difference in the proportion of patients who achieve the recommended HbA1c target of ≤7% between intervention and control groups. Qualitative work (in-depth interviews with primary care physicians, MDET educators and patients; and MDET educators’ field notes and debriefing sessions will be undertaken to assess the implementation process and effectiveness of the MDET intervention. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01553266
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Tuomo Lehtovuori
2018-01-01
Full Text Available Introduction. We studied whether primary care teams respond to financial group bonuses by improving the recording of diagnoses, whether this intervention leads to diagnoses reflecting the anticipated distribution of diseases, and how the recording of a significant chronic disease, diabetes, alters after the application of these bonuses. Methods. We performed an observational register-based retrospective quasi-experimental follow-up study with before-and-after setting and two control groups in primary healthcare of a Finnish town. We studied the rate of recorded diagnoses in visits to general practitioners with interrupted time series analysis. The distribution of these diagnoses was also recorded. Results. After group bonuses, the rate of recording diagnoses increased by 17.9% (95% CI: 13.6–22.3 but not in either of the controls (−2.0 to −0.3%. The increase in the rate of recorded diagnoses in the care teams varied between 14.9% (4.7–25.2 and 33.7% (26.6–41.3. The distribution of recorded diagnoses resembled the respective distribution of diagnoses in the former studies of diagnoses made in primary care. The rate of recorded diagnoses of diabetes did not increase just after the intervention. Conclusions. In primary care, the completeness of diagnosis recording can be, to varying degrees, influenced by group bonuses without guarantee that recording of clinically significant chronic diseases is improved.
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Challenges to creating primary care teams in a public health centre ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
The management of the CHC decided to create dedicated practice teams offering continuity of care, family-orientated care, and the integration of acute and chronic patients. The teams depended on effective collaboration between the doctors and the CNPs. Methods A co-operative inquiry group, consisting of two facility ...
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The Coming Primary Care Revolution.
Ellner, Andrew L; Phillips, Russell S
2017-04-01
The United States has the most expensive, technologically advanced, and sub-specialized healthcare system in the world, yet it has worse population health status than any other high-income country. Rising healthcare costs, high rates of waste, the continued trend towards chronic non-communicable disease, and the growth of new market entrants that compete with primary care services have set the stage for fundamental change in all of healthcare, driven by a revolution in primary care. We believe that the coming primary care revolution ought to be guided by the following design principles: 1) Payment must adequately support primary care and reward value, including non-visit-based care. 2) Relationships will serve as the bedrock of value in primary care, and will increasingly be fostered by teams, improved clinical operations, and technology, with patients and non-physicians assuming an ever-increasing role in most aspects of healthcare. 3) Generalist physicians will increasingly focus on high-acuity and high-complexity presentations, and primary care teams will increasingly manage conditions that specialists managed in the past. 4) Primary care will refocus on whole-person care, and address health behaviors as well as vision, hearing, dental, and social services. Design based on these principles should lead to higher-value healthcare, but will require new approaches to workforce training.
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Thomas, Kristin; Krevers, Barbro; Bendtsen, Preben
2015-01-22
Non-communicable diseases are a leading cause of death and can largely be prevented by healthy lifestyles. Health care organizations are encouraged to integrate healthy lifestyle promotion in routine care. This study evaluates the impact of a team initiative on healthy lifestyle promotion in primary care. A quasi-experimental, cross-sectional design compared three intervention centres that had implemented lifestyle teams with three control centres that used a traditional model of care. Outcomes were defined using the RE-AIM framework: reach, the proportion of patients receiving lifestyle promotion; effectiveness, self-reported attitudes and competency among staff; adoption, proportion of staff reporting regular practice of lifestyle promotion; implementation, fidelity to the original lifestyle team protocol. Data collection methods included a patient questionnaire (n = 888), a staff questionnaire (n = 120) and structured interviews with all practice managers and, where applicable, team managers (n = 8). The chi square test and problem-driven content analysis was used to analyse the questionnaire and interview data, respectively. Reach: patients at control centres (48%, n = 211) received lifestyle promotion significantly more often compared with patients at intervention centres (41%, n = 169). Effectiveness: intervention staff was significantly more positive towards the effectiveness of lifestyle promotion, shared competency and how lifestyle promotion was prioritized at their centre. Adoption: 47% of staff at intervention centres and 58% at control centres reported that they asked patients about their lifestyle on a daily basis. all intervention centres had implemented multi-professional teams and team managers and held regular meetings but struggled to implement in-house referral structures for lifestyle promotion, which was used consistently among staff. Intervention centres did not show higher rates than control centres on reach of patients
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Supporting South Asian carers and those they care for: the role of the primary health care team.
Katbamna, Savita; Bhakta, Padma; Ahmad, Waqar; Baker, Richard; Parker, Gillian
2002-01-01
BACKGROUND: Demographic and socioeconomic changes have increased policy interest in informal carers. However, despite the multicultural nature of British society, most research in this field has been in majority communities. AIM: To explore the role of the primary health care team (PHCT) in supporting carers from British South Asian communities. DESIGN OF STUDY: Qualitative study. SETTING: Four South Asian communities in Leicestershire and West Yorkshire. METHODS: Focus groups and in-depth in...
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Loeb, Danielle F; Crane, Lori A; Leister, Erin; Bayliss, Elizabeth A; Ludman, Evette; Binswanger, Ingrid A; Kline, Danielle M; Smith, Meredith; deGruy, Frank V; Nease, Donald E; Dickinson, L Miriam
Develop and validate self-efficacy scales for primary care provider (PCP) mental illness management and team-based care participation. We developed three self-efficacy scales: team-based care (TBC), mental illness management (MIM), and chronic medical illness (CMI). We developed the scales using Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory as a guide. The survey instrument included items from previously validated scales on team-based care and mental illness management. We administered a mail survey to 900 randomly selected Colorado physicians. We conducted exploratory principal factor analysis with oblique rotation. We constructed self-efficacy scales and calculated standardized Cronbach's alpha coefficients to test internal consistency. We calculated correlation coefficients between the MIM and TBC scales and previously validated measures related to each scale to evaluate convergent validity. We tested correlations between the TBC and the measures expected to correlate with the MIM scale and vice versa to evaluate discriminant validity. PCPs (n=402, response rate=49%) from diverse practice settings completed surveys. Items grouped into factors as expected. Cronbach's alphas were 0.94, 0.88, and 0.83 for TBC, MIM, and CMI scales respectively. In convergent validity testing, the TBC scale was correlated as predicted with scales assessing communications strategies, attitudes toward teams, and other teamwork indicators (r=0.25 to 0.40, all statistically significant). Likewise, the MIM scale was significantly correlated with several items about knowledge and experience managing mental illness (r=0.24 to 41, all statistically significant). As expected in discriminant validity testing, the TBC scale had only very weak correlations with the mental illness knowledge and experience managing mental illness items (r=0.03 to 0.12). Likewise, the MIM scale was only weakly correlated with measures of team-based care (r=0.09 to.17). This validation study of MIM and TBC self-efficacy scales
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Royall, Dawna; Brauer, Paula; Atta-Konadu, Edwoba; Dwyer, John J M; Edwards, A Michelle; Hussey, Tracy; Kates, Nick
2017-09-01
Both providers and patients may have important insights to inform the development of obesity prevention and management services in Canadian primary care settings. In this formative study, insights for new obesity management services were sought from both providers and patients in 1 progressive citywide organization (150 physicians, team services, separate offices). Seven focus groups with interprofessional health providers (n = 56) and 4 focus groups with patients (n = 34) were conducted. Two clinical vignettes (adult, child) were used to focus discussion. Four analysts coded for descriptive content and interpretative themes on possible tools and care processes using NVivo. Participants identified numerous strategies for care processes, most of which could be categorized into 1 or more of 11 themes: 6 directed at clinical care of patients (raising awareness, screening, clinical care, skill building, ongoing support, and social/peer support) and 5 directed at the organization (coordination/collaboration, creating awareness among health professionals, adding new expertise to the team, marketing, and lobbying/advocacy). The approach was successful in generating an extensive list of diverse activities to be considered for implementation studies. Both patients and providers identified that multiple strategies and systems approaches will be needed to address obesity management in primary care.
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Why Aren't More Primary Care Residents Going into Primary Care? A Qualitative Study.
Long, Theodore; Chaiyachati, Krisda; Bosu, Olatunde; Sircar, Sohini; Richards, Bradley; Garg, Megha; McGarry, Kelly; Solomon, Sonja; Berman, Rebecca; Curry, Leslie; Moriarty, John; Huot, Stephen
2016-12-01
Workforce projections indicate a potential shortage of up to 31,000 adult primary care providers by the year 2025. Approximately 80 % of internal medicine residents and nearly two-thirds of primary care internal medicine residents do not plan to have a career in primary care or general internal medicine. We aimed to explore contextual and programmatic factors within primary care residency training environments that may influence career choices. This was a qualitative study based on semi-structured, in-person interviews. Three primary care internal medicine residency programs were purposefully selected to represent a diversity of training environments. Second and third year residents were interviewed. We used a survey guide developed from pilot interviews and existing literature. Three members of the research team independently coded the transcripts and developed the code structure based on the constant comparative method. The research team identified emerging themes and refined codes. ATLAS.ti was used for the analysis. We completed 24 interviews (12 second-year residents, and 12 third-year residents). The age range was 27-39 years. Four recurrent themes characterized contextual and programmatic factors contributing to residents' decision-making: resident expectations of a career in primary care, navigation of the boundary between social needs and medical needs, mentorship and perceptions of primary care, and structural features of the training program. Addressing aspects of training that may discourage residents from careers in primary care such as lack of diversity in outpatient experiences and resident frustration with their inability to address social needs of patients, and strengthening aspects of training that may encourage interests in careers in primary care such as mentorship and protected time away from inpatient responsibilities during primary care rotations, may increase the proportion of residents enrolled in primary care training programs who pursue
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Perceptions of primary health care service users regarding dental team practices in Brazil.
Baumgarten, Alexandre; Veiga, Rochelle Santos Da; Bulgarelli, Patricia Tavora; Diesel, Vitor Motta; Bulgarelli, Alexandre Favero
2018-05-01
The Unified Health System (SUS) is the Brazilian set of public health services that offers global access to health care and disease treatments for all citizens. These services have been evaluated by means of a national survey assessing the users' perceptions.AimTo explore and characterize the SUS users' perceptions regarding primary dental team practices in the five Brazilian geographical regions. Descriptive study. The sample consisted of 37 262 subjects. Data were collected by means of the Ministry of Health survey, conducted between 2012 and 2014. Variables used in the present study are associated with SUS users' perspectives of satisfaction, access, and use of services. The study utilized bivariate data analysis, and dichotomous variables were derived for analysis following 95% reliability.FindingsThis study observed similarities and proportionality of perceptions in the Brazilian territory. In most macro-regions, dental teams did not develop an active search for dental treatment absentees. However, the SUS users reported very good and good perceptions, which were homogeneously distributed across five Brazilian regions, thereby showing an overall positive perception of primary dental treatment.
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Farmer, Jane; West, Christina; Whyte, Bruce; Maclean, Margaret
2005-08-01
It is acknowledged, internationally, that health-care practitioners' work differs between and urban areas. While several factors affect individual teams' activities, there is little understanding about how patterns of work evolve. Consideration of work in relation to local circumstances is important for training, devising contracts and redesigning services. Six case studies centred on Scottish rural and urban general practices were used to examine, in-depth, the activity of primary health-care teams. Quantitative workload data about patient contacts were collected over 24 months. Interviews and diaries revealed insightful qualitative data. Findings revealed that rural general practitioners and district nurses tended to conduct more consultations per practice patient compared with their urban counterparts. Conditions seen and work tasks varied between case study teams. Qualitative data suggested that the key reasons for variation were: local needs and circumstances; choices made about deployment of available time, team composition and the extent of access to other services. Primary care teams might be viewed as adaptive organization, with co-evolution of services produced by health professionals and local people. The study highlights limitations in the application of workload data and suggests that understanding the nature of work in relation to local circumstances is important in service redesign.
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Al-Alawi, Kamila; Johansson, Helene; Al Mandhari, Ahmed; Norberg, Margareta
2018-05-08
AimThe aim of this study is to explore the perceptions among primary health center staff concerning competencies, values, skills and resources related to team-based diabetes management and to describe the availability of needed resources for team-based approaches. The diabetes epidemic challenges services available at primary health care centers in the Middle East. Therefore, there is a demand for evaluation of the available resources and team-based diabetes management in relation to the National Diabetes Management Guidelines. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 26 public primary health care centers in Muscat, the capital of Oman. Data were collected from manual and electronic resources as well as a questionnaire that was distributed to the physician-in-charge and diabetes management team members.FindingsThe study revealed significant differences between professional groups regarding how they perceived their own competencies, values and skills as well as available resources related to team-based diabetes management. The perceived competencies were high among all professions. The perceived team-related values and skills were also generally high but with overall lower recordings among the nurses. This pattern, along with the fact that very few nurses have specialized qualifications, is a barrier to providing team-based diabetes management. Participants indicated that there were sufficient laboratory resources; however, reported that pharmacological, technical and human resources were lacking. Further work should be done at public primary diabetes management clinics in order to fully implement team-based diabetes management.
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Kallio, Jouko; Kauppila, Timo; Suominen, Lasse; Heikkinen, Anna Maria
2017-01-01
A playful competition was launched in a primary dental health care system to improve the recording of diagnoses into an electronic patient chart system and to study what diagnoses were used in primary dental care. This was a longitudinal follow-up study with public sector primary dental care practices in a Finnish city. A one-year-lasting playful competition between the dental care teams was launched and the monthly percentage of dentists' visits with recorded diagnosis before, during, and after the intervention was recorded. The assessed diagnoses were recorded with the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). Before the competition, the level of diagnosis recordings was practically zero. At the end of this intervention, about 25% of the visits had a recorded diagnosis. Two years after the competition, this percentage was 35% without any additional measures. The most frequent diagnoses were dental caries (K02, 38.6%), other diseases of hard tissues of teeth (K03, 14.8%), and diseases of pulp and periapical tissues (K04, 11.4%). Commitment to the idea that recording of diagnoses was beneficial improved the recording of dental diagnoses. However, the diagnoses obtained did not accurately reflect the reputed prevalence of oral diseases in the Finnish population.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jouko Kallio
2017-01-01
Full Text Available Introduction. A playful competition was launched in a primary dental health care system to improve the recording of diagnoses into an electronic patient chart system and to study what diagnoses were used in primary dental care. Methods. This was a longitudinal follow-up study with public sector primary dental care practices in a Finnish city. A one-year-lasting playful competition between the dental care teams was launched and the monthly percentage of dentists’ visits with recorded diagnosis before, during, and after the intervention was recorded. The assessed diagnoses were recorded with the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10. Results. Before the competition, the level of diagnosis recordings was practically zero. At the end of this intervention, about 25% of the visits had a recorded diagnosis. Two years after the competition, this percentage was 35% without any additional measures. The most frequent diagnoses were dental caries (K02, 38.6%, other diseases of hard tissues of teeth (K03, 14.8%, and diseases of pulp and periapical tissues (K04, 11.4%. Conclusions. Commitment to the idea that recording of diagnoses was beneficial improved the recording of dental diagnoses. However, the diagnoses obtained did not accurately reflect the reputed prevalence of oral diseases in the Finnish population.
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The practice brochure: a patient's guide to team care.
Marsh, G N
1980-01-01
A practice brochure describing the primary health care team was given to 262 new and established patients in a group practice. Most liked it, and thought it helpful, and improved their knowledge of team care. When asked how they would respond to certain hypothetical health problems and clinical situations, there was a significantly greater use of non-doctor members of the team than by a matched sample who had not read the brochure. Inappropriate use of members of the team was not engendered.
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[Description of the organizational climate in primary care teams in an autonomous community].
Menárguez Puche, J F; Saturno Hernández, P J
1999-03-31
To describe the organisational atmosphere (OA) in primary care teams (PCTs) in an autonomous community. Crossover and observational. PCTs. A questionnaire on OA was administered after prior validation to all the doctors, nurses and social workers at 29 PCTs. The OA in the different teams was described, comprehensively and by dimensions: team-work, cohesion and commitment. Multiple regression was used to find the relationship between OA (dependent variable) and the independent variables: age of the professionals, years of functioning of the PCT, teaching status, type, location (rural or urban) and profession (coordinators, doctors, nurses, clerical staff). Overall reply rate was 77.5% (402 professionals): it was higher for coordinators. Average score on the questionnaire was 3.53 (SD = 0.56): it was higher for nurses. Results by dimensions were: team-work 3.67 (SD = 0.59), cohesion 3.54 (SD = 0.71) and commitment 3.37 (SD = 0.72). OA was seen as better by teaching teams (p dimensions. Coordinators had better self-perception of the OA, both overall and by dimensions (p < 0.01). Teams who had worked together for a long time thought the atmosphere was worse. The type of job and the number of years doing it did not affect the perception of OA. 1. The evaluation of OA is generally positive, though it can certainly be improved. 2. Perception is not uniform, as coordinators and teaching teams see the OA as better. 3. Teams working together for many years see the OA as worse.
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Coyle, Natalie; Strumpf, Erin; Fiset-Laniel, Julie; Tousignant, Pierre; Roy, Yves
2014-06-01
New models of delivering primary care are being implemented in various countries. In Quebec, Family Medicine Groups (FMGs) are a team-based approach to enhance access to, and coordination of, care. We examined whether physicians' and patients' characteristics predicted their participation in this new model of primary care. Using provincial administrative data, we created a population cohort of Quebec's vulnerable patients. We collected data before the advent of FMGs on patients' demographic characteristics, chronic illnesses and health service use, and their physicians' demographics, and practice characteristics. Multivariate regression was used to identify key predictors of joining a FMG among both patients and physicians. Patients who eventually enrolled in a FMG were more likely to be female, reside outside of an urban region, have a lower SES status, have diabetes and congestive heart failure, visit the emergency department for ambulatory sensitive conditions and be hospitalized for any cause. They were also less likely to have hypertension, visit an ambulatory clinic and have a usual provider of care. Physicians who joined a FMG were less likely to be located in urban locations, had fewer years in medical practice, saw more patients in hospital, and had patients with lower morbidity. Physicians' practice characteristics and patients' health status and health care service use were important predictors of joining a FMG. To avoid basing policy decisions on tenuous evidence, policymakers and researchers should account for differential selection into team-based primary health care models. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.
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Team-Based Care with Pharmacists to Improve Blood Pressure: a Review of Recent Literature.
Kennelty, Korey A; Polgreen, Linnea A; Carter, Barry L
2018-01-18
We review studies published since 2014 that examined team-based care strategies and involved pharmacists to improve blood pressure (BP). We then discuss opportunities and challenges to sustainment of team-based care models in primary care clinics. Multiple studies presented in this review have demonstrated that team-based care including pharmacists can improve BP management. Studies highlighted the cost-effectiveness of a team-based pharmacy intervention for BP control in primary care clinics. Little information was found on factors influencing sustainability of team-based care interventions to improve BP control. Future work is needed to determine the best populations to target with team-based BP programs and how to implement team-based approaches utilizing pharmacists in diverse clinical settings. Future studies need to not only identify unmet clinical needs but also address reimbursement issues and stakeholder engagement that may impact sustainment of team-based care interventions.
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Kriegel, Johannes; Rebhandl, Erwin; Hockl, Wolfgang; Stöbich, Anna-Maria
2017-10-01
The primary health care in rural areas in Austria is currently determined by challenges such as ageing of the population, the shift towards chronic and age-related illnesses, the specialist medical and hospital-related education and training of physicians' as well growing widespread difficulty of staffing doctor's office. The objective is to realize a general practitioner centered and team-oriented primary health care (PHC) approach by establishing networked primary health care in rural areas of Austria. Using literature research, online survey, expert interviews and expert workshops, we identified different challenges in terms of primary health care in rural areas. Further, current resources and capacities of primary health care in rural areas were identified using the example of the district of Rohrbach. Twelve design dimensions and 51 relevant measurement indicators of a PHC network were delineated and described. Based on this, 12 design approaches of PHC concept for the GP-centered and team-oriented primary health care in rural areas have been developed.
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Costs of health care across primary care models in Ontario.
Laberge, Maude; Wodchis, Walter P; Barnsley, Jan; Laporte, Audrey
2017-08-01
The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between newly introduced primary care models in Ontario, Canada, and patients' primary care and total health care costs. A specific focus is on the payment mechanisms for primary care physicians, i.e. fee-for-service (FFS), enhanced-FFS, and blended capitation, and whether providers practiced as part of a multidisciplinary team. Utilization data for a one year period was measured using administrative databases for a 10% sample selected at random from the Ontario adult population. Primary care and total health care costs were calculated at the individual level and included costs from physician services, hospital visits and admissions, long term care, drugs, home care, lab tests, and visits to non-medical health care providers. Generalized linear model regressions were conducted to assess the differences in costs between primary care models. Patients not enrolled with a primary care physicians were younger, more likely to be males and of lower socio-economic status. Patients in blended capitation models were healthier and wealthier than FFS and enhanced-FFS patients. Primary care and total health care costs were significantly different across Ontario primary care models. Using the traditional FFS as the reference, we found that patients in the enhanced-FFS models had the lowest total health care costs, and also the lowest primary care costs. Patients in the blended capitation models had higher primary care costs but lower total health care costs. Patients that were in multidisciplinary teams (FHT), where physicians are also paid on a blended capitation basis, had higher total health care costs than non-FHT patients but still lower than the FFS reference group. Primary care and total health care costs increased with patients' age, morbidity, and lower income quintile across all primary care payment types. The new primary care models were associated with lower total health care costs for patients compared to the
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da Silva, Andréa Tenório Correia; Peres, Maria Fernanda Tourinho; Lopes, Claudia de Souza; Schraiber, Lilia Blima; Susser, Ezra; Menezes, Paulo Rossi
2015-09-01
Implementation of primary care has long been a priority in low- and middle-income countries. Violence at work may hamper progress in this field. Hence, we examined the associations between violence at work and depressive symptoms/major depression in primary care teams (physicians, nurses, nursing assistants, and community health workers). A cross-sectional study was undertaken in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. We assessed a random sample of Family Health Program teams. We investigated depressive symptoms and major depression using the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and exposure to violence at work in the previous 12 months using a standardized questionnaire. Associations between exposure to violence and depressive symptoms/major depression were analyzed using multinomial logistic regression. Of 3141 eligible workers, 2940 (93 %) completed the interview. Of these, 36.3 % (95 % CI 34.6-38.1) presented intermediate depressive symptoms, and 16 % (95 % CI 14.6-17.2), probable major depression. The frequencies of exposure to the different types of violence at work were: insults (44.9 %), threats (24.8 %), physical aggression (2.3 %), and witnessing violence (29.5 %). These exposures were strongly and progressively associated with depressive symptoms (adjusted odds ratio 1.67 for exposure to one type of violence; and 5.10 for all four types), and probable major depression (adjusted odds ratio 1.84 for one type; and 14.34 for all four types). Primary care workers presenting depressive symptoms and those who have experienced violence at work should be assisted. Policy makers should prioritize strategies to prevent these problems, since they can threaten primary care sustainability.
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... gov/ency/patientinstructions/000929.htm Your cancer care team To use the sharing features on this page, ... help your body heal. Working with Your Care Team Each member of your care team plays an ...
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Costs of health care across primary care models in Ontario
Laberge, Maude; Wodchis, Walter P; Barnsley, Jan; Laporte, Audrey
2017-01-01
Background The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between newly introduced primary care models in Ontario, Canada, and patients? primary care and total health care costs. A specific focus is on the payment mechanisms for primary care physicians, i.e. fee-for-service (FFS), enhanced-FFS, and blended capitation, and whether providers practiced as part of a multidisciplinary team. Methods Utilization data for a one year period was measured using administrative databases for a 1...
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Tu, Jack V; Maclagan, Laura C; Ko, Dennis T; Atzema, Clare L; Booth, Gillian L; Johnston, Sharon; Tu, Karen; Lee, Douglas S; Bierman, Arlene; Hall, Ruth; Bhatia, R Sacha; Gershon, Andrea S; Tobe, Sheldon W; Sanmartin, Claudia; Liu, Peter; Chu, Anna
2017-04-25
High-quality ambulatory care can reduce cardiovascular disease risk, but important gaps exist in the provision of cardiovascular preventive care. We sought to develop a set of key performance indicators that can be used to measure and improve cardiovascular care in the primary care setting. As part of the Cardiovascular Health in Ambulatory Care Research Team initiative, we established a 14-member multidisciplinary expert panel to develop a set of indicators for measuring primary prevention performance in ambulatory cardiovascular care. We used a 2-stage modified Delphi panel process to rate potential indicators, which were identified from the literature and national cardiovascular organizations. The top-rated indicators were pilot tested to determine their measurement feasibility with the use of data routinely collected in the Canadian health care system. A set of 28 indicators of primary prevention performance were identified, which were grouped into 5 domains: risk factor prevalence, screening, management, intermediate outcomes and long-term outcomes. The indicators reflect the major cardiovascular risk factors including smoking, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia and atrial fibrillation. All indicators were determined to be amenable to measurement with the use of population-based administrative (physician claims, hospital admission, laboratory, medication), survey or electronic medical record databases. The Cardiovascular Health in Ambulatory Care Research Team indicators of primary prevention performance provide a framework for the measurement of cardiovascular primary prevention efforts in Canada. The indicators may be used by clinicians, researchers and policy-makers interested in measuring and improving the prevention of cardiovascular disease in ambulatory care settings. Copyright 2017, Joule Inc. or its licensors.
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Diabetes care: model for the future of primary care.
Posey, L Michael; Tanzi, Maria G
2010-01-01
To review relevant trends threatening primary care and the evidence supporting use of nonphysicians in primary and chronic care of patients with diabetes. Current medical and pharmacy literature as selected by authors. The care needed by patients with diabetes does not fit well into our current medical model for primary care, and an adequate supply of physicians is not likely to be available for primary care roles in coming years. Patients with diabetes who are placed on evidence-based regimens, are educated about their disease, are coached in ways that motivate them to lose weight and adopt other therapeutic lifestyle changes, and are adhering to and persisting with therapy will soon have improved clinical parameters. These quickly translate into fewer hospitalizations and emergency department visits. A growing body of literature supports the use of pharmacists and other nonphysicians in meeting the needs of patients with diabetes. Pharmacists should join nurse practitioners, specially trained nurses, and physician assistants as integral members of the health care team in providing care to patients with diabetes and, by logical extension, other chronic conditions. Demand for primary care is likely to outstrip the available supply of generalist physicians in the coming years. In addition to nurse practitioners and physician assistants, pharmacists should be considered for key roles in future interdisciplinary teams that triage and provide direct care to patients, including those with diabetes and other chronic conditions.
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Hoffmann, Kathryn; George, Aaron; Dorner, Thomas E; Süß, Katharina; Schäfer, Willemijn L A; Maier, Manfred
2015-11-16
Multidisciplinary Primary Health Care Teams (PHCT) provide a comprehensive approach to address the social and health needs of communities. It was the aim of this analysis to assess the number of PHCT in Austria, a country with a weak PHC system, and to compare preventive activities, psychosocial care, and work satisfaction between GPs who work and those who do not work in PHCT. Within the QUALICOPC study, data collection was performed between November 2011 and May 2012, utilizing a standardized questionnaire for GPs. A stratified sample of GPs from across Austria was invited. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics and tests. Data from 171 GPs questionnaires were used for this analysis. Of these, 61.1 % (n = 113) had a mono-disciplinary office, 26.3 % (n = 45) worked in an office consisting of GP, receptionist and one additional primary care profession, and 7.6 % (n = 13) worked in a larger PHCT. GPs that worked in larger PHCT were younger and more involved in psychosocial and preventive care. No differences were found with regard to work satisfaction or workload. This study gives insight into the structures of PHC in Austria. The results indicate a low number of PHCT; however, the overall return rate in our sample was low with more male GPs, more GPs from urban areas and more GPs working in offices together with other physicians than the national average. Younger GPs demonstrate a greater tendency to implement this primary care practice model in their practices, which seems to be associated with an emphasis in psychosocial and preventive care. If Austria is to increase the number of PHC teams, the country should embrace the work of young GPs and should offer relevant support for PHCT. Future developments could be guided by considering effective models of good practice and governmental support as in other countries.
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Mental health care: how can Family Health teams integrate it into Primary Healthcare?
Gryschek, Guilherme; Pinto, Adriana Avanzi Marques
2015-10-01
Mental health is one of the responsibilities of Brazil's Family Health system. This review of literature sought to understand what position Mental Health occupies in the practice of the Family Health Strategy. A search was made of the scientific literature in the database of the Virtual Health Library (Biblioteca Virtual de Saúde), for the keywords: 'Mental Health'; 'Family Health'; 'Primary Healthcare'. The criteria for inclusion were: Brazilian studies from 2009 through 2012 that contributed to understanding of the following question: "How to insert Mental health care into the routine of the Family Health Strategy?" A total of 11 articles were found, which identified difficulties and strategies of the professionals in Primary Healthcare in relation to mental health. Referral, and medicalization, were common practices. Matrix Support is the strategy of training and skill acquisition for teams that enables new approaches in mental health in the context of Primary healthcare. It is necessary for Management of the Health System to take an active role in the construction of healthcare networks in mental health.
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Osunlana, A M; Asselin, J; Anderson, R; Ogunleye, A A; Cave, A; Sharma, A M; Campbell-Scherer, D L
2015-08-01
Despite several clinical practice guidelines, there remains a considerable gap in prevention and management of obesity in primary care. To address the need for changing provider behaviour, a randomized controlled trial with convergent mixed method evaluation, the 5As Team (5AsT) study, was conducted. As part of the 5AsT intervention, the 5AsT tool kit was developed. This paper describes the development process and evaluation of these tools. Tools were co-developed by the multidisciplinary research team and the 5AsT, which included registered nurses/nurse practitioners (n = 15), mental health workers (n = 7) and registered dieticians (n = 7), who were previously randomized to the 5AsT intervention group at a primary care network in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The 5AsT tool development occurred through a practice/implementation-oriented, need-based, iterative process during learning collaborative sessions of the 5AsT intervention. Feedback during tool development was received through field notes and final provider evaluation was carried out through anonymous questionnaires. Twelve tools were co-developed with 5AsT. All tools were evaluated as either 'most useful' or 'moderately useful' in primary care practice by the 5AsT. Four key findings during 5AsT tool development were the need for: tools that were adaptive, tools to facilitate interdisciplinary practice, tools to help patients understand realistic expectations for weight loss and shared decision-making tools for goal setting and relapse prevention. The 5AsT tools are primary care tools which extend the utility of the 5As of obesity management framework in clinical practice. © 2015 The Authors. Clinical Obesity published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of World Obesity.
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A picture tells 1000 words: learning teamwork in primary care.
Kelly, Martina; Bennett, Deirdre; O'Flynn, Siun; Foley, Tony
2013-04-01
Teamwork and patient centredness are frequently articulated concepts in medical education, but are not always explicit in the curriculum. In Ireland, recent government policy emphasises the importance of a primary care team approach to health care. We report on an appraisal of a newly introduced community-based student attachment, which focused on teamwork. To review students' experience of teamwork following a community clinical placement by examining student assignments: essays, poetry, music and art. Year-2 graduate-entry students (n = 45) spent 2 weeks with a primary care team. Attachments comprised placements with members of the primary care team, emphasising team dynamics, at the end of which students submitted a representative piece of work, which captured their learning. Essays (n = 22) were analysed using a thematic content analysis. Artwork consisted of painting, collage, photography, poetry and original music (n = 23). These were analysed using Gardner's entry points. Three core themes emerged in both written and visual work: patient centredness; communication; and an improved appreciation of the skills of other health care professionals. Students identified optimal team communication occurring when patient outcomes were prioritised. Metaphors relating to puzzles, hands and inter-connectedness feature strongly. The poems and artwork had a high impact when they were presented to tutors. Primary care team placements focus student attention on teamwork and patient centredness. Student artwork shows potential as a tool to evaluate student learning in medical education. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2013.
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... A to Z Health Guide Your Dialysis Care Team Tweet Share Print Email Good health care is ... dialyzers (artificial kidneys) for reuse. Vascular Access Care Team If you are a hemodialysis patient, another group ...
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Improving Health Care Management in Primary Care for Homeless People: A Literature Review
Abcaya, Julien; Ștefan, Diana-Elena; Calvet-Montredon, Céline; Gentile, Stéphanie
2018-01-01
Background: Homeless people have poorer health status than the general population. They need complex care management, because of associated medical troubles (somatic and psychiatric) and social difficulties. We aimed to describe the main characteristics of the primary care programs that take care of homeless people, and to identify which could be most relevant. Methods: We performed a literature review that included articles which described and evaluated primary care programs for homeless people. Results: Most of the programs presented a team-based approach, multidisciplinary and/or integrated care. They often proposed co-located services between somatic health services, mental health services and social support services. They also tried to answer to the specific needs of homeless people. Some characteristics of these programs were associated with significant positive outcomes: tailored primary care organizations, clinic orientation, multidisciplinary team-based models which included primary care physicians and clinic nurses, integration of social support, and engagement in the community’s health. Conclusions: Primary health care programs that aimed at taking care of the homeless people should emphasize a multidisciplinary approach and should consider an integrated (mental, somatic and social) care model. PMID:29439403
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Care guides: an examination of occupational conflict and role relationships in primary care.
Wholey, Douglas R; White, Katie M; Adair, Richard; Christianson, Jon B; Lee, Suhna; Elumba, Deborah
2013-01-01
Improving the efficiency and effectiveness of primary care treatment of patients with chronic illness is an important goal in reforming the U.S. health care system. Reducing occupational conflicts and creating interdependent primary care teams is crucial for the effective functioning of new models being developed to reorganize chronic care. Occupational conflict, role interdependence, and resistance to change in a proof-of-concept pilot test of one such model that uses a new kind of employee in the primary care office, a "care guide," were analyzed. Care guides are lay individuals who help chronic disease patients and their providers achieve standard health goals. The aim of this study was to examine the development of occupational boundaries, interdependence of care guides and primary care team members, and acceptance by clinic employees of this new kind of health worker. A mixed methods, pilot study was conducted using qualitative analysis; clinic, provider, and patient surveys; administrative data; and multivariate analysis. Qualitative analysis examined the emergence of the care guide role. Administrative data and surveys were used to examine patterns of interdependence between care guides, physicians, team members, and clinic staff; obtain physician evaluations of the care guide role; and evaluate the effect of care guides on patient perceptions of care coordination and follow-up. Evaluation of implementation of the care guide model showed that (a) the care guide scope of practice was clearly defined; (b) interdependent relationships between care guides and providers were formed; (c) relational triads consisting of patient, care guide, and physician were created; (d) patients and providers were supported in managing chronic disease; and (e) resistance to this model among traditional employees was minimized. The feasibility of implementing a new care model for chronic disease management in the primary care setting, identifying factors associated with a positive
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Sánchez-Sagrado, T
2016-01-01
The poor planning of health care professionals in Spain has led to an exodus of doctors leaving the country. France is one of the chosen countries for Spanish doctors to develop their professional career. The French health care system belongs to the Bismarck model. In this model, health care system is financed jointly by workers and employers through payroll deduction. The right to health care is linked to the job, and provision of services is done by sickness-funds controlled by the Government. Primary care in France is quite different from Spanish primary care. General practitioners are independent workers who have the right to set up a practice anywhere in France. This lack of regulation has generated a great problem of "medical desertification" with problems of health care access and inequalities in health. French doctors do not want to work in rural areas or outside cities because "they are not value for money". Medical salary is linked to professional activity. The role of doctors is to give punctual care. Team work team does not exist, and coordination between primary and secondary care is lacking. Access to diagnostic tests, hospitals and specialists is unlimited. Duplicity of services, adverse events and inefficiencies are the norm. Patients can freely choose their doctor, and they have a co-payment for visits and hospital care settings. Two years training is required to become a general practitioner. After that, continuing medical education is compulsory, but it is not regulated. Although the French medical Health System was named by the WHO in 2000 as the best health care system in the world, is it not that good. While primary care in Spain has room for improvement, there is a long way for France to be like Spain. Copyright © 2015 Sociedad Española de Médicos de Atención Primaria (SEMERGEN). Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.
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Developing leadership in rural interprofessional palliative care teams.
Hall, Pippa; Weaver, Lynda; Handfield-Jones, Richard; Bouvette, Maryse
2008-01-01
This project brought together community-based practitioners and academics to develop and deliver interventions designed to enhance the leadership abilities of the designated leaders of seven rural/small town-based palliative care teams. Members of these community-based teams have already gained recognition for their teams' leadership and service delivery in their communities. All of the teams had worked closely with most members of the academic team prior to this project. The team members participated in a needs assessment exercise developed by the Sisters of Charity of Ottawa Health Service and University of Ottawa academic team. Results of the needs assessment identified leadership qualities that had contributed to their success, as well as their needs to further enhance their individual leadership qualities. The team effort, however, was the most important factor contributing to the success of their work. The interventions developed to address the identified needs had to be adapted creatively through the collaborative efforts of both the community and academic teams. The educational interventions facilitated the integration of learning at the individual and community level into the busy work schedules of primary health care providers.
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Reinventing your primary care practice: becoming an MDCEO™
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Conard SE
2013-03-01
Full Text Available Scott E Conard,1 Maureen Reni Courtney21ACAP Health, Dallas, 2College of Nursing, University of Texas, Arlington, TX, USAAbstract: Primary care medicine in the United States is undergoing a revolutionary shift. Primary care providers and their staff have an extraordinary chance to create and participate in exciting new approaches to care. New strategies will require courage, flexibility, and openness to change by every member of the practice team, especially the lead clinician who is most often the physician, but can also be the nurse practitioner or physician's assistant. Providers must first recognize their need to alter their fundamental identity to incorporate a new kind of leadership role—that of the MDCEO™ (i.e., the individual clinician who leads the practice to ensure that quality, service, and financial systems are developed and effectively managed. This paper provides a practical vision and rationale for the required transition in primary care, pointing the way for how to achieve new practice effectiveness through new leadership roles. It also provides a model to evaluate the status of a primary care practice. The authors have extensive experience in working with primary care providers to radically evolve their clinical practices to become MDCEOs™. The MDCEO™ will articulate the vision and strategy for the practice, define and foster the practice culture, and create and facilitate team development and overall high level functioning. Each member of the team can then begin to lead their part of the practice: a 21st century population-oriented, purpose-based practice resulting in increased quality of care, improved patient outcomes, greater financial success, and enhanced peace of mind.Keywords: primary health care organization and administration, health care reform, leadership, patient-centered care
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Isabelle Brault
2014-01-01
Full Text Available Role clarity is a crucial issue for effective interprofessional collaboration. Poorly defined roles can become a source of conflict in clinical teams and reduce the effectiveness of care and services delivered to the population. Our objective in this paper is to outline processes for clarifying professional roles when a new role is introduced into clinical teams, that of the primary healthcare nurse practitioner (PHCNP. To support our empirical analysis we used the Canadian National Interprofessional Competency Framework, which defines the essential components for role clarification among professionals. A qualitative multiple-case study was conducted on six cases in which the PHCNP role was introduced into primary care teams. Data collection included 34 semistructured interviews with key informants involved in the implementation of the PHCNP role. Our results revealed that the best performing primary care teams were those that used a variety of organizational and individual strategies to carry out role clarification processes. From this study, we conclude that role clarification is both an organizational process to be developed and a competency that each member of the primary care team must mobilize to ensure effective interprofessional collaboration.
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Brault, Isabelle; Kilpatrick, Kelley; D'Amour, Danielle; Contandriopoulos, Damien; Chouinard, Véronique; Dubois, Carl-Ardy; Perroux, Mélanie; Beaulieu, Marie-Dominique
2014-01-01
Role clarity is a crucial issue for effective interprofessional collaboration. Poorly defined roles can become a source of conflict in clinical teams and reduce the effectiveness of care and services delivered to the population. Our objective in this paper is to outline processes for clarifying professional roles when a new role is introduced into clinical teams, that of the primary healthcare nurse practitioner (PHCNP). To support our empirical analysis we used the Canadian National Interprofessional Competency Framework, which defines the essential components for role clarification among professionals. A qualitative multiple-case study was conducted on six cases in which the PHCNP role was introduced into primary care teams. Data collection included 34 semistructured interviews with key informants involved in the implementation of the PHCNP role. Our results revealed that the best performing primary care teams were those that used a variety of organizational and individual strategies to carry out role clarification processes. From this study, we conclude that role clarification is both an organizational process to be developed and a competency that each member of the primary care team must mobilize to ensure effective interprofessional collaboration.
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Loeb, Danielle F; Bayliss, Elizabeth A; Candrian, Carey; deGruy, Frank V; Binswanger, Ingrid A
2016-03-22
Complex patients are increasingly common in primary care and often have poor clinical outcomes. Healthcare system barriers to effective care for complex patients have been previously described, but less is known about the potential impact and meaning of caring for complex patients on a daily basis for primary care providers (PCPs). Our objective was to describe PCPs' experiences providing care for complex patients, including their experiences of health system barriers and facilitators and their strategies to enhance provision of effective care. Using a general inductive approach, our qualitative research study was guided by an interpretive epistemology, or way of knowing. Our method for understanding included semi-structured in-depth interviews with internal medicine PCPs from two university-based and three community health clinics. We developed an interview guide, which included questions on PCPs' experiences, perceived system barriers and facilitators, and strategies to improve their ability to effectively treat complex patients. To focus interviews on real cases, providers were asked to bring de-identified clinical notes from patients they considered complex to the interview. Interview transcripts were coded and analyzed to develop categories from the raw data, which were then conceptualized into broad themes after team-based discussion. PCPs (N = 15) described complex patients with multidimensional needs, such as socio-economic, medical, and mental health. A vision of optimal care emerged from the data, which included coordinating care, preventing hospitalizations, and developing patient trust. PCPs relied on professional values and individual care strategies to overcome local and system barriers. Team based approaches were endorsed to improve the management of complex patients. Given the barriers to effective care described by PCPs, individual PCP efforts alone are unlikely to meet the needs of complex patients. To fulfill PCP's expressed concepts of
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The integration of occupational therapy into primary care: a multiple case study design
2013-01-01
Background For over two decades occupational therapists have been encouraged to enhance their roles within primary care and focus on health promotion and prevention activities. While there is a clear fit between occupational therapy and primary care, there have been few practice examples, despite a growing body of evidence to support the role. In 2010, the province of Ontario, Canada provided funding to include occupational therapists as members of Family Health Teams, an interprofessional model of primary care. The integration of occupational therapists into this model of primary care is one of the first large scale initiatives of its kind in North America. The objective of the study was to examine how occupational therapy services are being integrated into primary care teams and understand the structures supporting the integration. Methods A multiple case study design was used to provide an in-depth description of the integration of occupational therapy. Four Family Health Teams with occupational therapists as part of the team were identified. Data collection included in-depth interviews, document analyses, and questionnaires. Results Each Family Health Team had a unique organizational structure that contributed to the integration of occupational therapy. Communication, trust and understanding of occupational therapy were key elements in the integration of occupational therapy into Family Health Teams, and were supported by a number of strategies including co-location, electronic medical records and team meetings. An understanding of occupational therapy was critical for integration into the team and physicians were less likely to understand the occupational therapy role than other health providers. Conclusion With an increased emphasis on interprofessional primary care, new professions will be integrated into primary healthcare teams. The study found that explicit strategies and structures are required to facilitate the integration of a new professional group
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Supporting South Asian carers and those they care for: the role of the primary health care team.
Katbamna, Savita; Bhakta, Padma; Ahmad, Waqar; Baker, Richard; Parker, Gillian
2002-04-01
Demographic and socioeconomic changes have increased policy interest in informal carers. However, despite the multicultural nature of British society, most research in this field has been in majority communities. To explore the role of the primary health care team (PHCT) in supporting carers from British South Asian communities. Qualitative study. Four South Asian communities in Leicestershire and West Yorkshire. Focus groups and in-depth interviews were used to assess male and female carers, supported by a literature review. Failure to recognise carers' needs, gaps in service provision, and communication and language issues compromised carers' ability to care. While some carers were positive about the PHCT role, the main weaknesses concerned poor consultation, PHCT attitudes towards carers, and access to appropriate services. South Asian carers' experiences largely parallel those of others, but there are some issues that are distinct, namely, language and communication barriers, culturally inappropriate services, and implicit or explicit racism. The multi-ethnic nature of Great Britain requires that professional practice enhances the ability of minority ethnic communities to provide informal care. The findings underline the important role of the PHCT in ensuring that carers' needs are taken seriously and that appropriate services reach them.
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Characteristics of primary care practices associated with high quality of care.
Beaulieu, Marie-Dominique; Haggerty, Jeannie; Tousignant, Pierre; Barnsley, Janet; Hogg, William; Geneau, Robert; Hudon, Éveline; Duplain, Réjean; Denis, Jean-Louis; Bonin, Lucie; Del Grande, Claudio; Dragieva, Natalyia
2013-09-03
No primary practice care model has been shown to be superior in achieving high-quality primary care. We aimed to identify the organizational characteristics of primary care practices that provide high-quality primary care. We performed a cross-sectional observational study involving a stratified random sample of 37 primary care practices from 3 regions of Quebec. We recruited 1457 patients who had 1 of 2 chronic care conditions or 1 of 6 episodic care conditions. The main outcome was the overall technical quality score. We measured organizational characteristics by use of a validated questionnaire and the Team Climate Inventory. Statistical analyses were based on multilevel regression modelling. The following characteristics were strongly associated with overall technical quality of care score: physician remuneration method (27.0; 95% confidence interval [CI] 19.0-35.0), extent of sharing of administrative resources (7.6; 95% CI 0.8-14.4), presence of allied health professionals (15.3; 95% CI 5.4-25.2) and/or specialist physicians (19.6; 95% CI 8.3-30.9), the presence of mechanisms for maintaining or evaluating competence (7.7; 95% CI 3.0-12.4) and average organizational access to the practice (4.9; 95% CI 2.6-7.2). The number of physicians (1.2; 95% CI 0.6-1.8) and the average Team Climate Inventory score (1.3; 95% CI 0.1-2.5) were modestly associated with high-quality care. We identified a common set of organizational characteristics associated with high-quality primary care. Many of these characteristics are amenable to change through practice-level organizational changes.
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Team-Based Care: A Concept Analysis.
Baik, Dawon
2017-10-01
The purpose of this concept analysis is to clarify and analyze the concept of team-based care in clinical practice. Team-based care has garnered attention as a way to enhance healthcare delivery and patient care related to quality and safety. However, there is no consensus on the concept of team-based care; as a result, the lack of common definition impedes further studies on team-based care. This analysis was conducted using Walker and Avant's strategy. Literature searches were conducted using PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and PsycINFO, with a timeline from January 1985 to December 2015. The analysis demonstrates that the concept of team-based care has three core attributes: (a) interprofessional collaboration, (b) patient-centered approach, and (c) integrated care process. This is accomplished through understanding other team members' roles and responsibilities, a climate of mutual respect, and organizational support. Consequences of team-based care are identified with three aspects: (a) patient, (b) healthcare professional, and (c) healthcare organization. This concept analysis helps better understand the characteristics of team-based care in the clinical practice as well as promote the development of a theoretical definition of team-based care. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Better team management--better team care?
Shelley, P; Powney, B
1994-01-01
Team building should not be a 'bolt-on' extra, it should be a well planned, integrated part of developing teams and assisting their leaders. When asked to facilitate team building by a group of NHS managers we developed a framework which enabled individual members of staff to become more effective in the way they communicated with each other, their teams and in turn within the organization. Facing the challenge posed by complex organizational changes, staff were able to use 3 training days to increase and develop their awareness of the principles of teamwork, better team management, and how a process of leadership and team building could help yield better patient care.
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Curative procedures of oral health and structural characteristics of primary dental care.
Baumgarten, Alexandre; Hugo, Fernando Neves; Bulgarelli, Alexandre Fávero; Hilgert, Juliana Balbinot
2018-04-09
To evaluate if the provision of clinical dental care, by means of the main curative procedures recommended in Primary Health Care, is associated with team structural characteristics, considering the presence of a minimum set of equipment, instrument, and supplies in Brazil's primary health care services. A cross-sectional exploratory study based on data collected from 18,114 primary healthcare services with dental health teams in Brazil, in 2014. The outcome was created from the confirmation of five clinical procedures performed by the dentist, accounting for the presence of minimum equipment, instrument, and supplies to carry them out. Covariables were related to structural characteristics. Poisson regression with robust variance was used to obtain crude and adjusted prevalence ratios, with 95% confidence intervals. A total of 1,190 (6.5%) dental health teams did not present the minimum equipment to provide clinical dental care and only 2,498 (14.8%) had all the instrument and supplies needed and provided the five curative procedures assessed. There was a positive association between the outcome and the composition of dental health teams, higher workload, performing analysis of health condition, and monitoring of oral health indicators. Additionally, the dental health teams that planned and programmed oral health actions with the primary care team monthly provided the procedures more frequently. Dentists with better employment status, career plans, graduation in public health or those who underwent permanent education activities provided the procedures more frequently. A relevant number of Primary Health Care services did not have the infrastructure to provide clinical dental care. However, better results were found in dental health teams with oral health technicians, with higher workload and that plan their activities, as well as in those that employed dentists with better working relationships, who had dentists with degrees in public health and who underwent
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Curative procedures of oral health and structural characteristics of primary dental care
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Alexandre Baumgarten
2018-04-01
Full Text Available ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To evaluate if the provision of clinical dental care, by means of the main curative procedures recommended in Primary Health Care, is associated with team structural characteristics, considering the presence of a minimum set of equipment, instrument, and supplies in Brazil’s primary health care services. METHODS A cross-sectional exploratory study based on data collected from 18,114 primary healthcare services with dental health teams in Brazil, in 2014. The outcome was created from the confirmation of five clinical procedures performed by the dentist, accounting for the presence of minimum equipment, instrument, and supplies to carry them out. Covariables were related to structural characteristics. Poisson regression with robust variance was used to obtain crude and adjusted prevalence ratios, with 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS A total of 1,190 (6.5% dental health teams did not present the minimum equipment to provide clinical dental care and only 2,498 (14.8% had all the instrument and supplies needed and provided the five curative procedures assessed. There was a positive association between the outcome and the composition of dental health teams, higher workload, performing analysis of health condition, and monitoring of oral health indicators. Additionally, the dental health teams that planned and programmed oral health actions with the primary care team monthly provided the procedures more frequently. Dentists with better employment status, career plans, graduation in public health or those who underwent permanent education activities provided the procedures more frequently. CONCLUSIONS A relevant number of Primary Health Care services did not have the infrastructure to provide clinical dental care. However, better results were found in dental health teams with oral health technicians, with higher workload and that plan their activities, as well as in those that employed dentists with better working relationships
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Curative procedures of oral health and structural characteristics of primary dental care
Baumgarten, Alexandre; Hugo, Fernando Neves; Bulgarelli, Alexandre Fávero; Hilgert, Juliana Balbinot
2018-01-01
ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To evaluate if the provision of clinical dental care, by means of the main curative procedures recommended in Primary Health Care, is associated with team structural characteristics, considering the presence of a minimum set of equipment, instrument, and supplies in Brazil’s primary health care services. METHODS A cross-sectional exploratory study based on data collected from 18,114 primary healthcare services with dental health teams in Brazil, in 2014. The outcome was created from the confirmation of five clinical procedures performed by the dentist, accounting for the presence of minimum equipment, instrument, and supplies to carry them out. Covariables were related to structural characteristics. Poisson regression with robust variance was used to obtain crude and adjusted prevalence ratios, with 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS A total of 1,190 (6.5%) dental health teams did not present the minimum equipment to provide clinical dental care and only 2,498 (14.8%) had all the instrument and supplies needed and provided the five curative procedures assessed. There was a positive association between the outcome and the composition of dental health teams, higher workload, performing analysis of health condition, and monitoring of oral health indicators. Additionally, the dental health teams that planned and programmed oral health actions with the primary care team monthly provided the procedures more frequently. Dentists with better employment status, career plans, graduation in public health or those who underwent permanent education activities provided the procedures more frequently. CONCLUSIONS A relevant number of Primary Health Care services did not have the infrastructure to provide clinical dental care. However, better results were found in dental health teams with oral health technicians, with higher workload and that plan their activities, as well as in those that employed dentists with better working relationships, who had dentists
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Wan, Shaowei; Teichman, Peter G; Latif, David; Boyd, Jennifer; Gupta, Rahul
2018-03-01
To meet the needs of an aging population who often have multiple chronic conditions, interprofessional care is increasingly adopted by patient-centred medical homes and Accountable Care Organisations to improve patient care coordination and decrease costs in the United States, especially in underserved areas with primary care workforce shortages. In this cross-sectional survey across multiple clinical settings in an underserved area, healthcare providers perceived overall outcomes associated with interprofessional care teams as positive. This included healthcare providers' beliefs that interprofessional care teams improved patient outcomes, increased clinic efficiency, and enhanced care coordination and patient follow-up. Teams with primary care physician available each day were perceived as better able to coordinate care and follow up with patients (p = .031), while teams that included clinical pharmacists were perceived as preventing medication-associated problems (p care model as a useful strategy to improve various outcomes across different clinical settings in the context of a shortage of primary care physicians.
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Quality and effectiveness of different approaches to primary care delivery in Brazil
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Trindade Thiago G
2006-12-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background Since 1994, Brazil has developed a primary care system based on multidisciplinary teams which include not only a physician and a nurse, but also 4–6 lay community health workers. This system now consists of 26,650 teams, covering 46% of the Brazilian population. Yet relatively few investigations have examined its effectiveness, especially in contrast with that of the traditional multi-specialty physician team approach it is replacing, or that of other existing family medicine approaches placing less emphasis on lay community health workers. Primary health care can be defined through its domains of access to first contact, continuity, coordination, comprehensiveness, community orientation and family orientation. These attributes can be ascertained via instruments such as the Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCATool, and correlated with the effectiveness of care. The objectives of our study are to validate the adult version of this instrument in Portuguese, identify the extent (quality of primary care present in different models of primary care services, and correlate this extent with measures of process and outcomes in patients with diabetes, hypertension and coronary heart disease (CHD. Methods/Design We are conducting a population-based cross-sectional study of primary care in the municipality of Porto Alegre. We will interview a random sample totaling 3000 adults residing in geographic areas covered by four distinct models of primary care of the Brazilian national health system or, alternatively, by one nationally prominent complementary health care service, as well as the physicians and nurses of the health teams of these services. Interviews query perceived quality of care (PCATool-Adult Version, patient satisfaction, and process indicators of management of diabetes, hypertension and known CHD. We are measuring blood pressure, anthropometrics and, in adults with known diabetes, glycated hemoglobin. Discussion We hope to
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Physical Profiling Performance of Air Force Primary Care Providers
2017-08-09
AFRL-SA-WP-TR-2017-0014 Physical Profiling Performance of Air Force Primary Care Providers Anthony P. Tvaryanas1; William P...COVERED (From – To) September 2016 – January 2017 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Physical Profiling Performance of Air Force Primary Care Providers...encounter with their primary care team. An independent medical standards subject matter expert (SME) reviewed encounters in the electronic health record
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Challenges to creating primary care teams in a public health centre ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
CNP) is essential to the provision of quality primary care in the South African context. The Worcester Community Health Centre (CHC) is situated in a large town and offers primary care to the rural Breede Valley Sub-District of the Western ...
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Primary care physician insights into a typology of the complex patient in primary care.
Loeb, Danielle F; Binswanger, Ingrid A; Candrian, Carey; Bayliss, Elizabeth A
2015-09-01
Primary care physicians play unique roles caring for complex patients, often acting as the hub for their care and coordinating care among specialists. To inform the clinical application of new models of care for complex patients, we sought to understand how these physicians conceptualize patient complexity and to develop a corresponding typology. We conducted qualitative in-depth interviews with internal medicine primary care physicians from 5 clinics associated with a university hospital and a community health hospital. We used systematic nonprobabilistic sampling to achieve an even distribution of sex, years in practice, and type of practice. The interviews were analyzed using a team-based participatory general inductive approach. The 15 physicians in this study endorsed a multidimensional concept of patient complexity. The physicians perceived patients to be complex if they had an exacerbating factor-a medical illness, mental illness, socioeconomic challenge, or behavior or trait (or some combination thereof)-that complicated care for chronic medical illnesses. This perspective of primary care physicians caring for complex patients can help refine models of complexity to design interventions or models of care that improve outcomes for these patients. © 2015 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.
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... often uphold the patient's wishes. The critical care nurse becomes an important part of decision-making with the patient, the family and the care team. A registered nurse (RN) who is certified in critical care is ...
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Improving Interdisciplinary Relationships in Primary Care with the Implementation of TeamSTEPPS
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Nicole Siddons
2016-03-01
Full Text Available A major challenge in healthcare is lack of interdisciplinary collaboration (O’Daniel & Rosenstein, 2008. The Institute of Medicine report, To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System (1999, shows that errors often occur due to lapses in partnership and communication. This article describes the implementation of TeamSTEPPS, an evidence-based tool for optimizing staff relationships and partnership, in a clinic in which a change in the care model had affected interprofessional collaboration and teamwork, threatening healthcare outcomes and staff engagement. The implementation of TeamSTEPPS, customized using elements of IDEO’s (2015 Human-Centered Design, shifted the culture of the clinic towards partnership, resulting in improved staff perceptions of teamwork and statistically significant improvements in the quality of patient care.
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Sánchez-Sagrado, T
Spanish doctors are still leaving the country to look for quality work. Ireland is not a country with many Spanish professionals but it is interesting to know its particular Health care system. Ireland is one of the countries with a national health care system, although it has a mixture of private health care insurance schemes. People have a right to health care if they have been living in Ireland at least for a year. Access to the primary care health system depends on age and income: free of charge for Category 1 and co-payments for the rest. This division generates great inequalities among the population. Primary Care doctors are self-employed, and they work independently. However, since 2001 they have tended to work in multidisciplinary teams in order to strengthen the Primary Care practice. Salary is gained from a combination of public and private incomes which are not differentiated. The role of the General Practitioner consists in the treatment of acute and chronic diseases, minor surgery, child care, etc. There is no coordination between Primary and Secondary care. Access to specialised medicine is regulated by the price of consultation. Primary Care doctors are not gatekeepers. To be able to work here, doctors must have three years of training after medical school. After that, Continuing Medical Education is compulsory, and the college of general practitioners monitors it annually. The Irish health care system does not fit into the European model. Lack of a clear separation between public and private health care generates great inequalities. The non-existence of coordination between primary and specialised care leads to inefficiencies, which Ireland cannot allow itself after a decade of economic crisis. Copyright © 2017 Sociedad Española de Médicos de Atención Primaria (SEMERGEN). Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.
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Electronic health records and support for primary care teamwork
Draper, Kevin; Gourevitch, Rebecca; Cross, Dori A.; Scholle, Sarah Hudson
2015-01-01
Objective Consensus that enhanced teamwork is necessary for efficient and effective primary care delivery is growing. We sought to identify how electronic health records (EHRs) facilitate and pose challenges to primary care teams as well as how practices are overcoming these challenges. Methods Practices in this qualitative study were selected from those recognized as patient-centered medical homes via the National Committee for Quality Assurance 2011 tool, which included a section on practice teamwork. We interviewed 63 respondents, ranging from physicians to front-desk staff, from 27 primary care practices ranging in size, type, geography, and population size. Results EHRs were found to facilitate communication and task delegation in primary care teams through instant messaging, task management software, and the ability to create evidence-based templates for symptom-specific data collection from patients by medical assistants and nurses (which can offload work from physicians). Areas where respondents felt that electronic medical record EHR functionalities were weakest and posed challenges to teamwork included the lack of integrated care manager software and care plans in EHRs, poor practice registry functionality and interoperability, and inadequate ease of tracking patient data in the EHR over time. Discussion Practices developed solutions for some of the challenges they faced when attempting to use EHRs to support teamwork but wanted more permanent vendor and policy solutions for other challenges. Conclusions EHR vendors in the United States need to work alongside practicing primary care teams to create more clinically useful EHRs that support dynamic care plans, integrated care management software, more functional and interoperable practice registries, and greater ease of data tracking over time. PMID:25627278
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Electronic health records and support for primary care teamwork.
O'Malley, Ann S; Draper, Kevin; Gourevitch, Rebecca; Cross, Dori A; Scholle, Sarah Hudson
2015-03-01
Consensus that enhanced teamwork is necessary for efficient and effective primary care delivery is growing. We sought to identify how electronic health records (EHRs) facilitate and pose challenges to primary care teams as well as how practices are overcoming these challenges. Practices in this qualitative study were selected from those recognized as patient-centered medical homes via the National Committee for Quality Assurance 2011 tool, which included a section on practice teamwork. We interviewed 63 respondents, ranging from physicians to front-desk staff, from 27 primary care practices ranging in size, type, geography, and population size. EHRs were found to facilitate communication and task delegation in primary care teams through instant messaging, task management software, and the ability to create evidence-based templates for symptom-specific data collection from patients by medical assistants and nurses (which can offload work from physicians). Areas where respondents felt that electronic medical record EHR functionalities were weakest and posed challenges to teamwork included the lack of integrated care manager software and care plans in EHRs, poor practice registry functionality and interoperability, and inadequate ease of tracking patient data in the EHR over time. Practices developed solutions for some of the challenges they faced when attempting to use EHRs to support teamwork but wanted more permanent vendor and policy solutions for other challenges. EHR vendors in the United States need to work alongside practicing primary care teams to create more clinically useful EHRs that support dynamic care plans, integrated care management software, more functional and interoperable practice registries, and greater ease of data tracking over time. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association.
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Wittenberg, Elaine; Ferrell, Betty; Goldsmith, Joy; Ragan, Sandra L; Paice, Judith
2016-07-01
Despite increased attention to communication skill training in palliative care, few interprofessional training programs are available and little is known about the impact of such training. This study evaluated a communication curriculum offered to interprofessional palliative care teams and examined the longitudinal impact of training. Interprofessional, hospital-based palliative care team members were competitively selected to participate in a two-day training using the COMFORT(TM SM) (Communication, Orientation and options, Mindful communication, Family, Openings, Relating, Team) Communication for Palliative Care Teams curriculum. Course evaluation and goal assessment were tracked at six and nine months postcourse. Interprofessional palliative care team members (n = 58) representing 29 teams attended the course and completed course goals. Participants included 28 nurses, 16 social workers, 8 physicians, 5 chaplains, and one psychologist. Precourse surveys assessed participants' perceptions of institution-wide communication performance across the continuum of care and resources supporting optimum communication. Postcourse evaluations and goal progress monitoring were used to assess training effectiveness. Participants reported moderate communication effectiveness in their institutions, with the weakest areas being during bereavement and survivorship care. Mean response to course evaluation across all participants was greater than 4 (scale of 1 = low to 5 = high). Participants taught an additional 962 providers and initiated institution-wide training for clinical staff, new hires, and volunteers. Team member training improved communication processes and increased attention to communication with family caregivers. Barriers to goal implementation included a lack of institutional support as evidenced in clinical caseloads and an absence of leadership and funding. The COMFORT(TM SM) communication curriculum is effective palliative care communication
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Goicolea, Isabel; Hurtig, Anna-Karin; San Sebastian, Miguel; Marchal, Bruno; Vives-Cases, Carmen
2015-01-01
Few evaluations have assessed the factors triggering an adequate health care response to intimate partner violence. This article aimed to: 1) describe a realist evaluation carried out in Spain to ascertain why, how and under what circumstances primary health care teams respond to intimate partner violence, and 2) discuss the strengths and challenges of its application. We carried out a series of case studies in four steps. First, we developed an initial programme theory (PT1), based on interviews with managers. Second, we refined PT1 into PT2 by testing it in a primary healthcare team that was actively responding to violence. Third, we tested the refined PT2 by incorporating three other cases located in the same region. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected and thick descriptions were produced and analysed using a retroduction approach. Fourth, we analysed a total of 15 cases, and identified combinations of contextual factors and mechanisms that triggered an adequate response to violence by using qualitative comparative analysis. There were several key mechanisms -the teams' self-efficacy, perceived preparation, women-centred care-, and contextual factors -an enabling team environment and managerial style, the presence of motivated professionals, the use of the protocol and accumulated experience in primary health care- that should be considered to develop adequate primary health-care responses to violence. The full application of this realist evaluation was demanding, but also well suited to explore a complex intervention reflecting the situation in natural settings. Copyright © 2015 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.
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Allan, Helen T; Brearley, Sally; Byng, Richard; Christian, Sara; Clayton, Julie; Mackintosh, Maureen; Price, Linnie; Smith, Pam; Ross, Fiona
2014-01-01
ObjectivesTo explore the experiences of governance and incentives during organizational change for managers and clinical staff. Study SettingThree primary care settings in England in 2006–2008. Study DesignData collection involved three group interviews with 32 service users, individual interviews with 32 managers, and 56 frontline professionals in three sites. The Realistic Evaluation framework was used in analysis to examine the effects of new policies and their implementation. Principal FindingsIntegrating new interprofessional teams to work effectively is a slow process, especially if structures in place do not acknowledge the painful feelings involved in change and do not support staff during periods of uncertainty. ConclusionsEliciting multiple perspectives, often dependent on individual occupational positioning or place in new team configurations, illuminates the need to incorporate the emotional as well as technocratic and system factors when implementing change. Some suggestions are made for facilitating change in health care systems. These are discussed in the context of similar health care reform initiatives in the United States. PMID:23829292
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Tapp, Hazel; Phillips, Shay E; Waxman, Dael; Alexander, Matthew; Brown, Rhett; Hall, Mary
2012-01-01
Since the care of patients with multiple chronic diseases such as diabetes and depression accounts for the majority of health care costs, effective team approaches to managing such complex care in primary care are needed, particularly since psychosocial and physical disorders coexist. Uncontrolled diabetes is a leading health risk for morbidity, disability and premature mortality with between 18-31% of patients also having undiagnosed or undertreated depression. Here we describe a team driven approach that initially focused on patients with poorly controlled diabetes (A1c > 9) that took place at a family medicare office. The team included: resident and faculty physicians, a pharmacist, social worker, nurses, behavioral medicine interns, office scheduler, and an information technologist. The team developed immediate integrative care for diabetic patients during routine office visits.
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Gordon, Christopher J; Aggar, Christina; Williams, Anna M; Walker, Lynne; Willcock, Simon M; Bloomfield, Jacqueline
2014-01-01
This debate discusses the potential merits of a New Graduate Nurse Transition to Primary Health Care Program as an untested but potential nursing workforce development and sustainability strategy. Increasingly in Australia, health policy is focusing on the role of general practice and multidisciplinary teams in meeting the service needs of ageing populations in the community. Primary health care nurses who work in general practice are integral members of the multidisciplinary team - but this workforce is ageing and predicted to face increasing shortages in the future. At the same time, Australia is currently experiencing a surplus of and a corresponding lack of employment opportunities for new graduate nurses. This situation is likely to compound workforce shortages in the future. A national nursing workforce plan that addresses supply and demand issues of primary health care nurses is required. Innovative solutions are required to support and retain the current primary health care nursing workforce, whilst building a skilled and sustainable workforce for the future. This debate article discusses the primary health care nursing workforce dilemma currently facing policy makers in Australia and presents an argument for the potential value of a New Graduate Transition to Primary Health Care Program as a workforce development and sustainability strategy. An exploration of factors that may contribute or hinder transition program for new graduates in primary health care implementation is considered. A graduate transition program to primary health care may play an important role in addressing primary health care workforce shortages in the future. There are, however, a number of factors that need to be simultaneously addressed if a skilled and sustainable workforce for the future is to be realised. The development of a transition program to primary health care should be based on a number of core principles and be subjected to both a summative and cost
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Mash, B J; Mayers, P; Conradie, H; Orayn, A; Kuiper, M; Marais, J
2008-07-01
In South Africa, first-contact primary care is delivered by nurses in small clinics and larger community health centres (CHC). CHCs also employ doctors, who often work in isolation from the nurses, with poor differentiation of roles and little effective teamwork or communication. Worcester CHC, a typical public sector CHC in rural South Africa, decided to explore how to create more successful practice teams of doctors and nurses. This paper is based on their experience of both unsuccessful and successful attempts to introduce practice teams and reports on their learning regarding organisational change. An emergent action research study design utilised a co-operative inquiry group. The first nine months of inquiry focused on understanding the initial unsuccessful attempt to create practice teams. This paper reports primarily on the subsequent nine months (four cycles of planning, action, observation and reflection) during which practice teams were re-introduced. The central question was how more effective practice teams of doctors and nurses could be created. The group utilised outcome mapping to assist with planning, monitoring and evaluation. Outcome mapping defined a vision, mission, boundary partners, outcome challenges, progress markers and strategies for the desired changes and supported quantitative monitoring of the process. Qualitative data were derived from the co-operative inquiry group (CIG) meetings and interviews with doctors, nurses, practice teams and patients. The CIG engaged effectively with 68% of the planned strategies, and more than 60% of the progress markers were achieved for clinical nurse practitioners, doctors, support staff and managers, but not for patients. Key themes that emerged from the inquiry group's reflection on their experience of the change process dealt with the amount of interaction, type of communication, team resilience, staff satisfaction, leadership style, reflective capacity, experimentation and evolution of new
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The Times They Are a Changin': Neuropsychology and Integrated Care Teams.
Kubu, Cynthia S; Ready, Rebecca E; Festa, Joanne R; Roper, Brad L; Pliskin, Neil H
2016-01-01
To gather illustrative data from clinical neuropsychologists who are working in integrated care settings in order to provide an initial blueprint for moving forward in this new era of health care. A survey was designed to illustrate the ways in which neuropsychologists are participating in integrated care teams and distributed on major neuropsychology listservs. The survey evaluated the settings, roles, services provided, practice issues, remuneration, and impact of neuropsychologists' participation in integrated care teams with respect to patient care and health outcomes. Frequencies were used to summarize the findings as well as qualitative coding of narrative responses. There were 412 respondents to the survey and 261 of those indicated that they worked in at least one integrated care setting. Neuropsychologists work in a variety of integrated care settings and provide diverse services which contribute to improved patient care and outcomes. Three primary themes emerge from the findings with regard to the engagement and teams: advocacy, collaboration, and communication. We argue for the need for more easily accessible outcome studies illustrating the clinical benefits and cost-savings associated with inclusion of neuropsychologists in integrated care teams. In addition, educational and training initiatives are needed to better equip current and future clinical neuropsychologists to function effectively in integrated care settings.
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Sylvie Provost
2017-04-01
Full Text Available Introduction: Chronic disease management requires substantial services integration. A cardiometabolic risk management program inspired by the Chronic Care Model was implemented in Montréal for patients with diabetes or hypertension. One of this study's objectives was to assess the impact of care coordination between the interdisciplinary teams and physicians on patient participation in the program, lifestyle improvements and disease control. Methods: We obtained data on health outcomes from a register of clinical data, questionnaires completed by patients upon entry into the program and at the 12-month mark, and we drew information on the program's characteristics from the implementation analysis. We conducted multiple regression analyses, controlling for patient sociodemographic and health characteristics to measure the association between interdisciplinary team coordination with primary care physicians and various health outcomes. Results: A total of 1689 patients took part in the study (60.1% participation rate. Approximately 40% of patients withdrew from the program during the first year. At the 12-month follow-up (n = 992, we observed a significant increase in the proportion of patients achieving the various clinical targets. The perception by the interdisciplinary team of greater care coordination with primary care physicians was associated with increased participation in the program and the achievement of better clinical results. Conclusion: Greater coordination of patient services between interdisciplinary teams and primary care physicians translates into benefits for patients.
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Provost, Sylvie; Pineault, Raynald; Grimard, Dominique; Pérez, José; Fournier, Michel; Lévesque, Yves; Desforges, Johanne; Tousignant, Pierre; Borgès Da Silva, Roxane
2017-04-01
Chronic disease management requires substantial services integration. A cardiometabolic risk management program inspired by the Chronic Care Model was implemented in Montréal for patients with diabetes or hypertension. One of this study's objectives was to assess the impact of care coordination between the interdisciplinary teams and physicians on patient participation in the program, lifestyle improvements and disease control. We obtained data on health outcomes from a register of clinical data, questionnaires completed by patients upon entry into the program and at the 12-month mark, and we drew information on the program's characteristics from the implementation analysis. We conducted multiple regression analyses, controlling for patient sociodemographic and health characteristics, to measure the association between interdisciplinary team coordination with primary care physicians and various health outcomes. A total of 1689 patients took part in the study (60.1% participation rate). Approximately 40% of patients withdrew from the program during the first year. At the 12-month follow-up (n = 992), we observed a significant increase in the proportion of patients achieving the various clinical targets. The perception by the interdisciplinary team of greater care coordination with primary care physicians was associated with increased participation in the program and the achievement of better clinical results. Greater coordination of patient services between interdisciplinary teams and primary care physicians translates into benefits for patients.
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Profile and performance of nutritionists in Primary Health Care
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Dixis FIGUEROA PEDRAZA
Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective To describe the profile and performance of nutritionists in Primary Health Care. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out, and all nutritionists in two municipalities of Paraíba, Brazil, were interviewed. Information was collected through structured interviews on demographic characteristics, professional qualification, development of food and nutrition activities, knowledge and use of essential bibliography for the work in Primary Care. Results In one municipality there were 28 teams of the Family Health Strategy and in the other, nineteen teams. In all, nineteen nutritionists were interviewed, fourteen of whom were working in the health teams and five were working exclusively in the Family Health Support Centers. All but one were women and the majority were between 20 and 39 years; the majority (n=10 had no graduate training. Nutritionists from the basic health teams developed more public health nutrition actions, such as defining nutritional care protocols and vitamin A and iron supplementation than those from the Family Health Support Centers (11 versus 1; and 13 versus 1, respectively. About half were satisfied with work in general, and dissatisfaction was related to deficiencies in the availability and quality of anthropometric equipment, physical structure and material. Conclusion Nutritionists work in food and nutrition actions in collective health, emphasizing the importance of qualification and practices that better combine the programmatic agenda of this area with Primary Care.
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In search of joy in practice: a report of 23 high-functioning primary care practices.
Sinsky, Christine A; Willard-Grace, Rachel; Schutzbank, Andrew M; Sinsky, Thomas A; Margolius, David; Bodenheimer, Thomas
2013-01-01
We highlight primary care innovations gathered from high-functioning primary care practices, innovations we believe can facilitate joy in practice and mitigate physician burnout. To do so, we made site visits to 23 high-performing primary care practices and focused on how these practices distribute functions among the team, use technology to their advantage, improve outcomes with data, and make the job of primary care feasible and enjoyable as a life's vocation. Innovations identified include (1) proactive planned care, with previsit planning and previsit laboratory tests; (2) sharing clinical care among a team, with expanded rooming protocols, standing orders, and panel management; (3) sharing clerical tasks with collaborative documentation (scribing), nonphysician order entry, and streamlined prescription management; (4) improving communication by verbal messaging and in-box management; and (5) improving team functioning through co-location, team meetings, and work flow mapping. Our observations suggest that a shift from a physician-centric model of work distribution and responsibility to a shared-care model, with a higher level of clinical support staff per physician and frequent forums for communication, can result in high-functioning teams, improved professional satisfaction, and greater joy in practice.
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True, Gala; Stewart, Greg L; Lampman, Michelle; Pelak, Mary; Solimeo, Samantha L
2014-07-01
The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) relies on a team approach to patient care. For organizations engaged in transitioning to a PCMH model, identifying and providing the resources needed to promote team functioning is essential. To describe team-level resources required to support PCMH team functioning within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), and provide insight into how the presence or absence of these resources facilitates or impedes within-team delegation. Semi-structured interviews with members of pilot teams engaged in PCMH implementation in 77 primary care clinics serving over 300,000 patients across two VHA regions covering the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest United States. A purposive sample of 101 core members of pilot teams, including 32 primary care providers, 42 registered nurse care managers, 15 clinical associates, and 12 clerical associates. Investigators from two evaluation sites interviewed frontline primary care staff separately, and then collaborated on joint analysis of parallel data to develop a broad, comprehensive understanding of global themes impacting team functioning and within-team delegation. We describe four themes key to understanding how resources at the team level supported ability of primary care staff to work as effective, engaged teams. Team-based task delegation was facilitated by demarcated boundaries and collective identity; shared goals and sense of purpose; mature and open communication characterized by psychological safety; and ongoing, intentional role negotiation. Our findings provide a framework for organizations to identify assets already in place to support team functioning, as well as areas in need of improvement. For teams struggling to make practice changes, our results indicate key areas where they may benefit from future support. In addition, this research sheds light on how variation in medical home implementation and outcomes may be associated with variation in team-based task delegation.
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[Primary care in the United Kingdom].
Sánchez-Sagrado, T
2016-03-01
The inadequate planning of health professionals in Spain has boosted the way out of doctors overseas. The United Kingdom is one of the countries chosen by Spanish doctors to develop their job. The National Health Service is a health system similar to the Spanish one. Health care services are financing mainly through taxes. The right to health care is linked to the citizen condition. The provision of health care is a mix-up of public and private enterprises. Primary Care is much closed to Spanish Primary Care. Doctors are "self-employed like" professionals. They can set their surgeries in a free area previously designed by the government. They have the right to make their own team and to manage their own budget. Medical salary is linked to professional capability and curriculum vitae. The main role of a General Practitioner is the prevention. Team work and coordination within primary and specialised care is more developed than in Spain. The access to diagnostic tests and to the specialist is controlled through waiting lists. General Practitioners work as gate-keepers. Patients may choose freely their doctor and consultations and hospital care are free at the point of use. Within the United Kingdom there are also health regions with problems due to inequalities to access and to treatment. There is a training path and the access to it is by Curricula. The number of training jobs is regulated by the local needs. Continuing education is compulsory and strictly regulated local and nationally. The National Health Service was the example for the Spanish health reform in 1986. While Spanish Primary health care is of quality, the efficiency of the health system would improve if staff in Primary Care settings were managed in a similar way to the British's. Copyright © 2015 Sociedad Española de Médicos de Atención Primaria (SEMERGEN). Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.
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Hepworth, Julie; Askew, Deborah; Jackson, Claire; Russell, Anthony
2013-01-01
This study aimed to explore how a new model of integrated primary/secondary care for type 2 diabetes management, the Brisbane South Complex Diabetes Service (BSCDS), related to improved diabetes management in a selected group of patients. We used a qualitative research design to obtain detailed accounts from the BSCDS via semi-structured interviews with 10 patients. The interviews were fully transcribed and systematically coded using a form of thematic analysis. Participants' responses were grouped in relation to: (1) Patient-centred care; (2) Effective multiprofessional teamwork; and (3) Empowering patients. The key features of this integrated primary/secondary care model were accessibility and its delivery within a positive health care environment, clear and supportive interpersonal communication between patients and health care providers, and patients seeing themselves as being part of the team-based care. The BSCDS delivered patient-centred care and achieved patient engagement in ways that may have contributed to improved type 2 diabetes management in these participants.
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Primary health care in Canada: systems in motion.
Hutchison, Brian; Levesque, Jean-Frederic; Strumpf, Erin; Coyle, Natalie
2011-06-01
During the 1980s and 1990s, innovations in the organization, funding, and delivery of primary health care in Canada were at the periphery of the system rather than at its core. In the early 2000s, a new policy environment emerged. This policy analysis examines primary health care reform efforts in Canada during the last decade, drawing on descriptive information from published and gray literature and from a series of semistructured interviews with informed observers of primary health care in Canada. Primary health care in Canada has entered a period of potentially transformative change. Key initiatives include support for interprofessional primary health care teams, group practices and networks, patient enrollment with a primary care provider, financial incentives and blended-payment schemes, development of primary health care governance mechanisms, expansion of the primary health care provider pool, implementation of electronic medical records, and quality improvement training and support. Canada's experience suggests that primary health care transformation can be achieved voluntarily in a pluralistic system of private health care delivery, given strong government and professional leadership working in concert. © 2011 Milbank Memorial Fund. Published by Wiley Periodicals Inc.
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Team networking in palliative care
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Odette Spruyt
2011-01-01
Full Text Available "If you want to travel quickly, go alone. But if you want to travel far, you must go together". African proverb. The delivery of palliative care is often complex and always involves a group of people, the team, gathered around the patient and those who are close to them. Effective communication and functional responsive systems of care are essential if palliative care is to be delivered in a timely and competent way. Creating and fostering an effective team is one of the greatest challenges for providers of palliative care. Teams are organic and can be life giving or life sapping for their members.
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Team Networking in Palliative Care
Spruyt, Odette
2011-01-01
“If you want to travel quickly, go alone. But if you want to travel far, you must go together”. African proverb. The delivery of palliative care is often complex and always involves a group of people, the team, gathered around the patient and those who are close to them. Effective communication and functional responsive systems of care are essential if palliative care is to be delivered in a timely and competent way. Creating and fostering an effective team is one of the greatest challenges for providers of palliative care. Teams are organic and can be life giving or life sapping for their members. PMID:21811361
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The Primary Care Pediatrician and the Care of Children With Cleft Lip and/or Cleft Palate.
Lewis, Charlotte W; Jacob, Lisa S; Lehmann, Christoph U
2017-05-01
Orofacial clefts, specifically cleft lip and/or cleft palate (CL/P), are among the most common congenital anomalies. CL/P vary in their location and severity and comprise 3 overarching groups: cleft lip (CL), cleft lip with cleft palate (CLP), and cleft palate alone (CP). CL/P may be associated with one of many syndromes that could further complicate a child's needs. Care of patients with CL/P spans prenatal diagnosis into adulthood. The appropriate timing and order of specific cleft-related care are important factors for optimizing outcomes; however, care should be individualized to meet the specific needs of each patient and family. Children with CL/P should receive their specialty cleft-related care from a multidisciplinary cleft or craniofacial team with sufficient patient and surgical volume to promote successful outcomes. The primary care pediatrician at the child's medical home has an essential role in making a timely diagnosis and referral; providing ongoing health care maintenance, anticipatory guidance, and acute care; and functioning as an advocate for the patient and a liaison between the family and the craniofacial/cleft team. This document provides background on CL/P and multidisciplinary team care, information about typical timing and order of cleft-related care, and recommendations for cleft/craniofacial teams and primary care pediatricians in the care of children with CL/P. Copyright © 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Johnson Jeffrey A
2012-08-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background When depression accompanies diabetes, it complicates treatment, portends worse outcomes and increases health care costs. A collaborative care case-management model, previously tested in an urban managed care organization in the US, achieved significant reduction of depressive symptoms, improved diabetes disease control and patient-reported outcomes, and saved money. While impressive, these findings need to be replicated and extended to other healthcare settings. Our objective is to comprehensively evaluate a collaborative care model for comorbid depression and type 2 diabetes within a Canadian primary care setting. Methods/design We initiated the TeamCare model in four Primary Care Networks in Northern Alberta. The intervention involves a nurse care manager guiding patient-centered care with family physicians and consultant physician specialists to monitor progress and develop tailored care plans. Patients eligible for the intervention will be identified using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 as a screen for depressive symptoms. Care managers will then guide patients through three phases: 1 improving depressive symptoms, 2 improving blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol, and 3 improving lifestyle behaviors. We will employ the RE-AIM framework for a comprehensive and mixed-methods approach to our evaluation. Effectiveness will be assessed using a controlled “on-off” trial design, whereby eligible patients would be alternately enrolled in the TeamCare intervention or usual care on a monthly basis. All patients will be assessed at baseline, 6 and 12 months. Our primary analyses will be based on changes in two outcomes: depressive symptoms, and a multivariable, scaled marginal model for the combined outcome of global disease control (i.e., A1c, systolic blood pressure, LDL cholesterol. Our planned enrolment of 168 patients will provide greater than 80% power to observe clinically important improvements in all
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Campbell-Scherer, Denise L; Asselin, Jodie; Osunlana, Adedayo M; Fielding, Sheri; Anderson, Robin; Rueda-Clausen, Christian F; Johnson, Jeffrey A; Ogunleye, Ayodele A; Cave, Andrew; Manca, Donna; Sharma, Arya M
2014-06-19
Obesity is a pressing public health concern, which frequently presents in primary care. With the explosive obesity epidemic, there is an urgent need to maximize effective management in primary care. The 5As of Obesity Management™ (5As) are a collection of knowledge tools developed by the Canadian Obesity Network. Low rates of obesity management visits in primary care suggest provider behaviour may be an important variable. The goal of the present study is to increase frequency and quality of obesity management in primary care using the 5As Team (5AsT) intervention to change provider behaviour. The 5AsT trial is a theoretically informed, pragmatic randomized controlled trial with mixed methods evaluation. Clinic-based multidisciplinary teams (RN/NP, mental health, dietitians) will be randomized to control or the 5AsT intervention group, to participate in biweekly learning collaborative sessions supported by internal and external practice facilitation. The learning collaborative content addresses provider-identified barriers to effective obesity management in primary care. Evidence-based shared decision making tools will be co-developed and iteratively tested by practitioners. Evaluation will be informed by the RE-AIM framework. The primary outcome measure, to which participants are blinded, is number of weight management visits/full-time equivalent (FTE) position. Patient-level outcomes will also be assessed, through a longitudinal cohort study of patients from randomized practices. Patient outcomes include clinical (e.g., body mass index [BMI], blood pressure), health-related quality of life (SF-12, EQ5D), and satisfaction with care. Qualitative data collected from providers and patients will be evaluated using thematic analysis to understand the context, implementation and effectiveness of the 5AsT program. The 5AsT trial will provide a wide range of insights into current practices, knowledge gaps and barriers that limit obesity management in primary practice
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Implementing a stepped-care approach in primary care: results of a qualitative study
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Franx Gerdien
2012-01-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background Since 2004, 'stepped-care models' have been adopted in several international evidence-based clinical guidelines to guide clinicians in the organisation of depression care. To enhance the adoption of this new treatment approach, a Quality Improvement Collaborative (QIC was initiated in the Netherlands. Methods Alongside the QIC, an intervention study using a controlled before-and-after design was performed. Part of the study was a process evaluation, utilizing semi-structured group interviews, to provide insight into the perceptions of the participating clinicians on the implementation of stepped care for depression into their daily routines. Participants were primary care clinicians, specialist clinicians, and other healthcare staff from eight regions in the Netherlands. Analysis was supported by the Normalisation Process Theory (NPT. Results The introduction of a stepped-care model for depression to primary care teams within the context of a depression QIC was generally well received by participating clinicians. All three elements of the proposed stepped-care model (patient differentiation, stepped-care treatment, and outcome monitoring, were translated and introduced locally. Clinicians reported changes in terms of learning how to differentiate between patient groups and different levels of care, changing antidepressant prescribing routines as a consequence of having a broader treatment package to offer to their patients, and better working relationships with patients and colleagues. A complex range of factors influenced the implementation process. Facilitating factors were the stepped-care model itself, the structured team meetings (part of the QIC method, and the positive reaction from patients to stepped care. The differing views of depression and depression care within multidisciplinary health teams, lack of resources, and poor information systems hindered the rapid introduction of the stepped-care model. The NPT
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Sánchez-Sagrado, T
Italy is not a country where Spanish doctors emigrate, as there is an over-supply of health care professionals. The Italian Servizio Sanitario Nazionale has some differences compared to the Spanish National Health System. The Servizio Sanitario Nazionale is financed by national and regional taxes and co-payments. There are taxes earmarked for health, and Primary Care receives 50% of the total funds. Italian citizens and residents in Italy have the right to free health cover. However, there are co-payments for laboratory and imaging tests, pharmaceuticals, specialist ambulatory services, and emergencies. Co-payments vary in the different regions. The provision of services is regional, and thus fragmentation and major inequities are the norm. Doctors in Primary Care are self-employed and from 2000 onwards, there are incentives to work in multidisciplinary teams. Salary is regulated by a national contract and it is the sum of per-capita payments and extra resources for specific activities. Responsibilities are similar to those of Spanish professionals. However, medical care is more personal. Relationships between Primary Care and specialised care depend on the doctors' relationships. Primary Care doctors are gatekeepers for specialised care, except for gynaecology, obstetrics and paediatrics. Specialised training is compulsory in order to work as general practitioner. The Italian Health Care System is a national health system like the Spanish one. However, health care professionals are self-employed, and there are co-payments. In spite of co-payments, Italians have one of the highest average life expectancy, and they support a universal and publicly funded health-care system. Copyright © 2017 Sociedad Española de Médicos de Atención Primaria (SEMERGEN). Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.
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Barnes, Emily R; Theeke, Laurie A; Mallow, Jennifer
2015-04-01
Obesity is significantly underdiagnosed and undertreated in primary care settings. The purpose of this clinical practice change project was to increase provider adherence to national clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of obesity in adults. Based upon the National Institutes of Health guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of obesity, a clinical change project was implemented. Guided by the theory of planned behaviour, the Provider and Healthcare team Adherence to Treatment Guidelines (PHAT-G) intervention includes education sessions, additional provider resources for patient education, a provider reminder system and provider feedback. Primary care providers did not significantly increase on documentation of diagnosis and planned management of obesity for patients with body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 30. Medical assistants increased recording of height, weight and BMI in the patient record by 13%, which was significant. Documentation of accurate BMI should lead to diagnosis of appropriate weight category and subsequent care planning. Future studies will examine barriers to adherence to clinical practice guidelines for obesity. Interventions are needed that include inter-professional team members and may be more successful if delivered separately from routine primary care visits. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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Evaluating the effectiveness of health care teams.
Mickan, Sharon M
2005-05-01
While it is recognised that effective health care teams are associated with quality patient care, the literature is comparatively sparse in defining the outcomes of effective teamwork. This literature review of the range of organisational, team and individual benefits of teamwork complements an earlier article which summarised the antecedent conditions for (input) and team processes (throughput) of effective teams. This article summarises the evidence for a range of outcome measures of effective teams. Organisational benefits of teamwork include reduced hospitalisation time and costs, reduced unanticipated admissions, better accessibility for patients, and improved coordination of care. Team benefits include efficient use of health care services, enhanced communication and professional diversity. Patients report benefits of enhanced satisfaction, acceptance of treatment and improved health outcomes. Finally, team members report enhanced job satisfaction, greater role clarity and enhanced well-being. Due to the inherent complexity of teamwork, a constituency model of team evaluation is supported where key stakeholders identify and measure the intended benefits of a team.
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Dimas, Isabel Dórdio; Renato Lourenço, Paulo; Rebelo, Teresa
2016-07-01
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of coaching behaviours provided by peers and by the leader on the emotions experienced by interprofessional health and social care teams and on members' satisfaction with the team, as well as on team performance. Data were obtained from a survey among 344 employees working in 52 interprofessional health and social care teams from nine Portuguese organizations. The results show that leader coaching and peer coaching have a positive effect on the level of team members' satisfaction with the team and on positive emotions, and a negative effect on negative emotions. Furthermore, coaching provided by peers presents a positive effect on team performance as assessed by the leader of the team. Our findings put forward the importance of engaging in coaching behaviours to promote quality of the team experience, as well as the achievement of team performance objectives. Further studies should explore how coaching behaviours impact the patient, whose well-being is the ultimate objective of a team in the health and social care system, namely in terms of the patient's perception of quality care or patient outcomes.
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Heilmann, Rachel M F; Campbell, Stephanie M; Kroner, Beverly A; Proksel, Jenel R; Billups, Sarah J; Witt, Daniel M; Helling, Dennis K
2013-01-01
The impact of the declining number of primary care physicians is exacerbated by a growing elderly population in need of chronic disease management. Primary care clinical pharmacy specialists, with their unique knowledge and skill set, are well suited to address this gap. At Kaiser Permanente of Colorado (KPCO), primary care clinical pharmacy specialists have a long history of integration with medical practices and are located in close proximity to physicians, nurses, and other members of the health care team. Since 1992, Primary Care Clinical Pharmacy Services (PCCPS) has expanded from 4 to 30 full-time equivalents (FTEs) to provide services in all KPCO medical office buildings. With this growth in size, PCCPS has evolved to play a vital role in working with primary care medical teams to ensure that drug therapy is effective, safe, and affordable. In addition, PCCPS specialists provide ambulatory teaching sites for pharmacy students and pharmacy residents. There is approximately 1 specialist FTE for every 13,000 adult KPCO members and every 9 clinical FTEs of internal medicine and family medicine physicians. All clinical pharmacy specialists in the pharmacy department are required to have a PharmD degree, to complete postgraduate year 2 residencies, and, as a condition of employment, to become board certified in an applicable specialty. The evolution, current structure, and role of PCCPS at KPCO, including factors facilitating successful integration within the medical team, are highlighted. Patient and nonpatient care responsibilities are described.
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D'Ambruoso, Sarah F; Coscarelli, Anne; Hurvitz, Sara; Wenger, Neil; Coniglio, David; Donaldson, Dusty; Pietras, Christopher; Walling, Anne M
2016-11-01
Our case describes the efforts of team members drawn from oncology, palliative care, supportive care, and primary care to assist a woman with advanced cancer in accepting care for her psychosocial distress, integrating prognostic information so that she could share in decisions about treatment planning, involving family in her care, and ultimately transitioning to hospice. Team members in our setting included a medical oncologist, oncology nurse practitioner, palliative care nurse practitioner, oncology social worker, and primary care physician. The core members were the patient and her sister. Our team grew organically as a result of patient need and, in doing so, operationalized an explicitly shared understanding of care priorities. We refer to this shared understanding as a shared mental model for care delivery, which enabled our team to jointly set priorities for care through a series of warm handoffs enabled by the team's close proximity within the same clinic. When care providers outside our integrated team became involved in the case, significant communication gaps exposed the difficulty in extending our shared mental model outside the integrated team framework, leading to inefficiencies in care. Integration of this shared understanding for care and close proximity of team members proved to be key components in facilitating treatment of our patient's burdensome cancer-related distress so that she could more effectively participate in treatment decision making that reflected her goals of care.
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Primary care training and the evolving healthcare system.
Peccoralo, Lauren A; Callahan, Kathryn; Stark, Rachel; DeCherrie, Linda V
2012-01-01
With growing numbers of patient-centered medical homes and accountable care organizations, and the potential implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the provision of primary care in the United States is expanding and changing. Therefore, there is an urgent need to create more primary-care physicians and to train physicians to practice in this environment. In this article, we review the impact that the changing US healthcare system has on trainees, strategies to recruit and retain medical students and residents into primary-care internal medicine, and the preparation of trainees to work in the changing healthcare system. Recruitment methods for medical students include early preclinical exposure to patients in the primary-care setting, enhanced longitudinal patient experiences in clinical clerkships, and primary-care tracks. Recruitment methods for residents include enhanced ambulatory-care training and primary-care programs. Financial-incentive programs such as loan forgiveness may encourage trainees to enter primary care. Retaining residents in primary-care careers may be encouraged via focused postgraduate fellowships or continuing medical education to prepare primary-care physicians as both teachers and practitioners in the changing environment. Finally, to prepare primary-care trainees to effectively and efficiently practice within the changing system, educators should consider shifting ambulatory training to community-based practices, encouraging resident participation in team-based care, providing interprofessional educational experiences, and involving trainees in quality-improvement initiatives. Medical educators in primary care must think innovatively and collaboratively to effectively recruit and train the future generation of primary-care physicians. © 2012 Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
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A Systematic Review of Tools Used to Assess Team Leadership in Health Care Action Teams.
Rosenman, Elizabeth D; Ilgen, Jonathan S; Shandro, Jamie R; Harper, Amy L; Fernandez, Rosemarie
2015-10-01
To summarize the characteristics of tools used to assess leadership in health care action (HCA) teams. HCA teams are interdisciplinary teams performing complex, critical tasks under high-pressure conditions. The authors conducted a systematic review of the PubMed/MEDLINE, CINAHL, ERIC, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and Web of Science databases, key journals, and review articles published through March 2012 for English-language articles that applied leadership assessment tools to HCA teams in all specialties. Pairs of reviewers assessed identified articles for inclusion and exclusion criteria and abstracted data on study characteristics, tool characteristics, and validity evidence. Of the 9,913 abstracts screened, 83 studies were included. They described 61 team leadership assessment tools. Forty-nine tools (80%) provided behaviors, skills, or characteristics to define leadership. Forty-four tools (72%) assessed leadership as one component of a larger assessment, 13 tools (21%) identified leadership as the primary focus of the assessment, and 4 (7%) assessed leadership style. Fifty-three studies (64%) assessed leadership at the team level; 29 (35%) did so at the individual level. Assessments of simulated (n = 55) and live (n = 30) patient care events were performed. Validity evidence included content validity (n = 75), internal structure (n = 61), relationship to other variables (n = 44), and response process (n = 15). Leadership assessment tools applied to HCA teams are heterogeneous in content and application. Comparisons between tools are limited by study variability. A systematic approach to team leadership tool development, evaluation, and implementation will strengthen understanding of this important competency.
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Bhuyan, Soumitra S; Chandak, Aastha; Smith, Patti; Carlton, Erik L; Duncan, Kenric; Gentry, Daniel
2015-01-01
Childhood obesity, with its growing prevalence, detrimental effects on population health and economic burden, is an important public health issue in the United States and worldwide. There is need for expansion of the role of primary care physicians in obesity interventions. The primary aim of this review is to explore primary care physician (PCP) mediated interventions targeting childhood obesity and assess the roles played by physicians in the interventions. A systematic review of the literature published between January 2007 and October 2014 was conducted using a combination of keywords like "childhood obesity", "paediatric obesity", "childhood overweight", "paediatric overweight", "primary care physician", "primary care settings", "healthcare teams", and "community resources" from MEDLINE and CINAHL during November 2014. Author name(s), publication year, sample size, patient's age, study and follow-up duration, intervention components, role of PCP, members of the healthcare team, and outcomes were extracted for this review. Nine studies were included in the review. PCP-mediated interventions were composed of behavioural, education and technological interventions or a combination of these. Most interventions led to positive changes in Body Mass Index (BMI), healthier lifestyles and increased satisfaction among parents. PCPs participated in screening and diagnosing, making referrals for intervention, providing nutrition counselling, and promoting physical activity. PCPs, Dietitians and nurses were often part of the healthcare team. PCP-mediated interventions have the potential to effectively curb childhood obesity. However, there is a further need for training of PCPs, and explain new types of interventions such as the use of technology. Copyright © 2015 Asia Oceania Association for the Study of Obesity. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Nemeth, Lynne S; Feifer, Chris; Stuart, Gail W; Ornstein, Steven M
2008-01-16
Implementing change in primary care is difficult, and little practical guidance is available to assist small primary care practices. Methods to structure care and develop new roles are often needed to implement an evidence-based practice that improves care. This study explored the process of change used to implement clinical guidelines for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease in primary care practices that used a common electronic medical record (EMR). Multiple conceptual frameworks informed the design of this study designed to explain the complex phenomena of implementing change in primary care practice. Qualitative methods were used to examine the processes of change that practice members used to implement the guidelines. Purposive sampling in eight primary care practices within the Practice Partner Research Network-Translating Researching into Practice (PPRNet-TRIP II) clinical trial yielded 28 staff members and clinicians who were interviewed regarding how change in practice occurred while implementing clinical guidelines for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease and strokes. A conceptual framework for implementing clinical guidelines into primary care practice was developed through this research. Seven concepts and their relationships were modelled within this framework: leaders setting a vision with clear goals for staff to embrace; involving the team to enable the goals and vision for the practice to be achieved; enhancing communication systems to reinforce goals for patient care; developing the team to enable the staff to contribute toward practice improvement; taking small steps, encouraging practices' tests of small changes in practice; assimilating the electronic medical record to maximize clinical effectiveness, enhancing practices' use of the electronic tool they have invested in for patient care improvement; and providing feedback within a culture of improvement, leading to an iterative cycle of goal setting
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National Structural Survey of Veterans Affairs Home-Based Primary Care Programs.
Karuza, Jurgis; Gillespie, Suzanne M; Olsan, Tobie; Cai, Xeuya; Dang, Stuti; Intrator, Orna; Li, Jiejin; Gao, Shan; Kinosian, Bruce; Edes, Thomas
2017-12-01
To describe the current structural and practice characteristics of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Home-Based Primary Care (HBPC) program. We designed a national survey and surveyed HBPC program directors on-line using REDCap. We received 236 surveys from 394 identified HBPC sites (60% response rate). HBPC site characteristics were quantified using closed-ended formats. HBPC program directors were most often registered nurses, and HBPC programs primarily served veterans with complex chronic illnesses that were at high risk of hospitalization and nursing home care. Primary care was delivered using interdisciplinary teams, with nurses, social workers, and registered dietitians as team members in more than 90% of the sites. Most often, nurse practitioners were the principal primary care providers (PCPs), typically working with nurse case managers. Nearly 60% of the sites reported dual PCPs involving VA and community-based physicians. Nearly all sites provided access to a core set of comprehensive services and programs (e.g., case management, supportive home health care). At the same time, there were variations according to site (e.g., size, location (urban, rural), use of non-VA hospitals, primary care models used). HBPC sites reflected the rationale and mission of HBPC by focusing on complex chronic illness of home-based veterans and providing comprehensive primary care using interdisciplinary teams. Our next series of studies will examine how HBPC site structural characteristics and care models are related to the processes and outcomes of care to determine whether there are best practice standards that define an optimal HBPC structure and care model or whether multiple approaches to HBPC better serve the needs of veterans. Published 2017. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
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Interprofessional Care and Role of Team Leaders.
Kaini, B K
2015-01-01
Interprofessional care is an essential part of the health service delivery system. It helps to achieve improved care and to deliver the optimal and desired health outcomes by working together, sharing and learning skills. Health care organisation is a collective sum of many leaders and followers. Successful delivery of interprofessional care relies on the contribution of interprofessional care team leaders and health care professionals from all groups. The role of the interprofessional care team leader is vital to ensuring continuity and consistency of care and to mobilise and motivate health care professionals for the effective delivery of health services. Medical professionals usually lead interprofessional care teams. Interprofessional care leaders require various skills and competencies for the successful delivery of interprofessional care.
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Fundamental Reform of Payment for Adult Primary Care: Comprehensive Payment for Comprehensive Care
Berenson, Robert A.; Schoenbaum, Stephen C.; Gardner, Laurence B.
2007-01-01
Primary care is essential to the effective and efficient functioning of health care delivery systems, yet there is an impending crisis in the field due in part to a dysfunctional payment system. We present a fundamentally new model of payment for primary care, replacing encounter-based imbursement with comprehensive payment for comprehensive care. Unlike former iterations of primary care capitation (which simply bundled inadequate fee-for-service payments), our comprehensive payment model represents new investment in adult primary care, with substantial increases in payment over current levels. The comprehensive payment is directed to practices to include support for the modern systems and teams essential to the delivery of comprehensive, coordinated care. Income to primary physicians is increased commensurate with the high level of responsibility expected. To ensure optimal allocation of resources and the rewarding of desired outcomes, the comprehensive payment is needs/risk-adjusted and performance-based. Our model establishes a new social contract with the primary care community, substantially increasing payment in return for achieving important societal health system goals, including improved accessibility, quality, safety, and efficiency. Attainment of these goals should help offset and justify the costs of the investment. Field tests of this and other new models of payment for primary care are urgently needed. PMID:17356977
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van Eeghen, Constance O; Littenberg, Benjamin; Kessler, Rodger
2018-05-23
Patients with chronic conditions frequently experience behavioral comorbidities to which primary care cannot easily respond. This study observed a Vermont family medicine practice with integrated medical and behavioral health services that use a structured approach to implement a chronic care management system with Lean. The practice chose to pilot a population-based approach to improve outcomes for patients with poorly controlled Type 2 diabetes using a stepped-care model with an interprofessional team including a community health nurse. This case study observed the team's use of Lean, with which it designed and piloted a clinical algorithm composed of patient self-assessment, endorsement of behavioral goals, shared documentation of goals and plans, and follow-up. The team redesigned workflows and measured reach (patients who engaged to the end of the pilot), outcomes (HbA1c results), and process (days between HbA1c tests). The researchers evaluated practice member self-reports about the use of Lean and facilitators and barriers to move from pilot to larger scale applications. Of 20 eligible patients recruited over 3 months, 10 agreed to participate and 9 engaged fully (45%); 106 patients were controls. Relative to controls, outcomes and process measures improved but lacked significance. Practice members identified barriers that prevented implementation of all changes needed but were in agreement that the pilot produced useful outcomes. A systematized, population-based, chronic care management service is feasible in a busy primary care practice. To test at scale, practice leadership will need to allocate staffing, invest in shared documentation, and standardize workflows to streamline office practice responsibilities.
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Vöhringer, Paul A; Castro, Ariel; Martínez, Pablo; Tala, Álvaro; Medina, Simón; Rojas, Graciela
2016-08-01
Although evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean suggests that depression can be effectively treated in primary care settings, depression management remains unevenly performed. This systematic review evaluates all the international evidence on healthcare team training programs aimed at improving the outcomes of patients with depression. Three databases were searched for articles in English or Spanish indexed up to November 20, 2014. Studies were included if they fulfilled the following conditions: clinical trials, meta-analyses, or systematic reviews; and if they evaluated a training or educational program intended to improve the management of depression by primary healthcare teams, and assessed change in depressive symptoms, diagnosis or response rates, referral rates, patients' satisfaction and/or quality of life, and the effectiveness of treatments. Nine studies were included in this systematic review. Five trials tested the effectiveness of multi-component interventions (training included), and the remaining studies evaluated the effectiveness of specific training programs for depression management. All the studies that implemented multi-component interventions were efficacious, and half of the training trials were shown to be effective. Contribution of training programs alone to the effectiveness of multi-component interventions is yet to be established. The lack of specificity regarding health providers' characteristics might be a confounding factor. The review conducted suggests that stand-alone training programs are less effective than multi-component interventions. In applying the evidence gathered from developed countries to Latin America and the Caribbean, these training programs must consider and address local conditions of mental health systems, and therefore multi-component interventions may be warranted. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Approaches and challenges to optimising primary care teams’ electronic health record usage
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Nancy Pandhi
2014-07-01
Full Text Available Background Although the presence of an electronic health record (EHR alone does not ensure high quality, efficient care, few studies have focused on the work of those charged with optimising use of existing EHR functionality.Objective To examine the approaches used and challenges perceived by analysts supporting the optimisation of primary care teams’ EHR use at a large U.S. academic health care system.Methods A qualitative study was conducted. Optimisation analysts and their supervisor were interviewed and data were analysed for themes.Results Analysts needed to reconcile the tension created by organisational mandates focused on the standardisation of EHR processes with the primary care teams’ demand for EHR customisation. They gained an understanding of health information technology (HIT leadership’s and primary care team’s goals through attending meetings, reading meeting minutes and visiting with clinical teams. Within what was organisationally possible, EHR education could then be tailored to fit team needs. Major challenges were related to organisational attempts to standardise EHR use despite varied clinic contexts, personnel readiness and technical issues with the EHR platform. Forcing standardisation upon clinical needs that current EHR functionality could not satisfy was difficult.Conclusions Dedicated optimisation analysts can add value to health systems through playing a mediating role between HIT leadership and care teams. Our findings imply that EHR optimisation should be performed with an in-depth understanding of the workflow, cognitive and interactional activities in primary care.
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Proactive cancer care in primary care: a mixed-methods study.
Kendall, Marilyn; Mason, Bruce; Momen, Natalie; Barclay, Stephen; Munday, Dan; Lovick, Roberta; Macpherson, Stella; Paterson, Euan; Baughan, Paul; Cormie, Paul; Kiehlmann, Peter; Free, Amanda; Murray, Scott A
2013-06-01
Current models of post-treatment cancer care are based on traditional practices and clinician preference rather than evidence of benefit. To assess the feasibility of using a structured template to provide holistic follow-up of patients in primary care from cancer diagnosis onwards. A two-phase mixed methods action research project. An electronic cancer ongoing review document (CORD) was first developed with patients and general practitioners, and used with patients with a new diagnosis of cancer. This was evaluated through documentary analysis of the CORDs, qualitative interviews with patients, family carers and health professionals and record reviews. The records of 107 patients from 13 primary care teams were examined and 45 interviews conducted. The document was started in 54% of people with newly diagnosed cancer, and prompted clear documentation of multidimension needs and understanding. General practitioners found using the document helped to structure consultations and cover psychosocial areas, but they reported it needed to be better integrated in their medical records with computerized prompts in place. Few clinicians discussed the review openly with patients, and the template was often completed afterwards. Anticipatory cancer care from diagnosis to cure or death, 'in primary care', is feasible in the U.K. and acceptable to patients, although there are barriers. The process promoted continuity of care and holism. A reliable system for proactive cancer care in general practice supported by hospital specialists may allow more survivorship care to be delivered in primary care, as in other long-term conditions.
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Clinical interdisciplinary health team care: an educational experiment.
Mazur, H; Beeston, J J; Yerxa, E J
1979-09-01
With increasing concern for teamwork in clinical practice in health care settings, the need to identify the concepts, methods, and learning processes for improving interdisciplinary team skills is apparent. This paper describes patient-centered, clinical-research-demonstration programs for teams of students, preceptors, and faculty members from six disciplines who provided patient care in a long-term rehabilitation setting. The teams were involved in the theory and practice of team-building, including weekly sessions on leadership styles, communication, group decision-making, and team effectiveness assessment. Objective and subjective measurements were administered throughout the program. The results indicate that task-oriented patient care favors the learning of team skills, especially when all levels of administration support and participate in the processes. Question are raised concerning the effect of clinical teams on the quality of patient care, their cost-effectiveness, and the low priority given to teaching interdisciplinary team skills in professional education.
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Donohue, SarahMaria; Haine, James E; Li, Zhanhai; Feldstein, David A; Micek, Mark; Trowbridge, Elizabeth R; Kamnetz, Sandra A; Sosman, James M; Wilke, Lee G; Sesto, Mary E; Tevaarwerk, Amye J
2017-11-02
Every cancer survivor and his/her primary care provider should receive an individualized survivorship care plan (SCP) following curative treatment. Little is known regarding point-of-care utilization at primary care visits. We assessed SCP utilization in the clinical context of primary care visits. Primary care physicians and advanced practice providers (APPs) who had seen survivors following provision of an SCP were identified. Eligible primary care physicians and APPs were sent an online survey, evaluating SCP utilization and influence on decision-making at the point-of-care, accompanied by copies of the survivor's SCP and the clinic note. Eighty-eight primary care physicians and APPs were surveyed November 2016, with 40 (45%) responding. Most respondents (60%) reported discussing cancer or related issues during the visit. Information needed included treatment (66%) and follow-up visits, and the cancer team was responsible for (58%) vs primary care (58%). Respondents acquired this information by asking the patient (79%), checking oncology notes (75%), the SCP (17%), or online resources (8%). Barriers to SCP use included being unaware of the SCP (73%), difficulty locating it (30%), and finding needed information faster via another mechanism (15%). Despite largely not using the SCP for the visit (90%), most respondents (61%) believed one would be quite or very helpful for future visits. Most primary care visits included discussion of cancer or cancer-related issues. SCPs may provide the information necessary to deliver optimal survivor care but efforts are needed to reduce barriers and design SCPs for primary care use.
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Missing an opportunity: the embedded nature of weight management in primary care.
Asselin, J; Osunlana, A M; Ogunleye, A A; Sharma, A M; Campbell-Scherer, D
2015-12-01
The 5As Team study was designed to create, implement and evaluate a flexible intervention to improve the quality and quantity of weight management visits in primary care. The objective of this portion of the study was to explore how primary care providers incorporate weight management in their practice. 5AsT is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) on the implementation of a 6-month 5 As Team (5AsT) intervention designed to operationalize the 5As of obesity management in primary care. Data for the qualitative portion of the study presented here included semi-structured interviews with 29 multidisciplinary team providers and field notes of intervention sessions. Thematic analysis was undertaken. A key pattern that emerged from the data was that healthcare providers usually do not address obesity as a primary focus for a visit. Rather, obesity is embedded in a wide range of primary care encounters for other conditions. Implications were it can take extra time to discuss weight, it can be inappropriate to bring up weight as a topic, and treating risk factors and root causes of obesity have indirect benefits to patient weight management. Our findings have implications for obesity treatment approaches and tools that assume a discreet weight management visit. The embedded nature of obesity management in primary care can be harnessed to leverage multiple opportunities for asking and assessing root causes of obesity, and working longitudinally towards individual health goals. © 2015 The Authors. Clinical Obesity published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of World Obesity.
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Organizational culture, team climate and diabetes care in small office-based practices.
Bosch, Marije; Dijkstra, Rob; Wensing, Michel; van der Weijden, Trudy; Grol, Richard
2008-08-21
Redesigning care has been proposed as a lever for improving chronic illness care. Within primary care, diabetes care is the most widespread example of restructured integrated care. Our goal was to assess to what extent important aspects of restructured care such as multidisciplinary teamwork and different types of organizational culture are associated with high quality diabetes care in small office-based general practices. We conducted cross-sectional analyses of data from 83 health care professionals involved in diabetes care from 30 primary care practices in the Netherlands, with a total of 752 diabetes mellitus type II patients participating in an improvement study. We used self-reported measures of team climate (Team Climate Inventory) and organizational culture (Competing Values Framework), and measures of quality of diabetes care and clinical patient characteristics from medical records and self-report. We conducted multivariate analyses of the relationship between culture, climate and HbA1c, total cholesterol, systolic blood pressure and a sum score on process indicators for the quality of diabetes care, adjusting for potential patient- and practice level confounders and practice-level clustering. A strong group culture was negatively associated to the quality of diabetes care provided to patients (beta = -0.04; p = 0.04), whereas a more 'balanced culture' was positively associated to diabetes care quality (beta = 5.97; p = 0.03). No associations were found between organizational culture, team climate and clinical patient outcomes. Although some significant associations were found between high quality diabetes care in general practice and different organizational cultures, relations were rather marginal. Variation in clinical patient outcomes could not be attributed to organizational culture or teamwork. This study therefore contributes to the discussion about the legitimacy of the widespread idea that aspects of redesigning care such as teamwork and culture
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Organizational culture, team climate and diabetes care in small office-based practices
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van der Weijden Trudy
2008-08-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background Redesigning care has been proposed as a lever for improving chronic illness care. Within primary care, diabetes care is the most widespread example of restructured integrated care. Our goal was to assess to what extent important aspects of restructured care such as multidisciplinary teamwork and different types of organizational culture are associated with high quality diabetes care in small office-based general practices. Methods We conducted cross-sectional analyses of data from 83 health care professionals involved in diabetes care from 30 primary care practices in the Netherlands, with a total of 752 diabetes mellitus type II patients participating in an improvement study. We used self-reported measures of team climate (Team Climate Inventory and organizational culture (Competing Values Framework, and measures of quality of diabetes care and clinical patient characteristics from medical records and self-report. We conducted multivariate analyses of the relationship between culture, climate and HbA1c, total cholesterol, systolic blood pressure and a sum score on process indicators for the quality of diabetes care, adjusting for potential patient- and practice level confounders and practice-level clustering. Results A strong group culture was negatively associated to the quality of diabetes care provided to patients (β = -0.04; p = 0.04, whereas a more 'balanced culture' was positively associated to diabetes care quality (β = 5.97; p = 0.03. No associations were found between organizational culture, team climate and clinical patient outcomes. Conclusion Although some significant associations were found between high quality diabetes care in general practice and different organizational cultures, relations were rather marginal. Variation in clinical patient outcomes could not be attributed to organizational culture or teamwork. This study therefore contributes to the discussion about the legitimacy of the widespread idea
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Brouwers, Melissa C; Vukmirovic, Marija; Tomasone, Jennifer R; Grunfeld, Eva; Urquhart, Robin; O'Brien, Mary Ann; Walker, Melanie; Webster, Fiona; Fitch, Margaret
2016-10-01
To report on the findings of the CanIMPACT (Canadian Team to Improve Community-Based Cancer Care along the Continuum) Casebook project, which systematically documented Canadian initiatives (ie, programs and projects) designed to improve or support coordination and continuity of cancer care between primary care providers (PCPs) and oncology specialists. Pan-Canadian environmental scan. Canada. Individuals representing the various initiatives provided data for the analysis. Initiatives included in the Casebook met the following criteria: they supported coordination and collaboration between PCPs and oncology specialists; they were related to diagnosis, treatment, survivorship, or personalized medicine; and they included breast or colorectal cancer or both. Data were collected on forms that were compiled into summaries (ie, profiles) for each initiative. Casebook initiatives were organized based on the targeted stage of the cancer care continuum, jurisdiction, and strategy (ie, model of care or type of intervention) employed. Thematic analysis identified similarities and differences among employed strategies, the level of primary care engagement, implementation barriers and facilitators, and initiative evaluation. The CanIMPACT Casebook profiles 24 initiatives. Eleven initiatives targeted the survivorship stage of the cancer care continuum and 15 focused specifically on breast or colorectal cancer or both. Initiative teams implemented the following strategies: nurse patient navigation, multidisciplinary care teams, electronic communication or information systems, PCP education, and multicomponent initiatives. Initiatives engaged PCPs at various levels. Implementation barriers included lack of care standardization across jurisdictions and incompatibility among electronic communication systems. Implementation facilitators included having clinical and program leaders publicly support the initiative, repurposing existing resources, receiving financial support, and
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A meta-ethnography of organisational culture in primary care medical practice.
Grant, Suzanne; Guthrie, Bruce; Entwistle, Vikki; Williams, Brian
2014-01-01
Over the past decade, there has been growing international interest in shaping local organisational cultures in primary healthcare. However, the contextual relevance of extant culture assessment instruments to the primary care context has been questioned. The aim of this paper is to derive a new contextually appropriate understanding of the key dimensions of primary care medical practice organisational culture and their inter-relationship through a synthesis of published qualitative research. A systematic search of six electronic databases followed by a synthesis using techniques of meta-ethnography involving translation and re-interpretation. A total of 16 papers were included in the meta-ethnography from the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand that fell into two related groups: those focused on practice organisational characteristics and narratives of practice individuality; and those focused on sub-practice variation across professional, managerial and administrative lines. It was found that primary care organisational culture was characterised by four key dimensions, i.e. responsiveness, team hierarchy, care philosophy and communication. These dimensions are multi-level and inter-professional in nature, spanning both practice and sub-practice levels. The research contributes to organisational culture theory development. The four new cultural dimensions provide a synthesized conceptual framework for researchers to evaluate and understand primary care cultural and sub-cultural levels. The synthesised cultural dimensions present a framework for practitioners to understand and change organisational culture in primary care teams. The research uses an innovative research methodology to synthesise the existing qualitative research and is one of the first to develop systematically a qualitative conceptual framing of primary care organisational culture.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Mi Ja Kim, PhD, RN, FAAN
2008-03-01
Conclusion: Teamwork should be included in all health professions' curricula, and nursing clinical practicums should include primary health care in all specialty areas. More faculties should engage in multidisciplinary primary health care. The benefits of a multidisciplinary approach to primary health care outweigh the difficulties experienced by multidisciplinary team members. The findings of this study may be useful for future multidisciplinary primary health care work worldwide.
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Organizational leadership for building effective health care teams.
Taplin, Stephen H; Foster, Mary K; Shortell, Stephen M
2013-01-01
The movement toward accountable care organizations and patient-centered medical homes will increase with implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The ACA will therefore give further impetus to the growing importance of teams in health care. Teams typically involve 2 or more people embedded in a larger social system who differentiate their roles, share common goals, interact with each other, and perform tasks affecting others. Multiple team types fit within this definition, and they all need support from leadership to succeed. Teams have been invoked as a necessary tool to address the needs of patients with multiple chronic conditions and to address medical workforce shortages. Invoking teams, however, is much easier than making them function effectively, so we need to consider the implications of the growing emphasis on teams. Although the ACA will spur team development, organizational leadership must use what we know now to train, support, and incentivize team function. Meanwhile, we must also advance research regarding teams in health care to give those leaders more evidence to guide their work.
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The Team to Address Bariatric Care in Canadian Children (Team ABC3): Team Grant Research Proposal.
2017-10-05
Severe obesity (SO) in Canadian children remains poorly understood. However, based on international data, the prevalence of SO appears to be increasing and is associated with a number of psychosocial, bio-mechanical, and cardiometabolic health risks. The purpose of our national Team to Address Bariatric Care in Canadian Children (Team ABC3) is to develop and lead a series of inter-related studies to enhance the understanding and management of SO in Canadian children and adolescents (0-18 years). From 2015 to 2019, Team ABC3 will conduct a series of projects at the regional, provincial, and national levels using multiple methods and study designs to respond to key knowledge gaps by (i) generating evidence on the prevalence of SO and its impact on health services utilization in children using existing Canadian data sources from primary care settings, (ii) exploring contemporary definitions of SO that link with health outcomes, (iii) comparing and contrasting health risks across the continuum of SO, (iv) understanding potential barriers to and facilitators of treatment success in children with SO, and (v) examining innovative lifestyle and behavioral interventions designed to successfully manage SO in children and their families. Furthermore, to examine the impact of innovative interventions on the management SO, we will (vi) evaluate whether adding a health coach, who provides support via text, email, and/or phone, improves children's ability to adhere to a web-based weight management program and (vii) test the feasibility and impact of a community-based weight management program for pre-school children with SO and their parents that combines group-based parenting sessions with in-home visits. Our research aligns with national priorities in obesity research, brings together leading scientists, clinicians, and stakeholders from across Canada, and will inform health services delivery throughout the country to provide the best care possible for children with SO and
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Bitton, Asaf; Ellner, Andrew; Pabo, Erika; Stout, Somava; Sugarman, Jonathan R; Sevin, Cory; Goodell, Kristen; Bassett, Jill S; Phillips, Russell S
2014-09-01
Academic medical centers (AMCs) need new approaches to delivering higher-quality care at lower costs, and engaging trainees in the work of high-functioning primary care practices. In 2012, the Harvard Medical School Center for Primary Care, in partnership with with local AMCs, established an Academic Innovations Collaborative (AIC) with the goal of transforming primary care education and practice. This novel two-year learning collaborative consisted of hospital- and community-based primary care teaching practices, committed to building highly functional teams, managing populations, and engaging patients. The AIC built on models developed by Qualis Health and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, optimized for the local AMC context. Foundational elements included leadership engagement and development, application of rapid-cycle process improvement, and the creation of teams to care for defined patient populations. Nineteen practices across six AMCs participated, with nearly 260,000 patients and 450 resident learners. The collaborative offered three 1.5-day learning sessions each year featuring shared learning, practice coaches, and improvement measures, along with monthly data reporting, webinars, and site visits. Validated self-reports by transformation teams showed that practices made substantial improvement across all areas of change. Important factors for success included leadership development, practice-level resources, and engaging patients and trainees. The AIC model shows promise as a path for AMCs to catalyze health system transformation through primary care improvement. In addition to further evaluating the impact of practice transformation, expansion will require support from AMCs and payers, and the application of similar approaches on a broader scale.
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Psychic and moral exhaustion in primary care workers
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Priscilla Brandão Bacci Pegoraro
2017-12-01
Full Text Available Abstract OBJECTIVE To report the experience of developing a workshop proposal to assist local managers with the identification, management and prevention of primary care workers' psychic and moral exhaustion. METHOD The workshop was developed through a literature review performed between November 2014 and June 2015. The temporal cut considered studies of the ten previous years. The selection included studies describing collective interventions for situations generating psychic and moral exhaustion, preferably in primary care services. RESULTS Thirty-five articles were analyzed. The workshop provides five meetings with an average duration of one hour. The themes are: awareness; recognizing personal stress; dealing with personal stress; recognizing team stress; and dealing with team stress. The workshop is based on five key principles: detection and coping; attention to interpersonal relationships; communication; self-knowledge and mindfulness. CONCLUSION Psychic and moral exhaustion may reflect negatively on workers' health, the care, and the organization. The proposal of measures to recognize, deal with and prevent psychic and moral exhaustion is relevant and strategic in the constant search for improvement of satisfaction and quality.
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Medical teams and the standard of care in negligence.
Sappideen, Carolyn
2015-09-01
Medical teams are essential to the delivery of modern, patient-centred health care in hospitals. A collective model of responsibility envisaged by team care is inconsistent with common law tort liability which focuses on the individual rather than the team. There is no basis upon which a team can be liable as a collective at common law. Nor does the common law'countenance liability for the conduct of other team members absent some form of agency, vicarious liability or non-delegable duty. Despite the barriers to the adoption of a team standard of care in negligence, there is scope for team factors to have a role in determining the standard of care so that being a team player is part and parcel of what it is to be a competent professional. If this is the case, the skill set, and the standard of care expected of the individual professional, includes skills based on team models of communication, cross-monitoring and trust.
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Nurse practitioner caseload in primary health care: Scoping review.
Martin-Misener, Ruth; Kilpatrick, Kelley; Donald, Faith; Bryant-Lukosius, Denise; Rayner, Jennifer; Valaitis, Ruta; Carter, Nancy; Miller, Patricia A; Landry, Véronique; Harbman, Patricia; Charbonneau-Smith, Renee; McKinlay, R James; Ziegler, Erin; Boesveld, Sarah; Lamb, Alyson
2016-10-01
To identify recommendations for determining patient panel/caseload size for nurse practitioners in community-based primary health care settings. Scoping review of the international published and grey literature. The search included electronic databases, international professional and governmental websites, contact with experts, and hand searches of reference lists. Eligible papers had to (a) address caseload or patient panels for nurse practitioners in community-based primary health care settings serving an all-ages population; and (b) be published in English or French between January 2000 and July 2014. Level one testing included title and abstract screening by two team members. Relevant papers were retained for full text review in level two testing, and reviewed by two team members. A third reviewer acted as a tiebreaker. Data were extracted using a structured extraction form by one team member and verified by a second member. Descriptive statistics were estimated. Content analysis was used for qualitative data. We identified 111 peer-reviewed articles and grey literature documents. Most of the papers were published in Canada and the United States after 2010. Current methods to determine panel/caseload size use large administrative databases, provider work hours and the average number of patient visits. Most of the papers addressing the topic of patient panel/caseload size in community-based primary health care were descriptive. The average number of patients seen by nurse practitioners per day varied considerably within and between countries; an average of 9-15 patients per day was common. Patient characteristics (e.g., age, gender) and health conditions (e.g., multiple chronic conditions) appear to influence patient panel/caseload size. Very few studies used validated tools to classify patient acuity levels or disease burden scores. The measurement of productivity and the determination of panel/caseload size is complex. Current metrics may not capture
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Health care professional development: Working as a team to improve patient care.
Babiker, Amir; El Husseini, Maha; Al Nemri, Abdurrahman; Al Frayh, Abdurrahman; Al Juryyan, Nasir; Faki, Mohamed O; Assiri, Asaad; Al Saadi, Muslim; Shaikh, Farheen; Al Zamil, Fahad
2014-01-01
In delivering health care, an effective teamwork can immediately and positively affect patient safety and outcome. The need for effective teams is increasing due to increasing co-morbidities and increasing complexity of specialization of care. Time has gone when a doctor or a dentist or any other health practitioner in whatsoever health organization would be able to solely deliver a quality care that satisfies his or her patients. The evolution in health care and a global demand for quality patient care necessitate a parallel health care professional development with a great focus on patient centred teamwork approach. This can only be achieved by placing the patient in the centre of care and through sharing a wide based culture of values and principles. This will help forming and developing an effective team able to deliver exceptional care to the patients. Aiming towards this goal, motivation of team members should be backed by strategies and practical skills in order to achieve goals and overcome challenges. This article highlights values and principles of working as a team and principles and provides team players with a practical approach to deliver quality patient care.
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Trudy van der Weijden; Jerôme Jean Jacques van Dongen; Stephanie Anna Lenzen; Anna Beurskens; Ramon Daniëls; Marloes Amantia van Bokhoven
2017-01-01
Background: The number of people with multiple chronic conditions requiring primary care services increases. Professionals from different disciplines collaborate and coordinate care to deal with the complex health care needs. There is lack of information on current practices regarding
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Effects of a physician-led home care team on terminal care.
Zimmer, J G; Groth-Juncker, A; McCusker, J
1984-04-01
Inconsistent results in studies of cost-effectiveness of home health care have led to the need for identification of target populations for whom cost-savings can be anticipated if expanded home care programs are introduced. This analysis of results of a randomized controlled study of efficacy of a physician/geriatric nurse practitioner/social worker home care team identifies such a potential target population. The team provides round-the-clock on-call medical services in the home when needed, in addition to usual nursing and other home care services, to home-bound chronically or terminally ill elderly patients. Overall health services utilization and estimated costs were not substantially different for the patients who did not die while in the study; however, for those who did die, team patients had considerably lower rates of hospitalization and overall cost than controls, and more frequently died at home. Of 21 team and 12 control patients who died but had at least two weeks of utilization experience in the study, team patients had about half the number of hospital days compared with controls during the terminal two weeks, and although they had more home care services, had only 69 per cent of the estimated total health care costs of the controls. Satisfaction with care received was significantly greater among the total group of team patients, and especially among their family caretakers, than among controls. This model is effective in providing appropriate medical care for seriously ill and terminal patients, and in enabling them to die at home if they so wish, while at the same time reducing costs of care during the terminal period.
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Grol, Sietske M; Molleman, Gerard R M; Kuijpers, Anne; van der Sande, Rob; Fransen, Gerdine A J; Assendelft, Willem J J; Schers, Henk J
2018-03-10
In the western world, a growing number of the older people live at home. In the Netherlands, GPs are expected to play a pivotal role in the organization of integrated care for this patient group. However, little is known about how GPs can play this role best. Our aim for this study was to unravel how GPs can play a successful role in elderly care, in particular in multidisciplinary teams, and to define key concepts for success. A mixed qualitative research model in four multidisciplinary teams for elderly care in the Netherlands was used. With these four teams, consisting of 46 health care and social service professionals, we carried out two rounds of focus-group interviews. Moreover, we performed semi-structured interviews with four GPs. We analysed data using a hybrid inductive/deductive thematic analysis. According to the health care and social service professionals in our study, the role of GPs in multidisciplinary teams for elderly care was characterized by the ability to 'see the bigger picture'. We identified five key activities that constitute a successful GP role: networking, facilitating, team building, integrating care elements, and showing leadership. Practice setting and phase of multidisciplinary team development influenced the way in which GPs fulfilled their roles. According to team members, GPs were the central professionals in care services for older people. The opinions of GPs about their own roles were diverse. GPs took an important role in successful care settings for older people. Five key concepts seemed to be important for best practices in care for frail older people: networking (community), facilitating (organization), team building (professional), integrating care elements (patient), and leadership (personal). Team members from primary care and social services indicated that GPs had an indispensable role in such teams. It would be advantageous for GPs to be aware of this attributed role. Attention to leadership competencies and to the
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Cooperating with a palliative home-care team
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Goldschmidt, Dorthe; Groenvold, Mogens; Johnsen, Anna Thit
2005-01-01
BACKGROUND: Palliative home-care teams often cooperate with general practitioners (GPs) and district nurses. Our aim was to evaluate a palliative home-care team from the viewpoint of GPs and district nurses. METHODS: GPs and district nurses received questionnaires at the start of home-care and one...... month later. Questions focussed on benefits to patients, training issues for professionals and cooperation between the home-care team and the GP/ district nurse. A combination of closed- and open-ended questions was used. RESULTS: Response rate was 84% (467/553). Benefits to patients were experienced...... by 91 %, mainly due to improvement in symptom management, 'security', and accessibility of specialists in palliative care. After one month, 57% of the participants reported to have learnt aspects of palliative care, primarily symptom control, and 89% of them found cooperation satisfactory...
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Models of care choices in today's nursing workplace: where does team nursing sit?
Fairbrother, Greg; Chiarella, Mary; Braithwaite, Jeffrey
2015-11-01
This paper provides an overview of the developmental history of models of care (MOC) in nursing since Florence Nightingale introduced nurse training programs in a drive to make nursing a discipline-based career option. The four principal choices of models of nursing care delivery (primary nursing, individual patient allocation, team nursing and functional nursing) are outlined and discussed, and recent MOC literature reviewed. The paper suggests that, given the ways work is being rapidly reconfigured in healthcare services and the pressures on the nursing workforce projected into the future, team nursing seems to offer the best solutions.
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Teamwork in primary care: perspectives of general practitioners and community nurses in Lithuania
2013-01-01
Background A team approach in primary care has proven benefits in achieving better outcomes, reducing health care costs, satisfying patient needs, ensuring continuity of care, increasing job satisfaction among health providers and using human health care resources more efficiently. However, some research indicates constraints in collaboration within primary health care (PHC) teams in Lithuania. The aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of the phenomenon of teamwork in Lithuania by exploring the experiences of teamwork by general practitioners (GPs) and community nurses (CNs) involved in PHC. Methods Six focus groups were formed with 29 GPs and 27 CNs from the Kaunas Region of Lithuania. Discussions were recorded and transcribed verbatim. A thematic analysis of these data was then performed. Results The analysis of focus group data identified six thematic categories related to teamwork in PHC: the structure of a PHC team, synergy among PHC team members, descriptions of roles and responsibilities of team members, competencies of PHC team members, communications between PHC team members and the organisational background for teamwork. These findings provide the basis for a discussion of a thematic model of teamwork that embraces formal, individual and organisational factors. Conclusions The need for effective teamwork in PHC is an issue receiving broad consensus; however, the process of teambuilding is often taken for granted in the PHC sector in Lithuania. This study suggests that both formal and individual behavioural factors should be targeted when aiming to strengthen PHC teams. Furthermore, this study underscores the need to provide explicit formal descriptions of the roles and responsibilities of PHC team members in Lithuania, which would include establishing clear professional boundaries. The training of team members is an essential component of the teambuilding process, but not sufficient by itself. PMID:23945286
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Guiding Principles for Team-Based Pediatric Care.
Katkin, Julie P; Kressly, Susan J; Edwards, Anne R; Perrin, James M; Kraft, Colleen A; Richerson, Julia E; Tieder, Joel S; Wall, Liz
2017-07-24
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recognizes that children's unique and ever-changing needs depend on a variety of support systems. Key components of effective support systems address the needs of the child and family in the context of their home and community and are dynamic so that they reflect, monitor, and respond to changes as the needs of the child and family change. The AAP believes that team-based care involving medical providers and community partners (eg, teachers and state agencies) is a crucial and necessary component of providing high-quality care to children and their families. Team-based care builds on the foundation of the medical home by reaching out to a potentially broad array of participants in the life of a child and incorporating them into the care provided. Importantly, the AAP believes that a high-functioning team includes children and their families as essential partners. The overall goal of team-based care is to enhance communication and cooperation among the varied medical, social, and educational partners in a child's life to better meet the global needs of children and their families, helping them to achieve their best potential. In support of the team-based approach, the AAP urges stakeholders to invest in infrastructure, education, and privacy-secured technology to meet the needs of children. This statement includes limited specific examples of potential team members, including health care providers and community partners, that are meant to be illustrative and in no way represent a complete or comprehensive listing of all team members who may be of importance for a specific child and family. Copyright © 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
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FMEA team performance in health care: A qualitative analysis of team member perceptions.
Wetterneck, Tosha B; Hundt, Ann Schoofs; Carayon, Pascale
2009-06-01
: Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is a commonly used prospective risk assessment approach in health care. Failure mode and effects analyses are time consuming and resource intensive, and team performance is crucial for FMEA success. We evaluate FMEA team members' perceptions of FMEA team performance to provide recommendations to improve the FMEA process in health care organizations. : Structured interviews and survey questionnaires were administered to team members of 2 FMEA teams at a Midwest Hospital to evaluate team member perceptions of FMEA team performance and factors influencing team performance. Interview transcripts underwent content analysis, and descriptive statistics were performed on questionnaire results to identify and quantify FMEA team performance. Theme-based nodes were categorized using the input-process-outcome model for team performance. : Twenty-eight interviews and questionnaires were completed by 24 team members. Four persons participated on both teams. There were significant differences between the 2 teams regarding perceptions of team functioning and overall team effectiveness that are explained by difference in team inputs and process (e.g., leadership/facilitation, team objectives, attendance of process owners). : Evaluation of team members' perceptions of team functioning produced useful insights that can be used to model future team functioning. Guidelines for FMEA team success are provided.
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Social work in a pediatric primary health care team in a group practice program.
Coleman, J V; Lebowitz, M L; Anderson, F P
1976-01-01
The inclusion of a psychiatric social worker as a member of a pediatric team in a prepaid group practice extends the range of pediatric mental health services to children. This paper discusses the collaboration of the social worker with the pediatricians and allied health personnel on the team in dealing with the emotional problems of referred children and their parents. Case examples are included. All cases seen by the social worker during a 6-month period are reviewed. With available psychiatric backup a wide range of emotional problems are identified, and effective mental health care is provided.
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Creating collaborative learning environments for transforming primary care practices now.
Miller, William L; Cohen-Katz, Joanne
2010-12-01
The renewal of primary care waits just ahead. The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) movement and a refreshing breeze of collaboration signal its arrival with demonstration projects and pilots appearing across the country. An early message from this work suggests that the development of collaborative, cross-disciplinary teams may be essential for the success of the PCMH. Our focus in this article is on training existing health care professionals toward being thriving members of this transformed clinical care team in a relationship-centered PCMH. Our description of the optimal conditions for collaborative training begins with delineating three types of teams and how they relate to levels of collaboration. We then describe how to create a supportive, safe learning environment for this type of training, using a different model of professional socialization, and tools for building culture. Critical skills related to practice development and the cross-disciplinary collaborative processes are also included. Despite significant obstacles in readying current clinicians to be members of thriving collaborative teams, a few next steps toward implementing collaborative training programs for existing professionals are possible using competency-based and adult learning approaches. Grasping the long awaited arrival of collaborative primary health care will also require delivery system and payment reform. Until that happens, there is an abundance of work to be done envisioning new collaborative training programs and initiating a nation-wide effort to motivate and reeducate our colleagues. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved.
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Home health services in primary care: What can we do?
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Yasemin Çayır
2013-01-01
Full Text Available Home health services is to give examination, diagnosis,treatment, and rehabilitation services to the patients whobedridden, have difficulties to access health facility due toa variety of chronic or malignant disease by professionalhealth care team. Family physicians that providing healthcare in primary care is responsible for to determine whowill need home health care services, and to make homevisit on a regular basis among registered patients in theirpopulations. It is seems that the biggest shortcoming thecontent and scope of this service is not yet a standard. Inthis article, how home health services should be given willbe discussed.Key words: Primary health care, home health care, bedriddenpatient
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Monitoring quality in Israeli primary care: The primary care physicians' perspective
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Nissanholtz-Gannot Rachel
2012-06-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background Since 2000, Israel has had a national program for ongoing monitoring of the quality of the primary care services provided by the country's four competing non-profit health plans. Previous research has demonstrated that quality of care has improved substantially since the program's inception and that the program enjoys wide support among health plan managers. However, prior to this study there were anecdotal and journalistic reports of opposition to the program among primary care physicians engaged in direct service delivery; these raised serious questions about the extent of support among physicians nationally. Goals To assess how Israeli primary care physicians experience and rate health plan efforts to track and improve the quality of care. Method The study population consisted of primary care physicians employed by the health plans who have responsibility for the quality of care of a panel of adult patients. The study team randomly sampled 250 primary-care physicians from each of the four health plans. Of the 1,000 physicians sampled, 884 met the study criteria. Every physician could choose whether to participate in the survey by mail, e-mail, or telephone. The anonymous questionnaire was completed by 605 physicians – 69% of those eligible. The data were weighted to reflect differences in sampling and response rates across health plans. Main findings The vast majority of respondents (87% felt that the monitoring of quality was important and two-thirds (66% felt that the feedback and subsequent remedial interventions improved medical care to a great extent. Almost three-quarters (71% supported continuation of the program in an unqualified manner. The physicians with the most positive attitudes to the program were over age 44, independent contract physicians, and either board-certified in internal medicine or without any board-certification (i.e., residents or general practitioners. At the same time, support for the
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Diagnosing and improving functioning in interdisciplinary health care teams.
Blackmore, Gail; Persaud, D David
2012-01-01
Interdisciplinary teams play a key role in the delivery of health care. Team functioning can positively or negatively impact the effective and efficient delivery of health care services as well as the personal well-being of group members. Additionally, teams must be able and willing to work together to achieve team goals within a climate that reflects commitment to team goals, accountability, respect, and trust. Not surprisingly, dysfunctional team functioning can limit the success of interdisciplinary health care teams. The first step in improving dysfunctional team function is to conduct an analysis based on criteria necessary for team success, and this article provides meaningful criteria for doing such an analysis. These are the following: a common team goal, the ability and willingness to work together to achieve team goals, decision making, communication, and team member relationships. High-functioning interdisciplinary teams must exhibit features of good team function in all key domains. If a team functions well in some domains and needs to improve in others, targeted strategies are described that can be used to improve team functioning.
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[State of internal communication in primary care].
Ballvé Moreno, José Luis; Pujol Ribó, Gloria; Romaguera Lliso, Amparo; Bonet Esteve, Anna; Rafecas Ruiz, Montserrat; Zarza Carretero, Elvira
2008-08-01
To study internal communication between primary care health professionals Cross-sectional, descriptive. Catalan Health Institute Costa de Ponent Primary Care Area, Spain. All workers in the area (n=3565). Three part questionnaire: a) sociodemographic questions; b) questions scoring from 0 to 10 the current importance and operation of certain aspects; and c) questions on new communication tools. Of those sent a questionnaire, 39% (n=1388) responded, with a mean age of 43.2 years (95% CI, 42.75- 43.65), 28.9% being male. The major differences between importance and current events were said to be "to be informed of projects before they appear in the communication media," "by official routes and not by rumour," and "to be aware of projects of other teams." The least communicated within teams. The doctors considered upward communication to be more important. Doctors are those who appreciate communication within teams better and the professionals of the users services unit (UAU) less so. Doctors are the ones who give more importance to being informed of projects at the time. 55% do not use the intranet, mainly due to lack of time. The second reason is that they find it difficult. Sixty-two per cent read e-mail >2-3 times per week. Eighty-nine per cent want an electronic bulletin. The older workers use new technologies less. Downward, upward, and sideways communication needs to be improved, particularly upwards by doctors, and that of the teams for the UAU professionals. Intranet tools must be provided that make the work easier and training in handling new technologies must be offered.
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Misfeldt, Renée; Suter, Esther; Mallinson, Sara; Boakye, Omenaa; Wong, Sabrina; Nasmith, Louise
2017-08-01
This paper discusses findings from a high-level scan of the contextual factors and actors that influenced policies on team-based primary healthcare in three Canadian provinces: British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. The team searched diverse sources (e.g., news reports, press releases, discussion papers) for contextual information relevant to primary healthcare teams. We also conducted qualitative interviews with key health system informants from the three provinces. Data from documents and interviews were analyzed qualitatively using thematic analysis. We then wrote narrative summaries highlighting pivotal policy and local system events and the influence of actors and context. Our overall findings highlight the value of reviewing the context, relationships and power dynamics, which come together and create "policy windows" at different points in time. We observed physician-centric policy processes with some recent moves to rebalance power and be inclusive of other actors and perspectives. The context review also highlighted the significant influence of changes in political leadership and prioritization in driving policies on team-based care. While this existed in different degrees in the three provinces, the push and pull of political and professional power dynamics shaped Canadian provincial policies governing team-based care. If we are to move team-based primary healthcare forward in Canada, the provinces need to review the external factors and the complex set of relationships and trade-offs that underscore the policy process. Copyright © 2017 Longwoods Publishing.
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The Mangle of Interprofessional Health Care Teams
2015-01-01
The aim of this study was to explore dimensions of relational work in interprofessional health care teams. Practitioners from a variety of disciplines came together to examine teamwork and cocreate knowledge about interprofessionalism using forum theater. Interviews held prior to the workshop to explore teamwork were foundational to structuring the workshop. The forum theater processes offered participants the opportunity to enact and challenge behaviors and attitudes they experienced in health care teams. Throughout the workshop, aspects of professional identity, power, trust, communication, system structures, and motivation were explored. The activities of the workshop were analyzed using Pickering’s theory, identifying three mangle strands found in being a team: organizational influences, accomplishing tasks, and an orientation to care. Performativity was identified as having a bearing on how teams perform and how teamwork is enacted. Practice components were seen as strands within a mangling of human and nonhuman forces that shape team performativity. PMID:28462298
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The Mangle of Interprofessional Health Care Teams
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Susan C. Sommerfeldt
2015-01-01
Full Text Available The aim of this study was to explore dimensions of relational work in interprofessional health care teams. Practitioners from a variety of disciplines came together to examine teamwork and cocreate knowledge about interprofessionalism using forum theater. Interviews held prior to the workshop to explore teamwork were foundational to structuring the workshop. The forum theater processes offered participants the opportunity to enact and challenge behaviors and attitudes they experienced in health care teams. Throughout the workshop, aspects of professional identity, power, trust, communication, system structures, and motivation were explored. The activities of the workshop were analyzed using Pickering’s theory, identifying three mangle strands found in being a team: organizational influences, accomplishing tasks, and an orientation to care. Performativity was identified as having a bearing on how teams perform and how teamwork is enacted. Practice components were seen as strands within a mangling of human and nonhuman forces that shape team performativity.
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Criteria for successful multiprofessional cooperation in palliative care teams.
Jünger, S; Pestinger, M; Elsner, F; Krumm, N; Radbruch, L
2007-06-01
Team work is considered a central component of palliative care. Within this comparatively young field of medicine, the emergence of new institutions (eg, palliative care units) highlights the challenge of establishing a completely new team. This study focuses on the factors, which enhance both the success and outcome criteria of good team work from the perception of team members in a palliative care unit. The palliative care team at the University Hospital of Aachen (n = 19) was interviewed 1 year after the unit's startup by the means of semistructured interviews. Interview texts were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Factors crucial to cooperation in the team members' views were close communication, team philosophy, good interpersonal relationships, high team commitment, autonomy and the ability to deal with death and dying. Moreover, close communication was by far the most frequently mentioned criteria for cooperation. Team performance, good coordination of workflow and mutual trust underpin the evaluation of efficient team work. Inefficient team work is associated with the absence of clear goals, tasks and role delegation, as well as a lack of team commitment. In a new team, close communication is particularly important for staff as they reorientate themselves to the dynamics of a new peer group. The results confirm the overwhelming importance of clarity, commitment and close, positive exchange among team members for successful team work.
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Initiatives to Enhance Primary Care Delivery
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jan L. Losby
2015-01-01
Full Text Available Objectives: Increasing demands on primary care providers have created a need for systems-level initiatives to improve primary care delivery. The purpose of this article is to describe and present outcomes for 2 such initiatives: the Pennsylvania Academy of Family Physicians’ Residency Program Collaborative (RPC and the St Johnsbury Vermont Community Health Team (CHT. Methods: Researchers conducted case studies of the initiatives using mixed methods, including secondary analysis of program and electronic health record data, systematic document review, and interviews. Results: The RPC is a learning collaborative that teaches quality improvement and patient centeredness to primary care providers, residents, clinical support staff, and administrative staff in residency programs. Results show that participation in a higher number of live learning sessions resulted in a significant increase in patient-centered medical home recognition attainment and significant improvements in performance in diabetic process measures including eye examinations (14.3%, P = .004, eye referrals (13.82%, P = .013, foot examinations (15.73%, P = .003, smoking cessation (15.83%, P = .012, and self-management goals (25.45%, P = .001. As a community-clinical linkages model, CHT involves primary care practices, community health workers (CHWs, and community partners. Results suggest that CHT members successfully work together to coordinate comprehensive care for the individuals they serve. Further, individuals exposed to CHWs experienced increased stability in access to health insurance ( P = .001 and prescription drugs ( P = .000 and the need for health education counseling ( P = .000. Conclusion: Findings from this study indicate that these 2 system-level strategies have the promise to improve primary care delivery. Additional research can determine the extent to which these strategies can improve other health outcomes.
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[Involvement of medical representatives in team medical care].
Hirotsu, Misaki; Sohma, Michiro; Takagi, Hidehiko
2009-04-01
In recent years, chemotherapies have been further advanced because of successive launch of new drugs, introduction of molecular targeting, etc., and the concept of so-called Team Medical Care ,the idea of sharing interdisciplinary expertise for collaborative treatment, has steadily penetrated in the Japanese medical society. Dr. Naoto Ueno is a medical oncologist at US MD Anderson Cancer Center, the birthplace of the Team Medical Care. He has advocated the concept of ABC of Team Oncology by positioning pharmaceutical companies as Team C. Under such team practice, we believe that medical representatives of a pharmaceutical company should also play a role as a member of the Team Medical Care by providing appropriate drug use information to healthcare professionals, supporting post-marketing surveillance of treated patients, facilitating drug information sharing among healthcare professionals at medical institutions, etc.
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Team working in intensive care: current evidence and future endeavors.
Richardson, Joanne; West, Michael A; Cuthbertson, Brian H
2010-12-01
It has recently been argued that the future of intensive care medicine will rely on high quality management and teamwork. Therefore, this review takes an organizational psychology perspective to examine the most recent research on the relationship between teamwork, care processes, and patient outcomes in intensive care. Interdisciplinary communication within a team is crucial for the development of negotiated shared treatment goals and short-team patient outcomes. Interventions for maximizing team communication have received substantial interest in recent literature. Intensive care coordination is not a linear process, and intensive care teams often fail to discuss how to implement goals, trigger and align activities, or reflect on their performance. Despite a move toward interdisciplinary team working, clinical decision-making is still problematic and continues to be perceived as a top-down and authoritative process. The topic of team leadership in intensive care is underexplored and requires further research. Based on findings from the most recent research evidence in medicine and management, four principles are identified for improving the effectiveness of team working in intensive care: engender professional efficacy, create stable teams and leaders, develop trust and participative safety, and enable frequent team reflexivity.
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Koslov, Steven; Trowbridge, Elizabeth; Kamnetz, Sandra; Kraft, Sally; Grossman, Jeffrey; Pandhi, Nancy
2016-09-01
Primary care is considered the foundation of an effective health care system. However, primary care departments at academic health centers have numerous challenges to overcome when trying to achieve the Triple Aim. As part of an organizational initiative to redesign primary care at a large academic health center, departments of internal medicine, general pediatrics and adolescent medicine, and family medicine worked together to comprehensively redesign primary care. This article describes the process of aligning these three primary care departments: defining panel size, developing a common primary care job description, redesigning the primary care compensation plan, redesigning the care model, and developing standardized staffing. Prior to the initiative, the rate of patient satisfaction was 85%, anticoagulation measurement 65%, pneumococcal vaccination 85%, breast cancer screening 79%, and colorectal cancer screening 69%. These rates all improved to 87%, 75%, 88%, 80%, and 80% respectively. Themes around key challenges to departmental integration are identified: (1) implementing effective communication strategies; (2) addressing specialty differences in primary care delivery; (3) working within resource limitations; and (4) developing long-term sustainability. Primary care in this large academic health center was transformed through developing a united primary care leadership team that bridged individual departments to create and adopt a common vision and solutions to shared problems. Our collaboration has achieved improvements across patient satisfaction, clinical safety metrics, and publicly-reported preventive care outcomes. The description of this experience may be useful for other academic health centers or other non-integrated delivery systems undertaking primary care practice transformation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Nurses’ perceptions on nursing supervision in Primary Health Care
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Beatriz Francisco Farah
2016-01-01
Full Text Available Objective: to understand the perceptions of nurses on nursing supervision in the work process. Methods: this is a qualitative research, with a semi-structured interview, performed with 16 nurses. Data analysis was performed through content analysis. Results: two meanings topics emerged from the speeches of the participants: Nurses´ activities in Primary Health Care Units and Nurses´ perceptions about nursing supervision. In the first category, the actions listed were filling out forms and reports under the supervision of the nursing service. In the second category, supervision was perceived as a function of management and follow-up of the activities planned by the team, in opposition to the classical supervision concept, which is inspecting. Conclusion: nursing supervision has been configured for primary care nurses as an administrative function that involves planning, organization, coordination, evaluation, follow-up and support for the health team.
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Experiences of primary care physicians and staff following lean workflow redesign.
Hung, Dorothy Y; Harrison, Michael I; Truong, Quan; Du, Xue
2018-04-10
In response to growing pressures on primary care, leaders have introduced a wide range of workforce and practice innovations, including team redesigns that delegate some physician tasks to nonphysicians. One important question is how such innovations affect care team members, particularly in view of growing dissatisfaction and burnout among healthcare professionals. We examine the work experiences of primary care physicians and staff after implementing Lean-based workflow redesigns. This included co-locating physician and medical assistant dyads, delegating significant responsibilities to nonphysician staff, and mandating greater coordination and communication among all care team members. The redesigns were implemented and scaled in three phases across 46 primary care departments in a large ambulatory care delivery system. We fielded 1164 baseline and 1333 follow-up surveys to physicians and other nonphysician staff (average 73% response rate) to assess workforce engagement (e.g., job satisfaction, motivation), perceptions of the work environment, and job-related burnout. We conducted multivariate regressions to detect changes in experiences after the redesign, adjusting for respondent characteristics and clustering of within-clinic responses. We found that both physicians and nonphysician staff reported higher levels of engagement and teamwork after implementing redesigns. However, they also experienced higher levels of burnout and perceptions of the workplace as stressful. Trends were the same for both occupational groups, but the increased reports of stress were greater among physicians. Additionally, members of all clinics, except for the pilot site that developed the new workflows, reported higher burnout, while perceptions of workplace stress increased in all clinics after the redesign. Our findings partially align with expectations of work redesign as a route to improving physician and staff experiences in delivering care. Although teamwork and engagement
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Fibromyalgia: management strategies for primary care providers.
Arnold, L M; Gebke, K B; Choy, E H S
2016-02-01
Fibromyalgia (FM), a chronic disorder defined by widespread pain, often accompanied by fatigue and sleep disturbance, affects up to one in 20 patients in primary care. Although most patients with FM are managed in primary care, diagnosis and treatment continue to present a challenge, and patients are often referred to specialists. Furthermore, the lack of a clear patient pathway often results in patients being passed from specialist to specialist, exhaustive investigations, prescription of multiple drugs to treat different symptoms, delays in diagnosis, increased disability and increased healthcare resource utilisation. We will discuss the current and evolving understanding of FM, and recommend improvements in the management and treatment of FM, highlighting the role of the primary care physician, and the place of the medical home in FM management. We reviewed the epidemiology, pathophysiology and management of FM by searching PubMed and references from relevant articles, and selected articles on the basis of quality, relevance to the illness and importance in illustrating current management pathways and the potential for future improvements. The implementation of a framework for chronic pain management in primary care would limit unnecessary, time-consuming, and costly tests, reduce diagnostic delay and improve patient outcomes. The patient-centred medical home (PCMH), a management framework that has been successfully implemented in other chronic diseases, might improve the care of patients with FM in primary care, by bringing together a team of professionals with a range of skills and training. Although there remain several barriers to overcome, implementation of a PCMH would allow patients with FM, like those with other chronic conditions, to be successfully managed in the primary care setting. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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A primary care-based health needs assessment in inner city Dublin.
LENUS (Irish Health Repository)
O'Kelly, C M
2012-02-01
BACKGROUND: In 2001, a primary care-based health needs assessment (HNA) in South Inner City of Dublin identified high levels of morbidity and widespread and frequent use of primary care and specialist hospital services as particular concerns. AIMS: This study aims to determine the primary care health needs of a local community, from the perspective of service users and service providers. METHODS: A similar methodology to our 2001 HNA was adopted, involving semi-structured interviews with a convenience sample of patients attending two general practices and key informants regarding local health issues and health service utilisation. RESULTS: High levels of morbidity and chronic illness were found. A correlation between the local environment and ill-health was identified, as well as high utilisation of primary care services in the area. CONCLUSION: The establishment of a Primary Care Team would begin to address the health needs of the community.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Thulasiraj Ravilla
2014-07-01
Full Text Available Eye care services are people intensive. They require the right people (competence, in the right numbers (capacity, in the right mix (team with the right resources and processes (enabling conditions to ensure effective and sustainable delivery of patient care.
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Assessment of primary health care: health professionals’ perspective
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Simone Albino da Silva
2014-08-01
Full Text Available Objective To assess primary health care attributes of access to a first contact, comprehensiveness, coordination, continuity, family guidance and community orientation. Method An evaluative, quantitative and cross-sectional study with 35 professional teams in the Family Health Program of the Alfenas region, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Data collection was done with the Primary Care Assessment Tool - Brazil, professional version. Results Results revealed a low percentage of medical experts among the participants who evaluated the attributes with high scores, with the exception of access to a first contact. Data analysis revealed needs for improvement: hours of service; forms of communication between clients and healthcare services and between clients and professionals; the mechanism of counter-referral. Conclusion It was concluded that there is a mismatch between the provision of services and the needs of the population, which compromises the quality of primary health care.
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van Dongen, Jerôme Jean Jacques; Lenzen, Stephanie Anna; van Bokhoven, Marloes Amantia; Daniëls, Ramon; van der Weijden, Trudy; Beurskens, Anna
2016-05-28
The number of people with multiple chronic conditions demanding primary care services is increasing. To deal with the complex health care demands of these people, professionals from different disciplines collaborate. This study aims to explore influential factors regarding interprofessional collaboration related to care plan development in primary care. A qualitative study, including four semi-structured focus group interviews (n = 4). In total, a heterogeneous group of experts (n = 16) and health care professionals (n = 15) participated. Participants discussed viewpoints, barriers, and facilitators regarding interprofessional collaboration related to care plan development. The data were analysed by means of inductive content analysis. The findings show a variety of factors influencing the interprofessional collaboration in developing a care plan. Factors can be divided into 5 key categories: (1) patient-related factors: active role, self-management, goals and wishes, membership of the team; (2) professional-related factors: individual competences, domain thinking, motivation; (3) interpersonal factors: language differences, knowing each other, trust and respect, and motivation; (4) organisational factors: structure, composition, time, shared vision, leadership and administrative support; and (5) external factors: education, culture, hierarchy, domain thinking, law and regulations, finance, technology and ICT. Improving interprofessional collaboration regarding care plan development calls for an integral approach including patient- and professional related factors, interpersonal, organisational, and external factors. Further, the leader of the team seems to play a key role in watching the patient perspective, organising and coordinating interprofessional collaborations, and guiding the team through developments. The results of this study can be used as input for developing tools and interventions targeted at executing and improving interprofessional
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Providing primary health care with non-physicians.
Chen, P C
1984-04-01
The definition of primary health care is basically the same, but the wide variety of concepts as to the form and type of worker required is largely due to variations in economic, demographic, socio-cultural and political factors. Whatever form it takes, in many parts of the developing world, it is increasingly clear that primary health care must be provided by non-physicians. The reasons for this trend are compelling, yet it is surprisingly opposed by the medical profession in many a developing country. Nonetheless, numerous field trials are being conducted in a variety of situations in several countries around the world. Non-physician primary health care workers vary from medical assistants and nurse practitioners to aide-level workers called village mobilizers, village volunteers, village aides and a variety of other names. The functions, limitations and training of such workers will need to be defined, so that an optimal combination of skills, knowledge and attitudes best suited to produce the desired effect on local health problems may be attained. The supervision of such workers by the physician and other health professionals will need to be developed in the spirit of the health team. An example of the use of non-physicians in providing primary health care in Sarawak is outlined.
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Roberts, Nicole K; Williams, Reed G; Schwind, Cathy J; Sutyak, John A; McDowell, Christopher; Griffen, David; Wall, Jarrod; Sanfey, Hilary; Chestnut, Audra; Meier, Andreas H; Wohltmann, Christopher; Clark, Ted R; Wetter, Nathan
2014-02-01
Communication breakdowns and care coordination problems often cause preventable adverse patient care events, which can be especially acute in the trauma setting, in which ad hoc teams have little time for advanced planning. Existing teamwork curricula do not address the particular issues associated with ad hoc emergency teams providing trauma care. Ad hoc trauma teams completed a preinstruction simulated trauma encounter and were provided with instruction on appropriate team behaviors and team communication. Teams completed a postinstruction simulated trauma encounter immediately afterward and 3 weeks later, then completed a questionnaire. Blinded raters rated videotapes of the simulations. Participants expressed high levels of satisfaction and intent to change practice after the intervention. Participants changed teamwork and communication behavior on the posttest, and changes were sustained after a 3-week interval, though there was some loss of retention. Brief training exercises can change teamwork and communication behaviors on ad hoc trauma teams. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Exploring the concept of a team approach to wound care: Managing wounds as a team.
Moore, Zena; Butcher, Gillian; Corbett, Lisa Q; McGuiness, William; Snyder, Robert J; van Acker, Kristien
2014-05-01
Background - The growing prevalence and incidence of nonhealing acute and chronic wounds is a worrying concern. A major challenge is the lack of united services aimed at addressing the complex needs of individuals with wounds. However, the WHO argues that interprofessional collaboration in education and practice is key to providing the best patient care, enhancing clinical and health-related outcomes and strengthening the health system. It is based on this background that the team approach to wound care project was conceptualised. The project was jointly initiated and realised by the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care (AAWC-USA), the Australian Wound Management Association (AWMA) and the European Wound Management Association (EWMA). Aim - The aim of this project was to develop a universal model for the adoption of a team approach to wound care. Objective The overarching objective of this project was to provide recommendations for implementing a team approach to wound care within all clinical settings and through this to develop a model for advocating the team approach toward decision makers in national government levels. Method An integrative literature review was conducted. Using this knowledge, the authors arrived at a consensus on the most appropriate model to adopt and realise a team approach to wound care. Results - Eighty four articles met the inclusion criteria. Following data extraction, it was evident that none of the articles provided a definition for the terms multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary in the context of wound care. Given this lack of clarity within the wound care literature, the authors have here developed a Universal Model for the Team Approach to Wound Care to fill this gap in our current understanding. Conclusion - We advocate that the patient should be at the heart of all decision-making, as working with the Universal Model for the Team Approach to Wound Care begins with the needs of the patient. To
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Moosa, Shabir; Derese, Anselme; Peersman, Wim
2017-01-21
Primary health care (PHC) outreach teams are part of a policy of PHC re-engineering in South Africa. It attempts to move the deployment of community health workers (CHWs) from vertical programmes into an integrated generalised team-based approach to care for defined populations in municipal wards. There has little evaluation of PHC outreach teams. Managers' insights are anecdotal. This is descriptive qualitative study with focus group discussions with health district managers of Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa. This was conducted in a sequence of three meetings with questions around implementation, human resources, and integrated PHC teamwork. There was a thematic content analysis of validated transcripts using the framework method. There were two major themes: leadership-management challenges and human resource challenges. Whilst there was some positive sentiment, leadership-management challenges loomed large: poor leadership and planning with an under-resourced centralised approach, poor communications both within the service and with community, concerns with its impact on current services and resistance to change, and poor integration, both with other streams of PHC re-engineering and current district programmes. Discussion by managers on human resources was mostly on the plight of CHWs and calls for formalisation of CHWs functioning and training and nurse challenges with inappropriate planning and deployment of the team structure, with brief mention of the extended team. Whilst there is positive sentiment towards intent of the PHC outreach team, programme managers in Johannesburg were critical of management of the programme in their health district. Whilst the objective of PHC reform is people-centred health care, its implementation struggles with a centralising tendency amongst managers in the health service in South Africa. Managers in Johannesburg advocated for decentralisation. The implementation of PHC outreach teams is also limited by
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Managing Chronic Pain in Primary Care: It Really Does Take a Village.
Seal, Karen; Becker, William; Tighe, Jennifer; Li, Yongmei; Rife, Tessa
2017-08-01
Some healthcare systems are relieving primary care providers (PCPs) of "the burden" of managing chronic pain and opioid prescribing, instead offloading chronic pain management to pain specialists. Last year the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended a biopsychosocial approach to pain management that discourages opioid use and promotes exercise therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy and non-opioid medications as first-line patient-centered, multi-modal treatments best delivered by an interdisciplinary team. In the private sector, interdisciplinary pain management services are challenging to assemble, separate from primary care and not typically reimbursed. In contrast, in a fully integrated health care system like the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), interdisciplinary clinics already exist, and one such clinic, the Integrated Pain Team (IPT) clinic, integrates and co-locates pain-trained PCPs, a psychologist and a pharmacist in primary care. The IPT clinic has demonstrated significant success in opioid risk reduction. Unfortunately, proposed legislation threatens to dismantle aspects of the VA such that these interdisciplinary services may be eliminated. This Perspective explains why it is critical not only to maintain interdisciplinary pain services in VHA, but also to consider disseminating this model to other health care systems in order to implement patient-centered, guideline-concordant care more broadly.
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van Dongen, Jerôme Jean Jacques; de Wit, Maarten; Smeets, Hester Wilhelmina Henrica; Stoffers, Esther; van Bokhoven, Marloes Amantia; Daniëls, Ramon
2017-08-01
The number of people with multiple chronic conditions receiving primary care services is growing. To deal with their increasingly complex health care demands, professionals from different disciplines need to collaborate. Interprofessional team (IPT) meetings are becoming more popular. Several studies describe important factors related to conducting IPT meetings, mostly from a professional perspective. However, in the light of patient-centeredness, it is valuable to also explore the patients' perspective. The aim was to explore the patients' perspectives regarding IPT meetings in primary care. A qualitative study with a focus group design was conducted in the Netherlands. Two focus group meetings took place, for which the same patients were invited. The participants, chronically ill patients with experience on interprofessional collaboration, were recruited through the regional patient association. Participants discussed viewpoints, expectations, and concerns regarding IPT meetings in two rounds, using a focus group protocol and selected video-taped vignettes of team meetings. The first meeting focused on conceptualization and identification of themes related to IPT meetings that are important to patients. The second meeting aimed to gain more in-depth knowledge and understanding of the priorities. Discussions were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim, and analyzed by means of content analysis. The focus group meetings included seven patients. Findings were divided into six key categories, capturing the factors that patients found important regarding IPT meetings: (1) putting the patient at the center, (2) opportunities for patients to participate, (3) appropriate team composition, (4) structured approach, (5) respectful communication, and (6) informing the patient about meeting outcomes. Patients identified different elements regarding IPT meetings that are important from their perspective. They emphasized the right of patients or their representatives to take part
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Teamwork and Patient Care Teams in an Acute Care Hospital.
Rochon, Andrea; Heale, Roberta; Hunt, Elena; Parent, Michele
2015-06-01
The literature suggests that effective teamwork among patient care teams can positively impact work environment, job satisfaction and quality of patient care. The purpose of this study was to determine the perceived level of nursing teamwork by registered nurses, registered practical nurses, personal support workers and unit clerks working on patient care teams in one acute care hospital in northern Ontario, Canada, and to determine if a relationship exists between the staff scores on the Nursing Teamwork Survey (NTS) and participant perception of adequate staffing. Using a descriptive cross-sectional research design, 600 staff members were invited to complete the NTS and a 33% response rate was achieved (N=200). The participants from the critical care unit reported the highest scores on the NTS, whereas participants from the inpatient surgical (IPS) unit reported the lowest scores. Participants from the IPS unit also reported having less experience, being younger, having less satisfaction in their current position and having a higher intention to leave. A high rate of intention to leave in the next year was found among all participants. No statistically significant correlation was found between overall scores on the NTS and the perception of adequate staffing. Strategies to increase teamwork, such as staff education, among patient care teams may positively influence job satisfaction and patient care on patient care units. Copyright © 2015 Longwoods Publishing.
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Patients living with disabilities: The need for high-quality primary care.
Lofters, Aisha; Guilcher, Sara; Maulkhan, Niraj; Milligan, James; Lee, Joseph
2016-08-01
To compare the potential risk factors for lower-quality primary care, the potential markers of unmet needs in primary care, and the willingness to participate in future research among primary care patients with versus without physical disabilities. A waiting room survey using a convenience sample. A family health team (FHT) in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont, with a designated Mobility Clinic. A total of 40 patients seen at the FHT Mobility Clinic and 80 patients from the general patient population of the same FHT. Socioeconomic status and social capital, number of self-reported emergency department visits and hospitalizations in the preceding year, and willingness of the patients in the 2 groups to participate in future research studies. Patients from the Mobility Clinic were more than twice as likely to be receiving benefits or social assistance (75.0% vs 32.1%, P data for research, 82.5% of Mobility Clinic patients agreed versus 55.0% of those in the general patient population (P = .004). In this study, patients with disabilities were at a social disadvantage compared with their peers without disabilities and were more likely to use the emergency department, suggesting that they had unmet health needs. Future research should continue to explore this patient population and to investigate if an interprofessional primary health care team approach focused on patients with disabilities can help to increase quality of care. Copyright© the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
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Parental experiences with a paediatric palliative care team: A qualitative study.
Verberne, Lisa M; Schouten-van Meeteren, Antoinette Yn; Bosman, Diederik K; Colenbrander, Derk A; Jagt, Charissa T; Grootenhuis, Martha A; van Delden, Johannes Jm; Kars, Marijke C
2017-12-01
Parents of children with a life-limiting disease have to rely on themselves at home while adequate paediatric palliative care is lacking. In several countries, paediatric palliative care teams are introduced to ensure continuity and quality of care and to support the child and the family. Yet, little is known about how parents experience such multidisciplinary teams. To obtain insight into the support provided by a new paediatric palliative care team from the parents' perspective. An interpretative qualitative interview study using thematic analysis was performed. A total of 47 single or repeated interviews were undertaken with 42 parents of 24 children supported by a multidisciplinary paediatric palliative care team located at a university children's hospital. The children suffered from malignant or non-malignant diseases. In advance, parents had limited expectations of the paediatric palliative care team. Some had difficulty accepting the need for palliative care for their child. Once parents experienced what the team achieved for their child and family, they valued the team's involvement. Valuable elements were as follows: (1) process-related aspects such as continuity, coordination of care, and providing one reliable point of contact; (2) practical support; and (3) the team members' sensitive and reliable attitude. As a point of improvement, parents suggested more concrete clarification upfront of the content of the team's support. Parents feel supported by the paediatric palliative care team. The three elements valued by parents probably form the structure that underlies quality of paediatric palliative care. New teams should cover these three valuable elements.
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Health coaching in primary care: a feasibility model for diabetes care.
Liddy, Clare; Johnston, Sharon; Nash, Kate; Ward, Natalie; Irving, Hannah
2014-04-03
Health coaching is a new intervention offering a one-on-one focused self-management support program. This study implemented a health coaching pilot in primary care clinics in Eastern Ontario, Canada to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of integrating health coaching into primary care for patients who were either at risk for or diagnosed with diabetes. We implemented health coaching in three primary care practices. Patients with diabetes were offered six months of support from their health coach, including an initial face-to-face meeting and follow-up by email, telephone, or face-to-face according to patient preference. Feasibility was assessed through provider focus groups and qualitative data analysis methods. All three sites were able to implement the program. A number of themes emerged from the focus groups, including the importance of physician buy-in, wide variation in understanding and implementing of the health coach role, the significant impact of different systems of team communication, and the significant effect of organizational structure and patient readiness on Health coaches' capacity to perform their role. It is feasible to implement health coaching as an integrated program within small primary care clinics in Canada without adding additional resources into the daily practice. Practices should review their organizational and communication processes to ensure optimal support for health coaches if considering implementing this intervention.
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Shalev, Ariel; Phongtankuel, Veerawat; Lampa, Katherine; Reid, M C; Eiss, Brian M; Bhatia, Sonica; Adelman, Ronald D
2018-04-01
The transition into home hospice care is often a critical time in a patient's medical care. Studies have shown patients and caregivers desire continuity with their physicians at the end of life (EoL). However, it is unclear what roles primary care physicians (PCPs) play and what challenges they face caring for patients transitioning into home hospice care. To understand PCPs' experiences, challenges, and preferences when their patients transition to home hospice care. Nineteen semi-structured phone interviews with PCPs were conducted. Study data were analyzed using standard qualitative methods. Participants included PCPs from 3 academic group practices in New York City. Measured: Physician recordings were transcribed and analyzed using content analysis. Most PCPs noted that there was a discrepancy between their actual role and ideal role when their patients transitioned to home hospice care. Primary care physicians expressed a desire to maintain continuity, provide psychosocial support, and collaborate actively with the hospice team. Better establishment of roles, more frequent communication with the hospice team, and use of technology to communicate with patients were mentioned as possible ways to help PCPs achieve their ideal role caring for their patients receiving home hospice care. Primary care physicians expressed varying degrees of involvement during a patient's transition to home hospice care, but many desired to be more involved in their patient's care. As with patients, physicians desire to maintain continuity with their patients at the EoL and solutions to improve communication between PCPs, hospice providers, and patients need to be explored.
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The roles and training of primary care doctors: China, India, Brazil and South Africa.
Mash, Robert; Almeida, Magda; Wong, William C W; Kumar, Raman; von Pressentin, Klaus B
2015-12-04
China, India, Brazil and South Africa contain 40% of the global population and are key emerging economies. All these countries have a policy commitment to universal health coverage with an emphasis on primary health care. The primary care doctor is a key part of the health workforce, and this article, which is based on two workshops at the 2014 Towards Unity For Health Conference in Fortaleza, Brazil, compares and reflects on the roles and training of primary care doctors in these four countries. Key themes to emerge were the need for the primary care doctor to function in support of a primary care team that provides community-orientated and first-contact care. This necessitates task-shifting and an openness to adapt one's role in line with the needs of the team and community. Beyond clinical competence, the primary care doctor may need to be a change agent, critical thinker, capability builder, collaborator and community advocate. Postgraduate training is important as well as up-skilling the existing workforce. There is a tension between training doctors to be community-orientated versus filling the procedural skills gaps at the facility level. In training, there is a need to plan postgraduate education at scale and reform the system to provide suitable incentives for doctors to choose this as a career path. Exposure should start at the undergraduate level. Learning outcomes should be socially accountable to the needs of the country and local communities, and graduates should be person-centred comprehensive generalists.
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Goicolea, Isabel; Vives-Cases, Carmen; San Sebastian, Miguel; Marchal, Bruno; Kegels, Guy; Hurtig, Anna-Karin
2013-03-23
Despite the existence of ample literature dealing, on the one hand, with the integration of innovations within health systems and team learning, and, on the other hand, with different aspects of the detection and management of intimate partner violence (IPV) within healthcare facilities, research that explores how health innovations that go beyond biomedical issues-such as IPV management-get integrated into health systems, and that focuses on healthcare teams' learning processes is, to the best of our knowledge, very scarce if not absent. This realist evaluation protocol aims to ascertain: why, how, and under what circumstances primary healthcare teams engage (if at all) in a learning process to integrate IPV management in their practices; and why, how, and under what circumstances team learning processes lead to the development of organizational culture and values regarding IPV management, and the delivery of IPV management services. This study will be conducted in Spain using a multiple-case study design. Data will be collected from selected cases (primary healthcare teams) through different methods: individual and group interviews, routinely collected statistical data, documentary review, and observation. Cases will be purposively selected in order to enable testing the initial middle-range theory (MRT). After in-depth exploration of a limited number of cases, additional cases will be chosen for their ability to contribute to refining the emerging MRT to explain how primary healthcare learn to integrate intimate partner violence management. Evaluations of health sector responses to IPV are scarce, and even fewer focus on why, how, and when the healthcare services integrate IPV management. There is a consensus that healthcare professionals and healthcare teams play a key role in this integration, and that training is important in order to realize changes. However, little is known about team learning of IPV management, both in terms of how to trigger such learning
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Understanding palliative care on the heart failure care team: an innovative research methodology.
Lingard, Lorelei A; McDougall, Allan; Schulz, Valerie; Shadd, Joshua; Marshall, Denise; Strachan, Patricia H; Tait, Glendon R; Arnold, J Malcolm; Kimel, Gil
2013-05-01
There is a growing call to integrate palliative care for patients with advanced heart failure (HF). However, the knowledge to inform integration efforts comes largely from interview and survey research with individual patients and providers. This work has been critically important in raising awareness of the need for integration, but it is insufficient to inform solutions that must be enacted not by isolated individuals but by complex care teams. Research methods are urgently required to support systematic exploration of the experiences of patients with HF, family caregivers, and health care providers as they interact as a care team. To design a research methodology that can support systematic exploration of the experiences of patients with HF, caregivers, and health care providers as they interact as a care team. This article describes in detail a methodology that we have piloted and are currently using in a multisite study of HF care teams. We describe three aspects of the methodology: the theoretical framework, an innovative sampling strategy, and an iterative system of data collection and analysis that incorporates four data sources and four analytical steps. We anticipate that this innovative methodology will support groundbreaking research in both HF care and other team settings in which palliative integration efforts are emerging for patients with advanced nonmalignant disease. Copyright © 2013 U.S. Cancer Pain Relief Committee. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Lisa Rotenstein
2016-07-01
Full Text Available Background A critical need exists for effective electronic tools that facilitate multidisciplinary care for complex patients in patient-centered medical homes. Objective To identify the essential components of a primary care (PC based electronic care plan (ECP tool that facilitates coordination of care for complex patients. Methods Three focus groups and nine semi-structured interviews were conducted at an academic PC practice in order to identify the ideal components of an ECP. Results Critical components of an ECP identified included: 1 patient background information, including patient demographics, care team member designation and key patient contacts, 2 user- and patient-centric task management functionalities, 3 a summary of a patient’s care needs linked to the responsible member of the care team and 4 integration with the electronic medical record. We then designed an ECP mockup incorporating these components. Conclusion Our investigation identified key principles that healthcare software developers can integrate into PC and patient-centered ECP tools.
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Multidisciplinary collaboration in primary care: through the eyes of patients.
Cheong, Lynn H; Armour, Carol L; Bosnic-Anticevich, Sinthia Z
2013-01-01
Managing chronic illness is highly complex and the pathways to access health care for the patient are unpredictable and often unknown. While multidisciplinary care (MDC) arrangements are promoted in the Australian primary health care system, there is a paucity of research on multidisciplinary collaboration from patients' perspectives. This exploratory study is the first to gain an understanding of the experiences, perceptions, attitudes and potential role of people with chronic illness (asthma) on the delivery of MDC in the Australian primary health care setting. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with asthma patients from Sydney, Australia. Qualitative analysis of data indicates that patients are significant players in MDC and their perceptions of their chronic condition, perceived roles of health care professionals, and expectations of health care delivery, influence their participation and attitudes towards multidisciplinary services. Our research shows the challenges presented by patients in the delivery and establishment of multidisciplinary health care teams, and highlights the need to consider patients' perspectives in the development of MDC models in primary care.
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Achieving Value in Primary Care: The Primary Care Value Model.
Rollow, William; Cucchiara, Peter
2016-03-01
The patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model provides a compelling vision for primary care transformation, but studies of its impact have used insufficiently patient-centered metrics with inconsistent results. We propose a framework for defining patient-centered value and a new model for value-based primary care transformation: the primary care value model (PCVM). We advocate for use of patient-centered value when measuring the impact of primary care transformation, recognition, and performance-based payment; for financial support and research and development to better define primary care value-creating activities and their implementation; and for use of the model to support primary care organizations in transformation. © 2016 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.
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Rowley, M J; Hensley, M J; Brinsmead, M W; Wlodarczyk, J H
1995-09-18
To compare continuity of care from a midwife team with routine care from a variety of doctors and midwives. A stratified, randomised controlled trial. 814 women attending the antenatal clinic of a tertiary referral, university hospital. Women were randomly allocated to team care from a team of six midwives, or routine care from a variety of doctors and midwives. Antenatal, intrapartum and neonatal events; maternal satisfaction; and cost of treatment. 405 women were randomly allocated to team care and 409 to routine care; they delivered 385 and 386 babies, respectively. Team care women were more likely to attend antenatal classes (OR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.23-2.42); less likely to use pethidine during labour (OR, 0.32; 95% CI, 0.22-0.46); and more likely to labour and deliver without intervention (OR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.28-2.34). Babies of team care mothers received less neonatal resuscitation (OR, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.41-0.86), although there was no difference in Apgar scores at five minutes (OR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.29-2.57). The stillbirth and neonatal death rate was the same for both groups of mothers with a singleton pregnancy (three deaths), but there were three deaths (birthweights of 600 g, 660 g, 1340 g) in twin pregnancies in the group receiving team care. Team care was rated better than routine care for all measures of maternal satisfaction. Team care meant a cost reduction of 4.5%. Continuity of care provided by a small team of midwives resulted in a more satisfying birth experience at less cost than routine care and fewer adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes. Although a much larger study would be required to provide adequate power to detect rare outcomes, our study found that continuity of care by a midwife team was as safe as routine care.
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[Satisfaction of principal caregivers of patients followed-up by palliative care teams].
Fernández-Isla, L E; Conde-Valvis-Fraga, S; Fernández-Ruíz, J S
2016-10-01
To determine the satisfaction of main caregivers of deceased patients followed-up by palliative care teams. Web research on electronic data bases: PubMed and MEDES, using "Palliative Care" and "Patient Satisfaction" as main descriptors, and "Family", "Professional-Family Relations", "Quality of Health Care" and "Quality Assurance, Health Care" as secondary descriptors. Studies written in Spanish and English were included. Profile of principal caregiver: a woman between her mid-forties and her mid-fifties, usually related with the patient as a daughter, and of primary educational level. The items that the main caregivers valued the most were: a kind manner, feeling free to ask questions about problems during the process, tactful explanations, receiving information, pain management, time for answering questions, interest for emotional problems, and information about treatment. The worse valued items were: symptoms control, lack of psychological support after death, preparation for a death of a relative, keeping in touch after death, help to resolve outstanding issues, and help during grief. In general, a great majority of palliative care teams achieved excellent results. In spite of the good results obtained in satisfaction surveys from caregivers with regard to palliative care teams, it is essential to improve the quality of scientific-technical training (both from the medical and the psychological point of view), as well as to improve communicational skills among palliative care staff. Copyright © 2016 Sociedad Española de Médicos de Atención Primaria (SEMERGEN). Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.
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The ethics of complex relationships in primary care behavioral health.
Reiter, Jeff; Runyan, Christine
2013-03-01
Primary care settings are particularly prone to complex relationships that can be ethically challenging. This is due in part to three of the distinctive attributes of primary care: a whole family orientation; team-based care; and a longitudinal care delivery model. In addition, the high patient volume of primary care means that the likelihood of encountering ethically challenging relationships is probably greater than in a specialty setting. This article argues that one ethical standard of the American Psychological Association (APA, 2010, Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct, www.apa.org/ethics/code) (10.02, Therapy Involving Couples or Families) should be revised to better accommodate the work of psychologists in primary care. The corresponding Principles of Medical Ethics from the American Medical Association (AMA, 2012, Code of medical ethics: Current opinions with annotations, 2012-2013, Washington, DC: Author), most notably the principle regarding a physician's duty to "respect the rights of patients, colleagues, and other health professionals as well as safeguard privacy" are also noted. In addition, the article details how the three attributes of primary care often result in complex relationships, and provides suggestions for handling such relationships ethically. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).
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Abreu, Mauro Henrique Nogueira Guimarães; Sanglard-Oliveira, Carla Aparecida; Jaruche, Abdul Rahman Mustafá; Mambrini, Juliana Vaz de Melo; Werneck, Marcos Azeredo Furquim; Lucas, Simone Dutra
2013-12-23
To describe some sociodemographic and educational characteristics of oral health technicians (OHTs) in public primary health care teams in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. A cross-sectional descriptive study was performed based on the telephone survey of a representative sample comprising 231 individuals. A pre-tested instrument was used for the data collection, including questions on gender, age in years, years of work as an OHT, years since graduation as an OHT, formal schooling, individual income in a month, and participation in continuing educational programmes. The descriptive statistic was developed and the formation of clusters, by the agglomerative hierarchy technique based on the furthest neighbour, was based on the age, years of work as an OHT, time since graduation as an OHT, formal schooling, individual income in a month, and participation in continuing educational programmes. Most interviewees (97.1%) were female. A monthly income of USD 300.00 to 600.00 was reported by 77.5% of the sample. Having educational qualifications in excess of their role was reported by approximately 20% of the participants. The median time since graduation was six years, and half of the sample had worked for four years as an OHT. Most interviewees (67.6%) reported having participated in professional continuing educational programmes. Two different clusters were identified based on the sociodemographic and educational characteristics of the sample. The Brazilian OHTs in public primary health care teams in the state of Minas Gerais are mostly female who have had little time since graduation, working experience, and formal schooling sufficient for professional practice.
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The european primary care monitor: structure, process and outcome indicators
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Wilson Andrew
2010-10-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background Scientific research has provided evidence on benefits of well developed primary care systems. The relevance of some of this research for the European situation is limited. There is currently a lack of up to date comprehensive and comparable information on variation in development of primary care, and a lack of knowledge of structures and strategies conducive to strengthening primary care in Europe. The EC funded project Primary Health Care Activity Monitor for Europe (PHAMEU aims to fill this gap by developing a Primary Care Monitoring System (PC Monitor for application in 31 European countries. This article describes the development of the indicators of the PC Monitor, which will make it possible to create an alternative model for holistic analyses of primary care. Methods A systematic review of the primary care literature published between 2003 and July 2008 was carried out. This resulted in an overview of: (1 the dimensions of primary care and their relevance to outcomes at (primary health system level; (2 essential features per dimension; (3 applied indicators to measure the features of primary care dimensions. The indicators were evaluated by the project team against criteria of relevance, precision, flexibility, and discriminating power. The resulting indicator set was evaluated on its suitability for Europe-wide comparison of primary care systems by a panel of primary care experts from various European countries (representing a variety of primary care systems. Results The developed PC Monitor approaches primary care in Europe as a multidimensional concept. It describes the key dimensions of primary care systems at three levels: structure, process, and outcome level. On structure level, it includes indicators for governance, economic conditions, and workforce development. On process level, indicators describe access, comprehensiveness, continuity, and coordination of primary care services. On outcome level, indicators
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Can staff attitudes to team working in stroke care be improved?
Gibbon, Bernard; Watkins, Caroline; Barer, David; Waters, Karen; Davies, Steve; Lightbody, Liz; Leathley, Michael
2002-10-01
Teamwork is regarded as the cornerstone of rehabilitation. It is recognized that the skills of a multiprofessional team are required to provide the care and interventions necessary to maximize the patient's potential to recover from his/her stroke. Critical evaluation of team working is lacking in the literature. Indeed, there is no consensus on a precise definition of teamwork or on the best way of implementing it, beyond a general exhortation to members to work to the same therapeutic plan in a cohesive manner. The literature has highlighted many problems in team working, including petty jealousies, ignorance and a perceived loss of autonomy and threat to professional status. To determine if the use of team co-ordinated approaches to stroke care and rehabilitation would improve staff attitudes to team working. A pre-post design was adopted using 'The Team Climate Inventory' to explore attitudes to team working before and after introducing the interventions. Local Research Ethics Committee approval was obtained. Improvements in attitudes towards team working suggest that the introduction of team co-ordinated approaches (integrated care pathways and team notes) did not result in greater team working. The introduction of an integrated care pathway and team notes is based on an assumption that they would enhance team working. The results suggest that the introduction of team co-ordinated approaches (team notes and care pathways) do not improve attitudes to team working, teams appear to take a long time to establish cohesion and develop shared values.
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Toward More Equitable Primary Health Care in Argentina and Latin ...
International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)
The team will build a virtual Latin American community of practice focused on intersectoral collaborations for health. Findings will be integrated into course curricula for a master's in health systems and services management and a certificate in intersectoral primary health care management offered by Rosario University.
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Assessing Performance and Learning in Interprofessional Health Care Teams.
Ekmekci, Ozgur; Sheingold, Brenda; Plack, Margaret; LeLacheur, Susan; Halvaksz, Jennifer; Lewis, Karen; Schlumpf, Karen; Greenberg, Larrie
2015-01-01
Teamwork has become an integral part of health care delivery. Such emphasis on teamwork has generated the need to systematically measure and improve the learning and performance of health care teams. The purpose of this study was to develop a comprehensive assessment instrument, the Interprofessional Education and Practice Inventory (IPEPI), to evaluate learning and performance in interprofessional health care teams. The 12-month study commenced in three 4-month phases: (1) a panel of 25 national and international experts participated in the Delphi process to identify factors influencing team learning and team performance; (2) the research team analyzed the findings from the two Delphi rounds to develop the IPEPI; and (3) a cohort of 27 students at the university engaged in clinical simulations to test and refine the IPEPI. Findings suggest key factors that significantly influence team learning and performance include whether the group is able to foster a climate of mutual respect, adopt effective communication strategies, develop a sense of trust, and invite contributions from others. Additionally, in assessing organizational factors, participants indicated those factors that significantly influence team learning and performance include whether the organization is patient-centered, creates a culture of safety (not blame), and supports individual and team learning. These findings highlight the critical role assessment plays in enhancing not just interprofessional education or interprofessional practice, but in essence advancing interprofessional education and practice--which requires an integrated examination of how health care professionals learn and perform in teams.
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How to Get It -- Step 2: Meet the Palliative Care Team
... a Provider 3. Meet the Team Palliative Care Team The palliative care team will spend a lot of time with you ... your goals. But what should you ask the team during the meeting? Here are some suggestions: What ...
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Nithra Kitreerawutiwong
2018-02-01
Full Text Available Background: The family care team (FCT was established to improve the quality of care. This study aimed to explore the perceptions of FCT implementation and describe the challenges inherent in implementing the FCT. Methods: Forty in-depth interviews were conducted. The interviewees consisted of five primary care managers in the provincial medical health office, five directors of community hospitals, five administrators in district health offices, ten subdistrict health-promoting hospital directors, representatives from ten local organizations, and five heads of village health volunteers. Data were collected in accordance with semistructured interview guidelines and analyzed by thematic analysis. Results: Participants’ expressed their opinions through five themes: (1 the role and scope of practice, (2 the communication in collaboration of the FCT, (3 the management of the FCT, (4 the impact of the FCT on the team members’ feelings and primary care performance, and (5 the main challenges, including the insufficiency of a teamwork culture and a biomedical approach. Conclusion: The information suggests the importance of issues such as the clarification of the team members’ roles and managers’ roles, communication within and across FCTs, and the preparation for training of interprofessionals to enhance collaborative management to achieve the optimal care for people in the district health system.
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The Fetal Care Team: Care for Pregnant Women Carrying a Fetus with a Serious Diagnosis.
Loyet, Margaret; McLean, Amy; Graham, Karen; Antoine, Cheryl; Fossick, Kathy
Women carrying a fetus with a suspected or known fetal anomaly have complex needs such as emotional and informational support and help with the logistical aspects of arranging care and treatment from numerous specialists. IMPROVEMENT IN QUALITY OF CARE FOR WOMEN CARRYING A FETUS WITH A SUSPECTED OR KNOWN FETAL ANOMALY:: Our fetal care team was initiated in 2012 to meet the needs of this high-risk pregnant population. The fetal care team nurse coordinator supports the woman and her family through all aspects of care during the pregnancy and neonatal period including scheduling appointments with multiple specialists, being there with her as a support person, keeping her updated, making sure she has accurate information about the fetal diagnosis, and helping her to navigate the complex healthcare system. Since the program was started, the number of women enrolled has nearly doubled. Women overwhelmingly are satisfied with the various services and care provided by the nurse coordinators and believe the fetal care team has value for them. We present the development and operations of our fetal care team with a focus on the role of the fetal care team nurse coordinator.
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Awareness of the Care Team in Electronic Health Records
Vawdrey, D.K.; Wilcox, L.G.; Collins, S.; Feiner, S.; Mamykina, O.; Stein, D.M.; Bakken, S.; Fred, M.R.; Stetson, P.D.
2011-01-01
Objective To support collaboration and clinician-targeted decision support, electronic health records (EHRs) must contain accurate information about patients’ care providers. The objective of this study was to evaluate two approaches for care provider identification employed within a commercial EHR at a large academic medical center. Methods We performed a retrospective review of EHR data for 121 patients in two cardiology wards during a four-week period. System audit logs of chart accesses were analyzed to identify the clinicians who were likely participating in the patients’ hospital care. The audit log data were compared with two functions in the EHR for documenting care team membership: 1) a vendor-supplied module called “Care Providers”, and 2) a custom “Designate Provider” order that was created primarily to improve accuracy of the attending physician of record documentation. Results For patients with a 3–5 day hospital stay, an average of 30.8 clinicians accessed the electronic chart, including 10.2 nurses, 1.4 attending physicians, 2.3 residents, and 5.4 physician assistants. The Care Providers module identified 2.7 clinicians/patient (1.8 attending physicians and 0.9 nurses). The Designate Provider order identified 2.1 clinicians/patient (1.1 attending physicians, 0.2 resident physicians, and 0.8 physician assistants). Information about other members of patients’ care teams (social workers, dietitians, pharmacists, etc.) was absent. Conclusions The two methods for specifying care team information failed to identify numerous individuals involved in patients’ care, suggesting that commercial EHRs may not provide adequate tools for care team designation. Improvements to EHR tools could foster greater collaboration among care teams and reduce communication-related risks to patient safety. PMID:22574103
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Managing stress in a palliative care team.
Gupta, Vineeta; Woodman, Clare
2010-12-01
This article describes a strategy to reduce the high levels of stress experienced by community nurses in a children's palliative care team. The development, use and effectiveness of a problem-solving team intervention are illustrated by direct quotations from the nurses themselves.
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Internet use among primary care patients attending a tertiary health ...
African Journals Online (AJOL)
Background: Global attention is being drawn to the use of internet resource because of its overwhelming benefits. Individuals, families, social groups, patients as well as research teams spend quality time on a daily basis exploring the internet. Objective: We carried out a study to determine internet use among primary care ...
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Johnston, Sharon; Liddy, Clare; Hogg, William; Donskov, Melissa; Russell, Grant; Gyorfi-Dyke, Elizabeth
2010-12-13
While some research has been conducted examining recruitment methods to engage physicians and practices in primary care research, further research is needed on recruitment methodology as it remains a recurrent challenge and plays a crucial role in primary care research. This paper reviews recruitment strategies, common challenges, and innovative practices from five recent primary care health services research studies in Ontario, Canada. We used mixed qualitative and quantitative methods to gather data from investigators and/or project staff from five research teams. Team members were interviewed and asked to fill out a brief survey on recruitment methods, results, and challenges encountered during a recent or ongoing project involving primary care practices or physicians. Data analysis included qualitative analysis of interview notes and descriptive statistics generated for each study. Recruitment rates varied markedly across the projects despite similar initial strategies. Common challenges and creative solutions were reported by many of the research teams, including building a sampling frame, developing front-office rapport, adapting recruitment strategies, promoting buy-in and interest in the research question, and training a staff recruiter. Investigators must continue to find effective ways of reaching and involving diverse and representative samples of primary care providers and practices by building personal connections with, and buy-in from, potential participants. Flexible recruitment strategies and an understanding of the needs and interests of potential participants may also facilitate recruitment.
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Preparing the Workforce for Behavioral Health and Primary Care Integration.
Hall, Jennifer; Cohen, Deborah J; Davis, Melinda; Gunn, Rose; Blount, Alexander; Pollack, David A; Miller, William L; Smith, Corey; Valentine, Nancy; Miller, Benjamin F
2015-01-01
To identify how organizations prepare clinicians to work together to integrate behavioral health and primary care. Observational cross-case comparison study of 19 U.S. practices, 11 participating in Advancing Care Together, and 8 from the Integration Workforce Study. Practices varied in size, ownership, geographic location, and experience delivering integrated care. Multidisciplinary teams collected data (field notes from direct practice observations, semistructured interviews, and online diaries as reported by practice leaders) and then analyzed the data using a grounded theory approach. Organizations had difficulty finding clinicians possessing the skills and experience necessary for working in an integrated practice. Practices newer to integration underestimated the time and resources needed to train and organizationally socialize (onboard) new clinicians. Through trial and error, practices learned that clinicians needed relevant training to work effectively as integrated care teams. Training efforts exclusively targeting behavioral health clinicians (BHCs) and new employees were incomplete if primary care clinicians (PCCs) and others in the practice also lacked experience working with BHCs and delivering integrated care. Organizations' methods for addressing employees' need for additional preparation included hiring a consultant to provide training, sending employees to external training programs, hosting residency or practicum training programs, or creating their own internal training program. Onboarding new employees through the development of training manuals; extensive shadowing processes; and protecting time for ongoing education, mentoring, and support opportunities for new and established clinicians and staff were featured in these internal training programs. Insufficient training capacity and practical experience opportunities continue to be major barriers to supplying the workforce needed for effective behavioral health and primary care integration
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Holtrop, Jodi Summers; Ruland, Sandra; Diaz, Stephanie; Morrato, Elaine H; Jones, Eric
2018-05-01
Care management and care managers are becoming increasingly prevalent in primary care medical practice as a means of improving population health and reducing unnecessary care. Care managers are often involved in chronic disease management and associated transitional care. In this study, we examined the communication regarding chronic disease care within 24 primary care practices in Michigan and Colorado. We sought to answer the following questions: Do care managers play a key role in chronic disease management in the practice? Does the prominence of the care manager's connectivity within the practice's communication network vary by the type of care management structure implemented? Individual written surveys were given to all practice members in the participating practices. Survey questions assessed demographics as well as practice culture, quality improvement, care management activities, and communication regarding chronic disease care. Using social network analysis and other statistical methods, we analyzed the communication dynamics related to chronic disease care for each practice. The structure of chronic disease communication varies greatly from practice to practice. Care managers who were embedded in the practice or co-located were more likely to be in the core of the communication network than were off-site care managers. These care managers also had higher in-degree centrality, indicating that they acted as a hub for communication with team members in many other roles. Social network analysis provided a useful means of examining chronic disease communication in practice, and highlighted the central role of care managers in this communication when their role structure supported such communication. Structuring care managers as embedded team members within the practice has important implications for their role in chronic disease communication within primary care.
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Teamwork methods for accountable care: relational coordination and TeamSTEPPS®.
Gittell, Jody Hoffer; Beswick, Joanne; Goldmann, Don; Wallack, Stanley S
2015-01-01
To deliver greater value in the accountable care context, the Institute of Medicine argues for a culture of teamwork at multiple levels--across professional and organizational siloes and with patients and their families and communities. The logic of performance improvement is that data are needed to target interventions and to assess their impact. We argue that efforts to build teamwork will benefit from teamwork measures that provide diagnostic information regarding the current state and teamwork interventions that can respond to the opportunities identified in the current state. We identify teamwork measures and teamwork interventions that are validated and that can work across multiple levels of teamwork. We propose specific ways to combine them for optimal effectiveness. We review measures of teamwork documented by Valentine, Nembhard, and Edmondson and select those that they identified as satisfying the four criteria for psychometric validation and as being unbounded and therefore able to measure teamwork across multiple levels. We then consider teamwork interventions that are widely used in the U.S. health care context, are well validated based on their association with outcomes, and are capable of working at multiple levels of teamwork. We select the top candidate in each category and propose ways to combine them for optimal effectiveness. We find relational coordination is a validated multilevel teamwork measure and TeamSTEPPS® is a validated multilevel teamwork intervention and propose specific ways for the relational coordination measure to enhance the TeamSTEPPS intervention. Health care systems and change agents seeking to respond to the challenges of accountable care can use TeamSTEPPS as a validated multilevel teamwork intervention methodology, enhanced by relational coordination as a validated multilevel teamwork measure with diagnostic capacity to pinpoint opportunities for improving teamwork along specific dimensions (e.g., shared knowledge
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Fennell, Mary L; Das, Irene Prabhu; Clauser, Steven; Petrelli, Nicholas; Salner, Andrew
2010-01-01
Quality cancer treatment depends upon careful coordination between multiple treatments and treatment providers, the exchange of technical information, and regular communication between all providers and physician disciplines involved in treatment. This article will examine a particular type of organizational structure purported to regularize and streamline the communication between multiple specialists and support services involved in cancer treatment: the multidisciplinary treatment care (MDC) team. We present a targeted review of what is known about various types of MDC team structures and their impact on the quality of treatment care, and we outline a conceptual model of the connections between team context, structure, process, and performance and their subsequent effects on cancer treatment care processes and patient outcomes. Finally, we will discuss future research directions to understand how MDC teams improve patient outcomes and how characteristics of team structure, culture, leadership, and context (organizational setting and local environment) contribute to optimal multidisciplinary cancer care.
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In Connecticut: improving patient medication management in primary care.
Smith, Marie; Giuliano, Margherita R; Starkowski, Michael P
2011-04-01
Medications are a cornerstone of the management of most chronic conditions. However, medication discrepancies and medication-related problems-some of which can cause serious harm-are common. Pharmacists have the expertise to identify, resolve, monitor, and prevent these problems. We present findings from a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services demonstration project in Connecticut, in which nine pharmacists worked closely with eighty-eight Medicaid patients from July 2009 through May 2010. The pharmacists identified 917 drug therapy problems and resolved nearly 80 [corrected] percent of them after four encounters. The result was an estimated annual saving of $1,123 per patient on medication claims and $472 per patient on medical, hospital, and emergency department expenses-more than enough to pay for the contracted pharmacist services. We recommend that the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation support the evaluation of pharmacist-provided medication management services in primary care medical homes, accountable care organizations, and community health and care transition teams, as well as research to explore how to enhance team-based care.
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The role of dentist in palliative care team
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Rani P Mol
2010-01-01
Full Text Available The palliative doctor gives the ′touch of God′ as he/she takes care of the terminally ill patient. The oncologist encounters great difficulties in managing oral cavity problems of these patients. A trained dental doctor can help other doctors in dealing with these situations. But the general dental surgeon does not have enough idea about his part in these treatments. The community is also unaware of the role that a nearby dentist can play. Adequate training programs have to be conducted and awareness has to be created. A trained dentist will be a good team mate for the oncologist or radiotherapist or other doctors of the palliative care team. In this paper, a brief attempt is made to list a few areas in which a palliative care dentist can help other members of the palliative care team and also the patient in leading a better life.
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The implementation evaluation of primary care groups of practice: a focus on organizational identity
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Pozzebon Marlei
2010-02-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background Since 2002 the Health Ministry of Québec (Canada has been implementing a primary care organizational innovation called 'family medicine groups'. This is occurring in a political context in which the reorganization of primary care is considered necessary to improve health care system performance. More specifically, the purpose of this reform has been to overcome systemic deficiencies in terms of accessibility and continuity of care. This paper examines the first years of implementation of the family medicine group program, with a focus on the emergence of the organizational identity of one of the pilot groups located in the urban area of Montreal. Methods An in-depth longitudinal case study was conducted over two and a half years. Face to face individual interviews with key informants from the family medicine group under study were conducted over the research period considered. Data was gathered throuhg observations and documentary analysis. The data was analyzed using temporal bracketing and Fairclough's three-dimensional critical discourse analytical techniques. Results Three different phases were identified over the period under study. During the first phase, which corresponded to the official start-up of the family medicine group program, new resources and staff were only available at the end of the period, and no changes occurred in medical practices. Power struggles between physicians and nurses characterized the second phase, resulting in a very difficult integration of advanced nurse practitioners into the group. Indeed, the last phase was portrayed by initial collaborative practices associated with a sensegiving process prompted by a new family medicine group director. Conclusions The creation of a primary care team is a very challenging process that goes beyond the normative policy definitions of who is on the team or what the team has to do. To fulfil expectations of quality improvement through team-based care
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Proudfoot, Judith G; Bubner, Tanya; Amoroso, Cheryl; Swan, Edward; Holton, Christine; Winstanley, Julie; Beilby, Justin; Harris, Mark F
2009-08-01
At a time when workforce shortages in general practices are leading to greater role substitution and skill-mix diversification, and the demand on general practices for chronic disease care is increasing, the structure and function of the general practice team is taking on heightened importance. To assist general practices and the organizations supporting them to assess the effectiveness of their chronic care teamworking, we developed an interview tool, the Chronic Care Team Profile (CCTP), to measure the structure and function of teams in general practice. This paper describes its properties and potential use. An initial pool of items was derived from guidelines of best-practice for chronic disease care and performance standards for general practices. The items covered staffing, skill-mix, job descriptions and roles, training, protocols and procedures within the practice. The 41-item pool was factor analysed, retained items were measured for internal consistency and the reduced instrument's face, content and construct validity were evaluated. A three-factor solution corresponding to non-general practitioner staff roles in chronic care, administrative functions and management structures provided the best fit to the data and explained 45% of the variance in the CCTP. Further analyses suggested that the CCTP is reliable, valid and has some utility. The CCTP measures aspects of the structure and function of general practices which are independent of team processes. It is associated with the job satisfaction of general practice staff and the quality of care provided to patients with chronic illnesses. As such, the CCTP offers a simple and useful tool for general practices to assess their teamworking in chronic disease care.
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Teams and teamwork during a cancer diagnosis: interdependency within and between teams.
Taplin, Stephen H; Weaver, Sallie; Chollette, Veronica; Marks, Lawrence B; Jacobs, Andrew; Schiff, Gordon; Stricker, Carrie T; Bruinooge, Suanna S; Salas, Eduardo
2015-05-01
This article discusses the care process among three groups (primary care, radiology, and surgery) aiding a 57-year-old woman during her screening mammography and diagnosis of breast cancer. This is the first in a series of articles exploring principles and topics relevant to teams guiding clinicians involved in cancer care. The challenges demonstrated in this case illustrate how clinicians work within and between groups to deliver this first phase of cancer care. The case helps demonstrate the differences between groups and teams. Focusing on the patient and the overall process of care coordination can help move groups toward becoming teams who deliver better care by identifying and managing goals, roles, and interdependent care tasks. Care providers and researchers can use the case to consider their own work and essential aspects of teamwork needed to improve care, patient outcomes, and the evidence that supports each. Copyright © 2015 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.
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Developing a facilitation model to promote organisational development in primary care practices
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Elwyn Glyn
2006-06-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background The relationship between effective organisation of general practices and health improvement is widely accepted. The Maturity Matrix is an instrument designed to assess organisational development in general practice settings and to stimulate quality improvement. It is undertaken by a practice team with the aid of a facilitator. There is a tradition in the primary care systems in many countries of using practice visitors to educate practice teams about how to improve. However the role of practice visitors as facilitators who enable teams to plan practice-led organisational development using quality improvement instruments is less well understood. The objectives of the study were to develop and explore a facilitation model to support practice teams in stimulating organisational development using a quality improvement instrument called the Maturity Matrix. A qualitative study based on transcript analysis was adopted. Method A model of facilitation was constructed based on a review of relevant literature. Audio tapes of Maturity Matrix assessment sessions with general practices were transcribed and facilitator skills were compared to the model. The sample consisted of two facilitators working with twelve general practices based in UK primary care. Results The facilitation model suggested that four areas describing eighteen skills were important. The four areas are structuring the session, obtaining consensus, handling group dynamics and enabling team learning. Facilitators effectively employed skills associated with the first three areas, but less able to consistently stimulate team learning. Conclusion This study suggests that facilitators need careful preparation for their role and practices need protected time in order to make best use of practice-led quality improvement instruments. The role of practice visitor as a facilitator is becoming important as the need to engender ownership of the quality improvement process by
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Developing a facilitation model to promote organisational development in primary care practices.
Rhydderch, Melody; Edwards, Adrian; Marshall, Martin; Elwyn, Glyn; Grol, Richard
2006-06-19
The relationship between effective organisation of general practices and health improvement is widely accepted. The Maturity Matrix is an instrument designed to assess organisational development in general practice settings and to stimulate quality improvement. It is undertaken by a practice team with the aid of a facilitator. There is a tradition in the primary care systems in many countries of using practice visitors to educate practice teams about how to improve. However the role of practice visitors as facilitators who enable teams to plan practice-led organisational development using quality improvement instruments is less well understood. The objectives of the study were to develop and explore a facilitation model to support practice teams in stimulating organisational development using a quality improvement instrument called the Maturity Matrix. A qualitative study based on transcript analysis was adopted. A model of facilitation was constructed based on a review of relevant literature. Audio tapes of Maturity Matrix assessment sessions with general practices were transcribed and facilitator skills were compared to the model. The sample consisted of two facilitators working with twelve general practices based in UK primary care. The facilitation model suggested that four areas describing eighteen skills were important. The four areas are structuring the session, obtaining consensus, handling group dynamics and enabling team learning. Facilitators effectively employed skills associated with the first three areas, but less able to consistently stimulate team learning. This study suggests that facilitators need careful preparation for their role and practices need protected time in order to make best use of practice-led quality improvement instruments. The role of practice visitor as a facilitator is becoming important as the need to engender ownership of the quality improvement process by practices increases.
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Hämel, Kerstin; Vössing, Carina
2017-09-01
Aim A comparative analysis of concepts and practices of GP-nurse collaborations in primary health centres in Slovenia and Spain. Cross-professional collaboration is considered a key element for providing high-quality comprehensive care by combining the expertise of various professions. In many countries, nurses are also being given new and more extensive responsibilities. Implemented concepts of collaborative care need to be analysed within the context of care concepts, organisational structures, and effective collaboration. Background review of primary care concepts (literature analysis, expert interviews), and evaluation of collaboration in 'best practice' health centres in certain regions of Slovenia and Spain. Qualitative content analysis of expert interviews, presentations, observations, and group discussions with professionals and health centre managers. Findings In Slovenian health centres, the collaboration between GPs and nurses has been strongly shaped by their organisation in separate care units and predominantly case-oriented functions. Conventional power structures between professions hinder effective collaboration. The introduction of a new cross-professional primary care concept has integrated advanced practice nurses into general practice. Conventional hierarchies still exist, but a shared vision of preventive care is gradually strengthening attitudes towards team-oriented care. Formal regulations or incentives for teamwork have yet to be implemented. In Spain, health centres were established along with a team-based care concept that encompasses close physician-nurse collaboration and an autonomous role for nurses in the care process. Nurses collaborate with GPs on more equal terms with conflicts centring on professional disagreements. Team development structures and financial incentives for team achievements have been implemented, encouraging teams to generate their own strategies to improve teamwork. Clearly defined structures, shared visions of
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Illusions of team working in health care.
West, Michael A; Lyubovnikova, Joanne
2013-01-01
The ubiquity and value of teams in healthcare are well acknowledged. However, in practice, healthcare teams vary dramatically in their structures and effectiveness in ways that can damage team processes and patient outcomes. The aim of this paper is to highlight these characteristics and to extrapolate several important aspects of teamwork that have a powerful impact on team effectiveness across healthcare contexts. The paper draws upon the literature from health services management and organisational behaviour to provide an overview of the current science of healthcare teams. Underpinned by the input-process-output framework of team effectiveness, team composition, team task, and organisational support are viewed as critical inputs that influence key team processes including team objectives, leadership and reflexivity, which in turn impact staff and patient outcomes. Team training interventions and care pathways can facilitate more effective interdisciplinary teamwork. The paper argues that the prevalence of the term "team" in healthcare makes the synthesis and advancement of the scientific understanding of healthcare teams a challenge. Future research therefore needs to better define the fundamental characteristics of teams in studies in order to ensure that findings based on real teams, rather than pseudo-like groups, are accumulated.
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Levesque, Jean-Frederic; Harris, Mark F; Scott, Cathie; Crabtree, Benjamin; Miller, William; Halma, Lisa M; Hogg, William E; Weenink, Jan-Willem; Advocat, Jenny R; Gunn, Jane; Russell, Grant
2017-10-23
Inter-professional teamwork in primary care settings offers potential benefits for responding to the increasing complexity of patients' needs. While it is a central element in many reforms to primary care delivery, implementing inter-professional teamwork has proven to be more challenging than anticipated. The objective of this study was to better understand the dimensions and intensity of teamwork and the developmental process involved in creating fully integrated teams. Secondary analyses of qualitative and quantitative data from completed studies conducted in Australia, Canada and USA. Case studies and matrices were used, along with face-to-face group retreats, using a Collaborative Reflexive Deliberative Approach. Four dimensions of teamwork were identified. The structural dimension relates to human resources and mechanisms implemented to create the foundations for teamwork. The operational dimension relates to the activities and programs conducted as part of the team's production of services. The relational dimension relates to the relationships and interactions occurring in the team. Finally, the functional dimension relates to definitions of roles and responsibilities aimed at coordinating the team's activities as well as to the shared vision, objectives and developmental activities aimed at ensuring the long-term cohesion of the team. There was a high degree of variation in the way the dimensions were addressed by reforms across the national contexts. The framework enables a clearer understanding of the incremental and iterative aspects that relate to higher achievement of teamwork. Future reforms of primary care need to address higher-level dimensions of teamwork to achieve its expected outcomes. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.
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Power, Ailsa; Allbutt, Helen; Munro, Lucy; MacLeod, Marion; Kennedy, Susan; Cameron, Donald; Scoular, Ken; Orr, Graham; Gillies, John
2017-05-01
To determine experiences of leadership training of six primary care professions in Scotland and consider future development. A questionnaire on previous leadership course attendance and future intentions was distributed to community pharmacists, general dental practitioners, general practitioners, practice nurses, practice managers and optometrists. Analysis comprised descriptive statistics for closed questions and management of textual data. Formal leadership training participation was fairly low except for practice managers. Leadership was perceived to facilitate development of staff, problem-solving and team working. Preference for future delivery was similar across the six professions with e-modules and small group learning being preferred. Time and financial pressures to undertake courses were common barriers for professionals. Leadership is key to improve quality, safety and efficiency of care and help deliver innovative services and transformative change. To date, leadership provision for primary care professionals has typically been patchy, uni-disciplinary in focus and undertaken outwith work environments. Future development must reflect needs of busy primary care professionals and the reality of team working to deliver integrated services at local level.
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Perceptions of team workers in youth care of what makes teamwork effective.
Buljac-Samardzic, M; van Wijngaarden, J D H; van Wijk, K P; van Exel, N J A
2011-05-01
In youth care, little is known about what makes teamwork effective. What is known mostly reflects the view of managers in care organisations, as objective outcome measures are lacking. The objective of this article was to explore the views of youth care workers in different types of teams on the relative importance of characteristics of teamwork for its effectiveness. Q methodology was used. Fifty-one respondents rank-order 34 opinion statements regarding characteristics of teamwork. Individual Q sorts were analysed using by-person factor analysis. The resulting factors, which represented team workers' views of what is important for effective teamwork, were interpreted and described using composite rankings of the statements for each factor and corresponding team workers' explanations. We found three views of what makes teamwork effective. One view emphasised interaction between team members as most important for team effectiveness. A second view pointed to team characteristics that help sustain communication within teams as being most important. In the third view, the team characteristics that facilitate individuals to perform as a team member were put forward as most important for teamwork to be effective. In conclusion, different views exist on what makes a team effective in youth care. These views correspond with the different types of teams active in youth care as well as in other social care settings. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
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Bowie, Paul; Halley, Lyn; Blamey, Avril; Gillies, Jill; Houston, Neil
2016-01-29
To explore general practitioner (GP) team perceptions and experiences of participating in a large-scale safety and improvement pilot programme to develop and test a range of interventions that were largely new to this setting. Qualitative study using semistructured interviews. Data were analysed thematically. Purposive sample of multiprofessional study participants from 11 GP teams based in 3 Scottish National Health Service (NHS) Boards. 27 participants were interviewed. 3 themes were generated: (1) programme experiences and benefits, for example, a majority of participants referred to gaining new theoretical and experiential safety knowledge (such as how unreliable evidence-based care can be) and skills (such as how to search electronic records for undetected risks) related to the programme interventions; (2) improvements to patient care systems, for example, improvements in care systems reliability using care bundles were reported by many, but this was an evolving process strongly dependent on closer working arrangements between clinical and administrative staff; (3) the utility of the programme improvement interventions, for example, mixed views and experiences of participating in the safety climate survey and meeting to reflect on the feedback report provided were apparent. Initial theories on the utilisation and potential impact of some interventions were refined based on evidence. The pilot was positively received with many practices reporting improvements in safety systems, team working and communications with colleagues and patients. Barriers and facilitators were identified related to how interventions were used as the programme evolved, while other challenges around spreading implementation beyond this pilot were highlighted. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Hogg William
2010-12-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background While some research has been conducted examining recruitment methods to engage physicians and practices in primary care research, further research is needed on recruitment methodology as it remains a recurrent challenge and plays a crucial role in primary care research. This paper reviews recruitment strategies, common challenges, and innovative practices from five recent primary care health services research studies in Ontario, Canada. Methods We used mixed qualitative and quantitative methods to gather data from investigators and/or project staff from five research teams. Team members were interviewed and asked to fill out a brief survey on recruitment methods, results, and challenges encountered during a recent or ongoing project involving primary care practices or physicians. Data analysis included qualitative analysis of interview notes and descriptive statistics generated for each study. Results Recruitment rates varied markedly across the projects despite similar initial strategies. Common challenges and creative solutions were reported by many of the research teams, including building a sampling frame, developing front-office rapport, adapting recruitment strategies, promoting buy-in and interest in the research question, and training a staff recruiter. Conclusions Investigators must continue to find effective ways of reaching and involving diverse and representative samples of primary care providers and practices by building personal connections with, and buy-in from, potential participants. Flexible recruitment strategies and an understanding of the needs and interests of potential participants may also facilitate recruitment.
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Cohen, Deborah J; Davis, Melinda; Balasubramanian, Bijal A; Gunn, Rose; Hall, Jennifer; deGruy, Frank V; Peek, C J; Green, Larry A; Stange, Kurt C; Pallares, Carla; Levy, Sheldon; Pollack, David; Miller, Benjamin F
2015-01-01
This paper sought to describe how clinicians from different backgrounds interact to deliver integrated behavioral and primary health care, and the contextual factors that shape such interactions. This was a comparative case study in which a multidisciplinary team used an immersion-crystallization approach to analyze data from observations of practice operations, interviews with practice members, and implementation diaries. The observed practices were drawn from 2 studies: Advancing Care Together, a demonstration project of 11 practices located in Colorado; and the Integration Workforce Study, consisting of 8 practices located across the United States. Primary care and behavioral health clinicians used 3 interpersonal strategies to work together in integrated settings: consulting, coordinating, and collaborating (3Cs). Consulting occurred when clinicians sought advice, validated care plans, or corroborated perceptions of a patient's needs with another professional. Coordinating involved 2 professionals working in a parallel or in a back-and-forth fashion to achieve a common patient care goal, while delivering care separately. Collaborating involved 2 or more professionals interacting in real time to discuss a patient's presenting symptoms, describe their views on treatment, and jointly develop a care plan. Collaborative behavior emerged when a patient's care or situation was complex or novel. We identified contextual factors shaping use of the 3Cs, including: time to plan patient care, staffing, employing brief therapeutic approaches, proximity of clinical team members, and electronic health record documenting behavior. Primary care and behavioral health clinicians, through their interactions, consult, coordinate, and collaborate with each other to solve patients' problems. Organizations can create integrated care environments that support these collaborations and health professions training programs should equip clinicians to execute all 3Cs routinely in practice
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Integrating advanced practice providers into medical critical care teams.
McCarthy, Christine; O'Rourke, Nancy C; Madison, J Mark
2013-03-01
Because there is increasing demand for critical care providers in the United States, many medical ICUs for adults have begun to integrate nurse practitioners and physician assistants into their medical teams. Studies suggest that such advanced practice providers (APPs), when appropriately trained in acute care, can be highly effective in helping to deliver high-quality medical critical care and can be important elements of teams with multiple providers, including those with medical house staff. One aspect of building an integrated team is a practice model that features appropriate coding and billing of services by all providers. Therefore, it is important to understand an APP's scope of practice, when they are qualified for reimbursement, and how they may appropriately coordinate coding and billing with other team providers. In particular, understanding when and how to appropriately code for critical care services (Current Procedural Terminology [CPT] code 99291, critical care, evaluation and management of the critically ill or critically injured patient, first 30-74 min; CPT code 99292, critical care, each additional 30 min) and procedures is vital for creating a sustainable program. Because APPs will likely play a growing role in medical critical care units in the future, more studies are needed to compare different practice models and to determine the best way to deploy this talent in specific ICU settings.
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The primary care amplification model: taking the best of primary care forward
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Nicholson Caroline
2008-12-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background Primary care internationally is approaching a new paradigm. The change agenda implicit in this threatens to de-stabilise and challenge established general practice and primary care. Discussion The Primary Care Amplification Model offers a means to harness the change agenda by 'amplifying' the strengths of established general practices around a 'beacon' practice. Conclusion Such 'beacon' practices can provide a mustering point for an expanded scope of practice for primary care, integrated primary/secondary service delivery, interprofessional learning, relevant local clinical research, and a focus on local service innovation, enhancing rather than fragmenting the collective capacity of existing primary care.
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St George Acute Care Team: the local variant of crisis resolution model of care.
Cupina, Denise D; Wand, Anne P F; Phelan, Emma; Atkin, Rona
2016-10-01
The objective of this study was to describe functioning and clinical activities of the St George Acute Care Team and how it compares to the typical crisis resolution model of care. Descriptive data including demographics, sources of referral, type of clinical intervention, length of stay, diagnoses and outcomes were collected from records of all patients who were discharged from the team during a 10 week period. There were 677 referrals. The team's functions consisted of post-discharge follow-up (31%), triage and intake (30%), case management support (23%) and acute community based assessment and treatment (16%). The average length of stay was 5 days. The majority of patients were diagnosed with a mood (23%) or a psychotic (25%) disorder. Points of contrast to other reported crisis resolution teams include shorter length of stay, relatively less focus on direct clinical assessment and more telephone follow-up and triage. St George Acute Care Team provides a variety of clinical activities. The focus has shifted away from the original model of crisis resolution care to meet local and governmental requirements. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2016.
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Team functioning as a predictor of patient outcomes in early medical home implementation.
Wu, Frances M; Rubenstein, Lisa V; Yoon, Jean
2018-03-12
New models of patient-centered primary care such as the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) depend on high levels of interdisciplinary primary care team functioning to achieve improved outcomes. A few studies have qualitatively assessed barriers and facilitators to optimal team functioning; however, we know of no prior study that assesses PCMH team functioning in relationship to patient health outcomes. The aim of the study was to assess the relationships between primary care team functioning, patients' use of acute care, and mortality. Retrospective longitudinal cohort analysis of patient outcomes measured at two time points (2012 and 2013) after PCMH implementation began in Veterans Health Administration practices. Multilevel models examined practice-level measures of team functioning in relationship to patient outcomes (all-cause and ambulatory care-sensitive condition-related hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and mortality). We controlled for practice-level factors likely to affect team functioning, including leadership support, provider and staff burnout, and staffing sufficiency, as well as for individual patient characteristics. We also tested the model among a subgroup of vulnerable patients (homeless, mentally ill, or with dementia). In adjusted analyses, higher team functioning was associated with lower mortality (OR = 0.92, p = .04) among all patients and with fewer all-cause admissions (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 0.90, p team functioning within PCMH models for achieving improved patient outcomes. A focus on team functioning is important especially in the early implementation of team-based primary care models.
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A team approach in palliative care: enhancing outcomes.
Schrader, Susan L; Horner, Arlene; Eidsness, LuAnn; Young, Sandy; Wright, Chris; Robinson, Michael
2002-07-01
While most Americans envision a "good death" as one occurring quickly and painlessly at home surrounded by loved ones, many people do not die in this fashion. Palliative care focuses on holistic treatment of patients whose disease is not responsive to curative treatment, and strives to improve quality of life for patients and families at end-of-life (EOL). This hospital-based study examines the extent to which a palliative care consultant team makes a difference in EOL for patients and families. Data were collected from a convenience sample of 50 hospitalized patients referred to an interdisciplinary palliative care consulting team at a South Dakota tertiary hospital during 2001. Various palliative care interventions were introduced during the course of hospitalization, and data were collected two days later to see if quality of life had improved. Statistically significant improvements were found in pain levels, non-pain symptom management, numerous psychosocial measures of quality of life, change in code status, and perceptions of communication and treatment during hospitalization. The study demonstrates that consultations with a palliative care team are beneficial and enhance the EOL experience for patients and families.
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Nurse Practitioner-Physician Comanagement: A Theoretical Model to Alleviate Primary Care Strain.
Norful, Allison A; de Jacq, Krystyna; Carlino, Richard; Poghosyan, Lusine
2018-05-01
Various models of care delivery have been investigated to meet the increasing demands in primary care. One proposed model is comanagement of patients by more than 1 primary care clinician. Comanagement has been investigated in acute care with surgical teams and in outpatient settings with primary care physicians and specialists. Because nurse practitioners are increasingly managing patient care as independent clinicians, our study objective was to propose a model of nurse practitioner-physician comanagement. We conducted a literature search using the following key words: comanagement; primary care; nurse practitioner OR advanced practice nurse. From 156 studies, we extracted information about nurse practitioner-physician comanagement antecedents, attributes, and consequences. A systematic review of the findings helped determine effects of nurse practitioner-physician comanagement on patient care. Then, we performed 26 interviews with nurse practitioners and physicians to obtain their perspectives on nurse practitioner-physician comanagement. Results were compiled to create our conceptual nurse practitioner-physician comanagement model. Our model of nurse practitioner-physician comanagement has 3 elements: effective communication; mutual respect and trust; and clinical alignment/shared philosophy of care. Interviews indicated that successful comanagement can alleviate individual workload, prevent burnout, improve patient care quality, and lead to increased patient access to care. Legal and organizational barriers, however, inhibit the ability of nurse practitioners to practice autonomously or with equal care management resources as primary care physicians. Future research should focus on developing instruments to measure and further assess nurse practitioner-physician comanagement in the primary care practice setting. © 2018 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.
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Stern, Anita; Mitsakakis, Nicholas; Paulden, Mike; Alibhai, Shabbir; Wong, Josephine; Tomlinson, George; Brooker, Ann-Sylvia; Krahn, Murray; Zwarenstein, Merrick
2014-02-24
The study was conducted to determine the clinical and cost effectiveness of enhanced multi-disciplinary teams (EMDTs) vs. 'usual care' for the treatment of pressure ulcers in long term care (LTC) facilities in Ontario, Canada We conducted a multi-method study: a pragmatic cluster randomized stepped-wedge trial, ethnographic observation and in-depth interviews, and an economic evaluation. Long term care facilities (clusters) were randomly allocated to start dates of the intervention. An advance practice nurse (APN) with expertise in skin and wound care visited intervention facilities to educate staff on pressure ulcer prevention and treatment, supported by an off-site hospital based expert multi-disciplinary wound care team via email, telephone, or video link as needed. The primary outcome was rate of reduction in pressure ulcer surface area (cm2/day) measured on before and after standard photographs by an assessor blinded to facility allocation. Secondary outcomes were time to healing, probability of healing, pressure ulcer incidence, pressure ulcer prevalence, wound pain, hospitalization, emergency department visits, utility, and cost. 12 of 15 eligible LTC facilities were randomly selected to participate and randomized to start date of the intervention following the stepped wedge design. 137 residents with a total of 259 pressure ulcers (stage 2 or greater) were recruited over the 17 month study period. No statistically significant differences were found between control and intervention periods on any of the primary or secondary outcomes. The economic evaluation demonstrated a mean reduction in direct care costs of $650 per resident compared to 'usual care'. The qualitative study suggested that onsite support by APN wound specialists was welcomed, and is responsible for reduced costs through discontinuation of expensive non evidence based treatments. Insufficient allocation of nursing home staff time to wound care may explain the lack of impact on healing
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Bradley, Cathy J; Neumark, David
2017-08-01
In a randomized controlled trial, we studied low-income adults newly covered by a primary care program to determine whether a cash incentive could encourage them to make an initial visit to a primary care provider. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of four groups: three groups whose members received $10 to complete a baseline survey during an interview and who were randomized to incentives of $50, $25, or $0 to visit their assigned primary care provider within six months after enrolling in the study; and a nonincentivized control group not contacted by the research team. Subjects in the $50 and $25 incentive groups were more likely to see a primary care provider (77 percent and 74 percent, respectively), compared to subjects in the $0 incentive group (68 percent). The effects of the intervention were about twice as large when we compared the proportions of subjects in the $50 and $25 incentive groups who visited their providers and the proportion in the nonincentivized group (61 percent). Cash incentive programs may steer newly covered low-income patients toward primary care, which could result in improved health outcomes and lower costs. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.
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Perceived stress among Primary Health Care Professionals in Brazil.
Leonelli, Luiz Bernardo; Andreoni, Solange; Martins, Patricia; Kozasa, Elisa Harumi; Salvo, Vera Lúcia de; Sopezki, Daniela; Montero-Marin, Jesus; Garcia-Campayo, Javier; Demarzo, Marcelo Marcos Piva
2017-01-01
To evaluate the perceived stress (PS) of professionals in Primary Health Care and its association with the characteristics of the teams in the Family Health Program (FHP). The association between PS and self-referred morbidity was also investigated. This is a cross-sectional study conducted with 450 employees from 60 teams in 12 Basic Health Units (BHUs) in a region of São Paulo. The differences in the total score in the Perceived Stress Scale were evaluated through multiple linear regression models. Higher levels of PS were observed in those who had been working for one year or more in the same team, in the categories of doctors, nurses and community health workers, females, non-religious, and in BHU professionals in incomplete teams (absence of a physician). Lower perceived stress was found in widowers. It was observed that individuals with higher levels of PS have higher chances of reporting chronic health problems. It can be concluded that the perception of stress in this population is associated with individual, professional factors, and the composition of teams in healthcare units.
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Ballangrud, Randi; Hall-Lord, Marie Louise; Persenius, Mona; Hedelin, Birgitta
2014-08-01
To describe intensive care nurses' perceptions of simulation-based team training for building patient safety in intensive care. Failures in team processes are found to be contributory factors to incidents in an intensive care environment. Simulation-based training is recommended as a method to make health-care personnel aware of the importance of team working and to improve their competencies. The study uses a qualitative descriptive design. Individual qualitative interviews were conducted with 18 intensive care nurses from May to December 2009, all of which had attended a simulation-based team training programme. The interviews were analysed by qualitative content analysis. One main category emerged to illuminate the intensive care nurse perception: "training increases awareness of clinical practice and acknowledges the importance of structured work in teams". Three generic categories were found: "realistic training contributes to safe care", "reflection and openness motivates learning" and "finding a common understanding of team performance". Simulation-based team training makes intensive care nurses more prepared to care for severely ill patients. Team training creates a common understanding of how to work in teams with regard to patient safety. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Expectations and satisfaction of pregnant women: unveiling prenatal care in primary care.
Aparecida Maciel Cardelli, Alexandrina; Li Marrero, Tai; Aparecida Pimenta Ferrari, Rosângela; Trevisan Martins, Júlia; Serafim, Deise
2016-06-01
To analyze the perception of primiparous women about prenatal care in Basic Health Units in a municipality in southern Brazil. This is a qualitative research from the perspective of Social Representation Theory, from the following question: How has been the pre-natal care for you? Eighteen pregnant women were interviewed. The analysis resulted in three categories: Expectation representation about prenatal care; Rescuing the care offered in prenatal consultation; Unveiling the (dis) satisfaction with prenatal consultation. The prenatal care was apprehended as an essential moment for safe pregnancy, although centered on the doctor's figure and guarantee access to early laboratory and imaging tests. On the other hand, dissatisfaction was revealed from the reception at the entrance to the health unit to the consultations access, although some statements suggest timely satisfaction. Prenatal care did not meet the specific expectations of the study group and unveiled that the nurse did not supply it, as a member of the multidisciplinary team. The organization of the nursing work process in primary care, related to prenatal care, needs to be revisited to promote the effectiveness of its actions.
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Building a Sustainable Primary Care Workforce: Where Do We Go from Here?
Linzer, Mark; Poplau, Sara
2017-01-01
The article by Puffer et al in this month's JABFM confirms a high burnout rate (25%) among family physicians renewing their credentials, with a higher rate among young and female doctors. Recent reports confirm high burnout rates among general internists. Thus, mechanisms to monitor and improve worklife in primary care are urgently needed. We describe the Mini Z (for "zero burnout program") measure, designed for these purposes, and suggest interventions that might improve satisfaction and sustainability in primary care, including longer visits, clinician control of work schedules, scribe support for electronic medical record work, team-based care, and an explicit emphasis on work-home balance. © Copyright 2017 by the American Board of Family Medicine.
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Revisiting the symptom iceberg in today's primary care: results from a UK population survey
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Hannaford Philip C
2011-04-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background Recent changes in UK primary care have increased the range of services and healthcare professionals available for advice. Furthermore, the UK government has promoted greater use of both self-care and the wider primary care team for managing symptoms indicative of self-limiting illness. We do not know how the public has been responding to these strategies. The aim of this study was to describe the current use of different management strategies in the UK for a range of symptoms and identify the demographic, socio-economic and symptom characteristics associated with these different approaches. Methods An age and sex stratified random sample of 8,000 adults (aged 18-60, drawn from twenty general practices across the UK, were sent a postal questionnaire. The questionnaire collected detailed information on 25 physical and psychological symptoms ranging from those usually indicative of minor illness to those which could be indicative of serious conditions. Information on symptom characteristics, actions taken to manage the symptoms and demographic/socio-economic details were also collected. Results Just under half of all symptoms reported resulted in respondents doing nothing at all. Lay-care was used for 35% of symptoms and primary care health professionals were consulted for 12% of symptoms. OTC medicine use was the most common lay-care strategy (used for 25% of all symptom episodes. The GP was the most common health professional consulted (consulted for 8% of all symptom episodes while use of other primary care health professionals was very small (each consulted for less than 2% of symptom episodes. The actions taken for individual symptoms varied substantially although some broad patterns emerged. Symptom characteristics (in particular severity, duration and interference with daily life were more commonly associated with actions taken than demographic or socio-economic characteristics. Conclusion While the use of lay-care was
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Family Medicine Panel Size with Care Teams: Impact on Quality.
Angstman, Kurt B; Horn, Jennifer L; Bernard, Matthew E; Kresin, Molly M; Klavetter, Eric W; Maxson, Julie; Willis, Floyd B; Grover, Michael L; Bryan, Michael J; Thacher, Tom D
2016-01-01
The demand for comprehensive primary health care continues to expand. The development of team-based practice allows for improved capacity within a collective, collaborative environment. Our hypothesis was to determine the relationship between panel size and access, quality, patient satisfaction, and cost in a large family medicine group practice using a team-based care model. Data were retrospectively collected from 36 family physicians and included total panel size of patients, percentage of time spent on patient care, cost of care, access metrics, diabetic quality metrics, patient satisfaction surveys, and patient care complexity scores. We used linear regression analysis to assess the relationship between adjusted physician panel size, panel complexity, and outcomes. The third available appointments (P size. Patient satisfaction, cost, and percentage fill rate were not affected by panel size. A physician-adjusted panel size larger than the current mean (2959 patients) was associated with a greater likelihood of poor-quality rankings (≤25th percentile) compared with those with a less than average panel size (odds ratio [OR], 7.61; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.13-51.46). Increased panel size was associated with a longer time to the third available appointment (OR, 10.9; 95% CI, 1.36-87.26) compared with physicians with panel sizes smaller than the mean. We demonstrated a negative impact of larger panel size on diabetic quality results and available appointment access. Evaluation of a family medicine practice parameters while controlling for panel size and patient complexity may help determine the optimal panel size for a practice. © Copyright 2016 by the American Board of Family Medicine.
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Suboptimal palliative sedation in primary care: an exploration.
Pype, Peter; Teuwen, Inge; Mertens, Fien; Sercu, Marij; De Sutter, An
2018-02-01
Palliative sedation is a therapeutic option to control refractory symptoms in terminal palliative patients. This study aims at describing the occurrence and characteristics of suboptimal palliative sedations in primary care and at exploring the way general practitioners (GPs) experience suboptimal palliative sedation in their practice. We conducted a mixed methods study with a quantitative prospective survey in primary care and qualitative semi-structured interviews with GPs. The research team defined suboptimal palliative sedation as a time interval until deep sleep >1.5 h and/ or >2 awakenings after the start of the unconsciousness. Descriptive statistics were calculated on the quantitative data. Thematic analysis was used to analyse interview transcripts. We registered 63 palliative sedations in 1181 home deaths, 27 forms were completed. Eleven palliative sedations were suboptimal: eight due to the long time span until deep sleep; three due the number of unintended awakenings. GPs' interview analysis revealed two major themes: the shifting perception of failure and the burden of responsibility. Suboptimal palliative sedation occurs frequently in primary palliative care. Efficient communication towards family members is needed to prevent them from having unrealistic expectations and to prevent putting pressure on the GP to hasten the procedure. Sharing the burden of decision-making during the procedure with other health care professionals might diminish the heavy responsibility as perceived by GPs.
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van der Biezen, Mieke; Wensing, Michel; Poghosyan, Lusine; van der Burgt, Regi; Laurant, Miranda
2017-08-23
Increasingly, nurse practitioners (NPs) are deployed in teams along with general practitioners (GPs) to help meet the demand for out-of-hours care. The purpose of this study was to explore factors influencing collaboration between GPs and NPs in teams working out-of-hours. A descriptive qualitative study was done using a total of 27 semi-structured interviews and two focus group discussions. Data was collected between June, 2014 and October, 2015 at an out-of-hours primary care organisation in the Netherlands. Overall, 38 health professionals (GPs, NPs, and support staff) participated in the study. The interviews were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. Two researchers conducted an inductive content analysis, involving the identification of relevant items in a first phase and clustering into themes in a second phase. The following four themes emerged from the data: clarity of NP role and regulation, shared caseload and use of skills, communication concerning professional roles, trust and support in NP practice. Main factors influencing collaboration between GPs and NPs included a lack of knowledge regarding the NPs' scope of practice and regulations governing NP role; differences in teams in sharing caseload and using each other's skills effectively; varying support of GPs for the NP role; and limited communication between GPs and NPs regarding professional roles during the shift. Lack of collaboration was perceived to result in an increased risk of delay for patients who needed treatment from a GP, especially in teams with more NPs. Collaboration was not perceived to improve over time as teams varied across shifts. In out-of-hours primary care teams constantly change and team members are often unfamiliar with each other or other's competences. In this environment, knowledge and communication about team members' roles is continuously at stake. Especially in teams with more NPs, team members need to use each other's skills to deliver care to all patients on time.
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Fitzgerald, Anneke; Davison, Graydon
2008-01-01
The purpose of the paper is to show that free flowing teamwork depends on at least three aspects of team life: functional diversity, social cohesion and superordinate identity. The paper takes the approach of a discussion, arguing for a strong need to understand multidisciplinary and cross-functional barriers for achieving team goals in the context of health care. These barriers include a strong medically dominated business model, historically anchored delineations between professional identities and a complex organisational environment where individuals may have conflicting goals. The paper finds that the complexity is exacerbated by the differences between and within health care teams. It illustrates the differences by presenting the case of an operating theatre team. Whilst the paper recommends some ideas for acquiring these skills, further research is needed to assess effectiveness and influence of team skills training on optimising multidisciplinary interdependence in the health care environment. The paper shows that becoming a team member requires team membership skills.
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Rugen, Kathryn Wirtz; Watts, Sharon A; Janson, Susan L; Angelo, Laura A; Nash, Melanie; Zapatka, Susan A; Brienza, Rebecca; Gilman, Stuart C; Bowen, Judith L; Saxe, JoAnne M
2014-01-01
To integrate health care professional learners into patient-centered primary care delivery models, the Department of Veterans Affairs has funded five Centers of Excellence in Primary Care Education (CoEPCEs). The main goal of the CoEPCEs is to develop and test innovative structural and curricular models that foster transformation of health care training from profession-specific "silos" to interprofessional, team-based educational and care delivery models in patient-centered primary care settings. CoEPCE implementation emphasizes four core curricular domains: shared decision making, sustained relationships, interprofessional collaboration, and performance improvement. The structural models allow interprofessional learners to have longitudinal learning experiences and sustained and continuous relationships with patients, faculty mentors, and peer learners. This article presents an overview of the innovative curricular models developed at each site, focusing on nurse practitioner (NP) education. Insights on transforming NP education in the practice setting and its impact on traditional NP educational models are offered. Preliminary outcomes and sustainment examples are also provided. Published by Mosby, Inc.
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Ciccone, Marco Matteo; Aquilino, Ambrogio; Cortese, Francesca; Scicchitano, Pietro; Sassara, Marco; Mola, Ernesto; Rollo, Rodolfo; Caldarola, Pasquale; Giorgino, Francesco; Pomo, Vincenzo; Bux, Francesco
2010-05-06
Project Leonardo represented a feasibility study to evaluate the impact of a disease and care management (D&CM) model and of the introduction of "care manager" nurses, trained in this specialized role, into the primary health care system. Thirty care managers were placed into the offices of 83 general practitioners and family physicians in the Apulia Region of Italy with the purpose of creating a strong cooperative and collaborative "team" consisting of physicians, care managers, specialists, and patients. The central aim of the health team collaboration was to empower 1,160 patients living with cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes, heart failure, and/or at risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD risk) to take a more active role in their health. With the support of dedicated software for data collection and care management decision making, Project Leonardo implemented guidelines and recommendations for each condition aimed to improve patient health outcomes and promote appropriate resource utilization. Results show that Leonardo was feasible and highly effective in increasing patient health knowledge, self-management skills, and readiness to make changes in health behaviors. Patient skill-building and ongoing monitoring by the health care team of diagnostic tests and services as well as treatment paths helped promote confidence and enhance safety of chronic patient management at home. Physicians, care managers, and patients showed unanimous agreement regarding the positive impact on patient health and self-management, and attributed the outcomes to the strong "partnership" between the care manager and the patient and the collaboration between the physician and the care manager. Future studies should consider the possibility of incorporating a patient empowerment model which considers the patient as the most important member of the health team and care managers as key health care collaborators able to enhance and support services to patients provided by physicians in
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Aberdeen, Suzanne M; Byrne, Graeme
2018-04-01
The incidence of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia in residential aged care facilities is high. Effective team work and knowledgeable staff are cited as important facilitators of appropriate care responses to clients with these symptoms, but to achieve this within a resource-poor workplace can be challenging. In the study reported in this paper, concept mapping was trialled to enhance multifocal person-centred assessment and care planning as well as team learning. The outcomes of team concept mapping were evaluated using a quasi-experimental design with pre- and post-testing in 11 selected Australian residential aged care facilities , including two control residential aged care facilities , over a nine-month period. It was demonstrated that use of concept mapping improved team function, measured as effectiveness of care planning, as well as enhancing learning, with increased knowledge of dementia care even amongst staff who were not directly involved with the process. It is suggested that these results may be generalizable to other countries and care settings.
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Hobson, Alexandra; Curtis, Alexa
2017-11-01
Improving healthcare delivery for U.S. veterans is a national priority. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) employs a variety of team-based, population health strategies to address critical issues in veterans' health including the effective management of chronic disease. Nurse practitioners (NPs) are integral members of the VHA patient care team with a substantial role to play in the organization and delivery of healthcare services for veterans. This report explores the contributions of NPs in team-based, population health strategies within the VHA. This review of the literature examines peer-reviewed articles published between 2006 and 2017 to explore the contributions of NPs in team-based, population health strategies within the VHA. Search words include veterans, VHA, NPs, population health, panel management, and chronic disease. NPs are vital members of the VHA primary care team; however, there is a dearth of available evidence reflecting the unique contribution of NPs within VHA team-based, population health management strategies. The VHA adoption of full practice authority for NP practice provides NPs with an expanded capacity to lead improvements in veterans' health. Future research is needed to fully understand the unique role of the NP in the delivery of population health management strategies for veterans. ©2017 American Association of Nurse Practitioners.
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Managing chronic myeloid leukemia: a coordinated team care perspective.
Holloway, Stacie; Lord, Katharine; Bethelmie-Bryan, Beverly; Shepard, Marian W; Neely, Jessica; McLemore, Morgan; Reddy, Satyanarayan K; Montero, Aldemar; Jonas, William S; Gladney, Sara Pierson; Khanwani, Shyam L; Reddy, Silpa C; Lahiry, Anup K; Heffner, Leonard T; Winton, Elliott; Arellano, Martha; Khoury, Hanna Jean
2012-04-01
Treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) has seen dramatic progress in recent years with the development of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). To take maximum advantage of therapy with TKIs, compliance and good understanding of monitoring response to therapy are essential. We established a team that included a hematologist, a physician assistant (PA), and a nurse who work closely with a social worker, a pharmacist, and a research coordinator to assist patients throughout their journey with CML. The patient and the referring community oncologist were incorporated into this team. This coordinated team care approach takes advantage of each member's specific skills to provide patients with education about CML, encourage patients' strong involvement in tracking/monitoring results/response to therapy, and support patients with issues that arise throughout the long course of the disease. A low rate of noncompliance with clinic visits (3%) was an indirect measure of the impact of this approach. The inclusion of the referring oncologist in the team extended the tracking of monitoring results to the community practice. We conclude that a coordinated team care approach is feasible in the management of patients with CML. This approach provided patients with education and a good understanding of response to therapy and improved relations with the health care team. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Palliative care team visits. Qualitative study through participant observation.
Alfaya Góngora, Maria Del Mar; Bueno Pernias, Maria José; Hueso Montoro, César; Guardia Mancilla, Plácido; Montoya Juárez, Rafael; García Caro, Maria Paz
2016-03-30
To describe the clinical encounters that occur when a palliative care team provides patient care and the features that influence these encounters and indicate whether they are favorable or unfavorable depending on the expectations and feelings of the various participants. A qualitative case study conducted via participant observation. A total of 12 observations of the meetings of palliative care teams with patients and families in different settings (home, hospital and consultation room) were performed. The visits were follow-up or first visits, either scheduled or on demand. Content analysis of the observation was performed. The analysis showed the normal follow-up activity of the palliative care unit that was focused on controlling symptoms, sharing information and providing advice on therapeutic regimens and care. The environment appeared to condition the patients' expressions and the type of patient relationship. Favorable clinical encounter conditions included kindness and gratitude. Unfavorable conditions were deterioration caused by approaching death, unrealistic family objectives and limited resources. Home visits from basic palliative care teams play an important role in patient and family well-being. The visits seem to focus on controlling symptoms and are conditioned by available resources.
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Matson, Christine C; Lake, Jeffrey L; Bradshaw, R Dana; Matson, David O
2014-03-01
This article describes a public health leadership certificate curriculum developed by the Commonwealth Public Health Training Center for employees in public health and medical trainees in primary care to share didactic and experiential learning. As part of the program, trainees are involved in improving the health of their communities and thus gain a blended perspective on the effectiveness of interprofessional teams in improving population health. The certificate curriculum includes eight one-credit-hour didactic courses offered through an MPH program and a two-credit-hour, community-based participatory research project conducted by teams of trainees under the mentorship of health district directors. Fiscal sustainability is achieved by sharing didactic courses with MPH degree students, thereby enabling trainees to take advantage of a reduced, continuing education tuition rate. Public health employee and primary care trainees jointly learn knowledge and skills required for community health improvement in interprofessional teams and gain an integrated perspective through opportunities to question assumptions and broaden disciplinary approaches. At the same time, the required community projects have benefited public health in Virginia.
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Klemenc-Ketis, Zalika; Poplas-Susič, Antonija
2017-12-01
To determine the possible associations between higher levels of selected quality indicators and the characteristics of providers. In 2011, an ongoing project on a new model of family medicine practice was launched in Slovenia; the family physicians' working team (a family physician and a practice nurse) was extended by a nurse practitioner working 0.5 full-time equivalents. This was an example of a personalised team approach to managing chronic patients. We included all family medicine practices in the six units of the Community Health Centre Ljubljana which were participating in the project in December 2015 (N = 66). Data were gathered from automatic electronic reports on quality indicators provided monthly by each practice. We also collected demographic data. There were 66 family medicine teams in the sample, with 165 members of their teams (66 family physicians, 33 nurse practitioners and 66 practice nurses). Fifty-six (84.4%) of the family physicians were women, as were 32 (97.0%) of the nurse practitioners, and 86 (95.5%) of the practice nurses. Multivariate analysis showed that a higher level of the quality indicator "Examination of diabetic foot once per year" was independently associated with nurse practitioners having attended additional education on diabetes, duration of participation in the project, age and years worked since graduation of nurse practitioners, working in the Center unit and not working in the Bezigrad unit. Characteristics of team members are important in fostering quality management of chronic patients. Nurse practitioners working in new model family practices need obligatory, continuous professional education in the management of chronic patients. The quality of care of chronic patients depends on the specific characteristics of the members of the team, which should be taken into account when planning quality improvements. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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What are the critical success factors for team training in health care?
Salas, Eduardo; Almeida, Sandra A; Salisbury, Mary; King, Heidi; Lazzara, Elizabeth H; Lyons, Rebecca; Wilson, Katherine A; Almeida, Paula A; McQuillan, Robert
2009-08-01
Ineffective communication among medical teams is a leading cause of preventable patient harm throughout the health care system. A growing body of literature indicates that medical teamwork improves the quality, safety, and cost-effectiveness of health care delivery, and expectations for teamwork in health care have increased. Yet few health care professions' curricula include teamwork training, and few medical practices integrate teamwork principles. Because of this knowledge gap, growing numbers of health care systems are requiring staff to participate in formal teamwork training programs. Seven evidence-based, practical, systematic success factors for preparing, implementing, and sustaining a team training and performance improvement initiative were identified. Each success factor is accompanied by tips for deployment and a real-world example of application. (1) Align team training objectives and safety aims with organizational goals, (2) provide organizational support for the team training initiative, (3) get frontline care leaders on board, (4) prepare the environment and trainees for team training, (5) determine required resources and time commitment and ensure their availability, (6) facilitate application of trained teamwork skills on the job; and (7) measure the effectiveness of the team training program. Although decades of research in other high-risk organizations have clearly demonstrated that properly designed team training programs can improve team performance, success is highly dependent on organizational factors such as leadership support, learning climate, and commitment to data-driven change. Before engaging in a teamwork training initiative, health care organizations should have a clear understanding of these factors and the strategies for their establishment.
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Dental Procedures in Primary Health Care of the Brazilian National Health System
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Suellen R. Mendes
2017-12-01
Full Text Available The aim of this study was to examine the procedures of primary dental health care performed by oral health teams (OHTs adhering to the second cycle of the ‘National Programme for Improving Access and Quality of Primary Care’ (PMAQ-AB in Brazil. A cross-sectional descriptive analysis was performed, across 23 dental procedures comprising preventive, restorative/prosthetic, surgical, endodontic and oral cancer monitoring. Descriptive analysis shows that most of the oral health teams carry out basic dental procedures. However, most of the time, they do not keep adequate records of suspected cases of oral cancer, diagnosis tests or follow-ups, and do not perform dental prosthetic procedures. Data also showed disparities in the average number of procedures performed in each Brazilian geographical region in 2013–2014, ranging from 13.9 in the northern to 16.5 in the southern and south-eastern regions, reinforcing the great social disparities between them. Brazilian regions with the highest volume of dental need deliver the lowest number of dental procedures. The need to tackle inequalities and further shape the supply of appropriate primary health care (PHC is evident.
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Cunningham, Frances C; Ferguson-Hill, Sue; Matthews, Veronica; Bailie, Ross
2016-10-18
Assessment of the quality of primary health care health delivery systems is a vital part of continuous quality improvement (CQI) processes. The Systems Assessment Tool (SAT) was designed to support Indigenous PHC services in assessing and improving their health care systems. It was based on the Assessment of Chronic Illness Care scale, and on practical experience with applying systems assessments in quality improvement in Indigenous primary health care. We describe the development and application of the SAT, report on a survey to assess the utility of the SAT and review the use of the SAT in other CQI research programs. The mixed methods approach involved a review of documents and internal reports relating to experience with use of the SAT since its development in 2002 and a survey of key informants on their experience with using the SAT. The paper drew from documents and internal reports to describe the SAT development and application in primary health care services from 2002 to 2014. Survey feedback highlighted the benefit to the whole primary health care team from participating in the SAT, bringing to light issues that might not emerge with separate individual tool completion. A majority of respondents reported changes in their health centres as a result of using the SAT. Good organisational and management support assisted with ensuring allocation of time and resources for SAT conduct. Respondents identified the importance of having a skilled, external facilitator. Originally designed as a measurement tool, the SAT rapidly evolved to become an important development tool, assisting teams in learning about primary health care system functioning, applying best practice and contributing to team strengthening. It is valued by primary health care centres as a lever in implementing improvements to strengthen centre delivery systems, and has potential for further adaptation and wider application in Australia and internationally.
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Impact of Hypobarism During Simulated Transport on Critical Care Air Transport Team Performance
2017-04-26
AFRL-SA-WP-SR-2017-0008 Impact of Hypobarism During Simulated Transport on Critical Care Air Transport Team Performance Dina...July 2014 – November 2016 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Impact of Hypobarism During Simulated Transport on Critical Care Air Transport Team Performance 5a...During Critical Care Air Transport Team Advanced Course validation, three-member teams consisting of a physician, nurse, and respiratory therapist
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Klarare, Anna; Rasmussen, Birgit H; Fossum, Bjöörn; Fürst, Carl Johan; Hansson, Johan; Hagelin, Carina Lundh
2017-04-01
Those who are seriously ill and facing death are often living with physical, emotional, social, and spiritual suffering. Teamwork is considered to be necessary to holistically meet the diverse needs of patients in palliative care. Reviews of studies regarding palliative care team outcomes have concluded that teams provide benefits, especially regarding pain and symptom management. Much of the research concerning palliative care teams has been performed from the perspective of the service providers and has less often focused on patients' and families' experiences of care. Our aim was to investigate how the team's work is manifested in care episodes narrated by patients and families in specialized palliative home care (SPHC). A total of 13 interviews were conducted with patients and families receiving specialized home care. Six patients and seven family members were recruited through SPHC team leaders. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and the transcripts qualitatively analyzed into themes. Two themes were constructed through thematic analysis: (1) security ("They are always available," "I get the help I need quickly"); and (2) continuity of care ("They know me/us, our whole situation and they really care"). Of the 74 care episodes, 50 were descriptions of regularly scheduled visits, while 24 related to acute care visits and/or interventions. Patients' and family members' descriptions of the work of SPHC teams are conceptualized through experiences of security and continuity of care. Experiences of security are fostered through the 24/7 availability of the team, sensitivity and flexibility in meeting patients' and families' needs, and practical adjustments to enable care at home. Experiences of continuity of care are fostered through the team's collective approach, where the individual team member knows the patients and family members, including their whole situation, and cares about the little things in life as well as caring for the family unit.
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Tait GR
2015-08-01
Full Text Available Glendon R Tait,1 Joanna Bates,2 Kori A LaDonna,3 Valerie N Schulz,4 Patricia H Strachan,5 Allan McDougall,3 Lorelei Lingard3 1Department of Psychiatry and Division of Medical Education, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, 2Centre for Health Education Scholarship, Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, BC, 3Centre for Education Research and Innovation, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, 4Palliative Care, London Health Sciences Centre, University Hospital, London; 5School of Nursing, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada Background: Heart failure (HF, one of the three leading causes of death, is a chronic, progressive, incurable disease. There is growing support for integration of palliative care’s holistic approach to suffering, but insufficient understanding of how this would happen in the complex team context of HF care. This study examined how HF care teams, as defined by patients, work together to provide care to patients with advanced disease. Methods: Team members were identified by each participating patient, generating team sampling units (TSUs for each patient. Drawn from five study sites in three Canadian provinces, our dataset consists of 209 interviews from 50 TSUs. Drawing on a theoretical framing of HF teams as complex adaptive systems (CAS, interviews were analyzed using the constant comparative method associated with constructivist grounded theory. Results: This paper centers on the dominant theme of system practices, how HF care delivery is reported to work organizationally, socially, and practically, and describes two subthemes: “the way things work around here”, which were commonplace, routine ways of doing things, and “the way we make things work around here”, which were more conscious, effortful adaptations to usual practice in response to emergent needs. An adaptive practice, often a small alteration to routine, could have amplified effects beyond those intended by the innovating team
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Intensive care unit nurses' evaluation of simulation used for team training.
Ballangrud, Randi; Hall-Lord, Marie Louise; Hedelin, Birgitta; Persenius, Mona
2014-07-01
To implement a simulation-based team training programme and to investigate intensive care nurses' evaluations of simulation used for team training. Simulation-based training is recommended to make health care professionals aware of and understand the importance of teamwork related to patient safety. The study was based on a questionnaire evaluation design. A total of 63 registered nurses were recruited: 53 from seven intensive care units in four hospitals in one hospital trust and 10 from an intensive care postgraduate education programme. After conducting a simulation-based team training programme with two scenarios related to emergency situations in the intensive care, the participants evaluated each simulation activity with regard to: (i) outcome of satisfaction and self-confidence in learning, (ii) implementation of educational practice and (iii) simulation design/development. Intensive care nurses were highly satisfied with their simulation-based learning, and they were mostly in agreement with the statements about self-confidence in learning. They were generally positive in their evaluation of the implementation of the educational practice and the simulation design/development. Significant differences were found with regard to scenario roles, prior simulation experience and area of intensive care practice. The study indicates a positive reception of a simulation-based programme with regard to team training in emergency situations in an intensive care unit. The findings may motivate and facilitate the use of simulation for team training to promote patient safety in intensive care and provide educators with support to develop and improve simulation-based training programmes. © 2013 British Association of Critical Care Nurses.
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Mazzocato, Pamela; Forsberg, Helena Hvitfeldt; Schwarz, Ulrica von Thiele
2011-11-15
Teamwork has been suggested as a promising approach to improving care processes in emergency departments (ED). However, for teamwork to yield expected results, implementation must involve behavior changes. The aim of this study is to use behavior analysis to qualitatively examine how teamwork plays out in practice and to understand eventual discrepancies between planned and actual behaviors. The study was set in a Swedish university hospital ED during the initial phase of implementation of teamwork. The intervention focused on changing the environment and redesigning the work process to enable teamwork. Each team was responsible for entire care episodes, i.e. from patient arrival to discharge from the ED. Data was collected through 3 days of observations structured around an observation scheme. Behavior analysis was used to pinpoint key teamwork behaviors for consistent implementation of teamwork and to analyze the contingencies that decreased or increased the likelihood of these behaviors. We found a great discrepancy between the planned and the observed teamwork processes. 60% of the 44 team patients observed were handled solely by the appointed team members. Only 36% of the observed patient care processes started according to the description in the planned teamwork process, that is, with taking patient history together. Beside this behavior, meeting in a defined team room and communicating with team members were shown to be essential for the consistent implementation of teamwork. Factors that decreased the likelihood of these key behaviors included waiting for other team members or having trouble locating each other. Getting work done without delay and having an overview of the patient care process increased team behaviors. Moreover, explicit instructions on when team members should interact and communicate increased adherence to the planned process. This study illustrates how behavior analysis can be used to understand discrepancies between planned and observed
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Hartgerink, J M; Cramm, J M; Bakker, T J E M; van Eijsden, A M; Mackenbach, J P; Nieboer, A P
2014-04-01
To identify predictors of relational coordination among professionals delivering care to older patients. Relational coordination is known to enhance quality of care in hospitals. The underlying mechanisms, however, remain poorly understood. This cross-sectional study was part of a larger evaluation study examining the opportunity to prevent loss of function in older patients due to hospitalization in the Netherlands. This study was performed in spring 2010 among team members delivering care to older hospitalized patients (192 respondents; 44% response rate) in one hospital. Relational coordination was measured by the Relational Coordination survey; team climate by the Team Climate Inventory and questions were asked about participation in multidisciplinary team meetings and disciplines represented in these meetings. To account for the hierarchical structure, a multilevel analysis was performed. Correlation analysis revealed a positive relationship among being female, being a nurse and relational coordination; medical specialists showed a negative relationship. The number of disciplines represented during multidisciplinary team meetings and team climate were positively related with relational coordination. The multilevel analysis showed a positive relationship between the number of disciplines represented during multidisciplinary team meetings and team climate with relational coordination. The enhancement of team climate and attendance of diverse professionals during multidisciplinary team meetings are expected to improve relational coordination. Furthermore, this study underscores the importance of enhancing relational coordination between medical specialists and other professionals. © 2013 The Authors. Journal of Advanced Nursing published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Perceptions of Ambulatory Workflow Changes in an Academic Primary Care Setting.
Hanak, Michael A; McDevitt, Colleen; Dunham, Daniel P
As health care moves to a value-based system, the need for team-based models of care becomes increasingly important to adequately address the growing number of clinical quality metrics required of health care providers. Finding ways to better engage certified medical assistants (CMAs) in the process allows providers to focus on more complex tasks while improving the efficiency of each office visit. Although the roles and responsibilities for CMAs across the specialties can vary widely, standardizing the work can be a helpful step in scaling best practices across an institution. This article presents the results of a survey that evaluated various components of a CMA workflow in adult primary care practices within an academic medical center. Although the survey identified improved engagement and satisfaction with standardized changes overall, it also showed time constraints and provider discretion forcing unplanned modifications. Reviewing and reconciling medications seemed to be the most challenging for CMA staff, leading us to reconsider their involvement in this aspect of each visit. It will be important to continue innovating and testing team-based care models to keep up with the demands of a quality-based health care system.
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Koperski, M
2000-04-01
The health care system of the United States of America (USA) is lavishly funded and those with adequate insurance usually receive excellent attention. However, the system is fragmented and inequitable. Health workers often find it difficult to separate vocational roles from business roles. Care tends to focus on the acute rather than the chronic, on 'episodes of illness' rather than 'person-centred' care, on short-term fixes rather than long-term approaches, on scientific/technical solutions rather than discourse or the 'art of healing', and on individual health rather than population health. The majority of US doctors are trained in the 'hightech' hospital paradigm and there is no equivalent of the United Kingdom (UK) general practitioner (GP), who lies at the hub of a primary health care team (PHCT) and who is charged with taking a long-term view, co-ordinating health care for individual patients, and acting as patient advocate without major conflicting financial incentives. However, primary care groups/trusts (PCGs) could learn from US management and training techniques, case management, NHS Direct equivalents, and the effects of poorly developed PHCTs. PCGs could develop the UK's own version of utilisation management. A cash-limited, unified budget within an underfunded National Health Service poses threats to general practice. In both the USA and the UK, primary care is a prominent tool in new attempts at cost control. PCGs offer the opportunity of better integration with public health and social services, but threaten GPs' role as independent advocates by giving them a rationing role. Managed care has forced a similar role onto our US counterparts with consequent public displeasure and professional disillusion. UK GPs will have to steer a careful course if they are to avoid a similar fate.
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Kerwin, Diana R.
2013-01-01
Objective: To review evidence-based guidance on the primary care of Alzheimer’s disease and clinical research on models of primary care for Alzheimer’s disease to present a practical summary for the primary care physician regarding the assessment and management of the disease. Data Sources: References were obtained via search using keywords Alzheimer’s disease AND primary care OR collaborative care OR case finding OR caregivers OR guidelines. Articles were limited to English language from January 1, 1990, to January 1, 2013. Study Selection: Articles were reviewed and selected on the basis of study quality and pertinence to this topic, covering a broad range of data and opinion across geographical regions and systems of care. The most recent published guidelines from major organizations were included. Results: Practice guidelines contained numerous points of consensus, with most advocating a central role for the primary care physician in the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Review of the literature indicated that optimal medical and psychosocial care for people with Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers may be best facilitated through collaborative models of care involving the primary care physician working within a wider interdisciplinary team. Conclusions: Evidence-based guidelines assign the primary care physician a critical role in the care of people with Alzheimer’s disease. Research on models of care suggests the need for an appropriate medical/nonmedical support network to fulfill this role. Given the diversity and breadth of services required and the necessity for close coordination, nationwide implementation of team-based, collaborative care programs may represent the best option for improving care standards for patients with Alzheimer’s disease. PMID:24392252
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Beaulieu, Marie-Dominique; Dragieva, Nataliya; Del Grande, Claudio; Dawson, Jeremy; Haggerty, Jeannie L.; Barnsley, Jan; Hogg, William E.; Tousignant, Pierre; West, Michael A.
2014-01-01
Purpose: Evaluate the psychometric properties of the French version of the short 19-item Team Climate Inventory (TCI) and explore the contributions of individual and organizational characteristics to perceived team effectiveness.
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Assessing methods for measurement of clinical outcomes and quality of care in primary care practices
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Green Michael E
2012-07-01
Full Text Available Abstract Purpose To evaluate the appropriateness of potential data sources for the population of performance indicators for primary care (PC practices. Methods This project was a cross sectional study of 7 multidisciplinary primary care teams in Ontario, Canada. Practices were recruited and 5-7 physicians per practice agreed to participate in the study. Patients of participating physicians (20-30 were recruited sequentially as they presented to attend a visit. Data collection included patient, provider and practice surveys, chart abstraction and linkage to administrative data sets. Matched pairs analysis was used to examine the differences in the observed results for each indicator obtained using multiple data sources. Results Seven teams, 41 physicians, 94 associated staff and 998 patients were recruited. The survey response rate was 81% for patients, 93% for physicians and 83% for associated staff. Chart audits were successfully completed on all but 1 patient and linkage to administrative data was successful for all subjects. There were significant differences noted between the data collection methods for many measures. No single method of data collection was best for all outcomes. For most measures of technical quality of care chart audit was the most accurate method of data collection. Patient surveys were more accurate for immunizations, chronic disease advice/information dispensed, some general health promotion items and possibly for medication use. Administrative data appears useful for indicators including chronic disease diagnosis and osteoporosis/ breast screening. Conclusions Multiple data collection methods are required for a comprehensive assessment of performance in primary care practices. The choice of which methods are best for any one particular study or quality improvement initiative requires careful consideration of the biases that each method might introduce into the results. In this study, both patients and providers were
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African Primary Care Research: qualitative interviewing in primary care.
Reid, Steve; Mash, Bob
2014-06-05
This article is part of a series on African Primary Care Research and focuses on the topic of qualitative interviewing in primary care. In particular it looks at issues of study design, sample size, sampling and interviewing in relation to individual and focus group interviews.There is a particular focus on helping postgraduate students at a Masters level to write their research proposals.
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Expectations and satisfaction of pregnant women: unveiling prenatal care in primary care
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Alexandrina Aparecida Maciel Cardelli
Full Text Available Objective.To analyze the perception of primiparous women about prenatal care in Basic Health Units in a municipality in southern Brazil. Methods. This is a qualitative research from the perspective of Social Representation Theory, from the following question: How has been the pre-natal care for you? Eighteen pregnant women were interviewed. Results. The analysis resulted in three categories: Expectation representation about prenatal care; Rescuing the care offered in prenatal consultation; Unveiling the (dis satisfaction with prenatal consultation. The prenatal care was apprehended as an essential moment for safe pregnancy, although centered on the doctor's figure and guarantee access to early laboratory and imaging tests. On the other hand, dissatisfaction was revealed from the reception at the entrance to the health unit to the consultations access, although some statements suggest timely satisfaction. Conclusion. Prenatal care did not meet the specific expectations of the study group and unveiled that the nurse did not supply it, as a member of the multidisciplinary team. The organization of the nursing work process in primary care, related to prenatal care, needs to be revisited to promote the effectiveness of its actions.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Doug Oliver
2018-02-01
Full Text Available Primary care providers are critical in providing and optimizing health care to an aging population. This paper describes the volunteer component of a program (Health TAPESTRY which aims to encourage the delivery of effective primary health care in novel and proactive ways. As part of the program, volunteers visited older adults in their homes and entered information regarding health risks, needs, and goals into an electronic application on a tablet computer. A total of 657 home visits were conducted by 98 volunteers, with 22.45% of volunteers completing at least 20 home visits over the course of the program. Information was summarized in a report and electronically sent to the health care team via clients’ electronic medical records. The report was reviewed by the interprofessional team who then plan ongoing care. Volunteer recruitment, screening, training, retention, and roles are described. This paper highlights the potential role of a volunteer in a unique connection between primary care providers and older adult patients in their homes.
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Wound-care teams for preventing and treating pressure ulcers.
Moore, Zena E H; Webster, Joan; Samuriwo, Ray
2015-09-16
Pressure ulcers, which are localised injury to the skin or underlying tissue, or both, occur when people are unable to reposition themselves to relieve pressure on bony prominences. Pressure ulcers are often difficult to heal, painful and impact negatively on the individual's quality of life. The cost implications of pressure ulcer treatment are considerable, compounding the challenges in providing cost effective, efficient health service delivery. International guidelines suggest that to prevent and manage pressure ulcers successfully a team approach is required. Therefore, this review has been conducted to clarify the role of wound-care teams in the prevention and management of pressure ulcers. To assess the impact of wound-care teams in preventing and treating pressure ulcers in people of any age, nursed in any healthcare setting. In April 2015 we searched: The Cochrane Wounds Group Specialised Register; The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library); Ovid MEDLINE; Ovid MEDLINE (In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations); Ovid EMBASE and EBSCO CINAHL. There were no restrictions with respect to language, date of publication or study setting. We considered RCTs that evaluated the effect of any configuration of wound-care teams in the treatment or prevention of pressure ulcers. Two review authors independently assessed titles and, where available, abstracts of the studies identified by the search strategy for their eligibility. We obtained full versions of potentially relevant studies and two review authors independently screened these against the inclusion criteria. We identified no studies that met the inclusion criteria. We set out to evaluate the RCT evidence pertaining to the impact of wound-care teams on the prevention and management of pressure ulcers. However, no studies met the inclusion criteria. There is a lack of evidence concerning whether wound-care teams make a difference to the incidence or healing of pressure
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The critical role of social workers in home-based primary care.
Reckrey, Jennifer M; Gettenberg, Gabrielle; Ross, Helena; Kopke, Victoria; Soriano, Theresa; Ornstein, Katherine
2014-01-01
The growing homebound population has many complex biomedical and psychosocial needs and requires a team-based approach to care (Smith, Ornstein, Soriano, Muller, & Boal, 2006). The Mount Sinai Visiting Doctors Program (MSVD), a large interdisciplinary home-based primary care program in New York City, has a vibrant social work program that is integrated into the routine care of homebound patients. We describe the assessment process used by MSVD social workers, highlight examples of successful social work care, and discuss why social workers' individualized care plans are essential for keeping patients with chronic illness living safely in the community. Despite barriers to widespread implementation, such social work involvement within similar home-based clinical programs is essential in the interdisciplinary care of our most needy patients.
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An evidence-based health workforce model for primary and community care
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Leach Matthew J
2011-08-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background The delivery of best practice care can markedly improve clinical outcomes in patients with chronic disease. While the provision of a skilled, multidisciplinary team is pivotal to the delivery of best practice care, the occupational or skill mix required to deliver this care is unclear; it is also uncertain whether such a team would have the capacity to adequately address the complex needs of the clinic population. This is the role of needs-based health workforce planning. The objective of this article is to describe the development of an evidence-informed, needs-based health workforce model to support the delivery of best-practice interdisciplinary chronic disease management in the primary and community care setting using diabetes as a case exemplar. Discussion Development of the workforce model was informed by a strategic review of the literature, critical appraisal of clinical practice guidelines, and a consensus elicitation technique using expert multidisciplinary clinical panels. Twenty-four distinct patient attributes that require unique clinical competencies for the management of diabetes in the primary care setting were identified. Patient attributes were grouped into four major themes and developed into a conceptual model: the Workforce Evidence-Based (WEB planning model. The four levels of the WEB model are (1 promotion, prevention, and screening of the general or high-risk population; (2 type or stage of disease; (3 complications; and (4 threats to self-care capacity. Given the number of potential combinations of attributes, the model can account for literally millions of individual patient types, each with a distinct clinical team need, which can be used to estimate the total health workforce requirement. Summary The WEB model was developed in a way that is not only reflective of the diversity in the community and clinic populations but also parsimonious and clear to present and operationalize. A key feature of the
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Goldman, Joanne; Meuser, Jamie; Lawrie, Lynne; Rogers, Jess; Reeves, Scott
2010-11-01
Primary care reform involving interprofessional team-based care is a global phenomenon. In Ontario, Canada, 150 Family Health Teams (FHTs) have been approved in the past few years. The transition to a FHT is complex involving many changes and the processes for collaborative teamwork are not clearly delineated. To support the transition to team-based care in FHTs, a project was undertaken to develop and implement a series of interprofessional protocols in four clinical areas. These interprofessional protocols would contain relevant and evidence-based resources to support both a team and evidence-based approach to care. This paper reports on a qualitative study to examine the process of interprofessional protocol development and pilot implementation. Adopting an exploratory case study approach (Robson, 2002 ), 36 interviews were conducted with health professionals and community group members who participated in the creation and piloting of the protocols, and with project managers. In addition, observational and documentary data were gathered on the protocol development and implementation processes. The findings from the protocol development stage demonstrate the value of the focus on evidence and team, the process of assessing and targeting FHT needs, inter-organizational and interprofessional sharing, the importance of facilitation and support, and expectations for implementation. The findings from the pilot implementation stage report on the importance of champions and leaders, the implementation strategies used, FHT and organizational factors affecting implementation, and outcomes achieved. Findings are discussed in relation to the knowledge translation and interprofessional literature. Research is ongoing to examine the effectiveness of dissemination of the protocols to FHTs across the province of Ontario and its impact on health care outcomes.
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Russell, Grant; Advocat, Jenny; Geneau, Robert; Farrell, Barbara; Thille, Patricia; Ward, Natalie; Evans, Samantha
2012-08-01
Qualitative methods are an important part of the primary care researcher's toolkit providing a nuanced view of the complexity in primary care reform and delivery. Ethnographic research is a comprehensive approach to qualitative data collection, including observation, in-depth interviews and document analysis. Few studies have been published outlining methodological issues related to ethnography in this setting. This paper examines some of the challenges of conducting an ethnographic study in primary care setting in Canada, where there recently have been major reforms to traditional methods of organizing primary care services. This paper is based on an ethnographic study set in primary care practices in Ontario, Canada, designed to investigate changes to organizational and clinical routines in practices undergoing transition to new, interdisciplinary Family Health Teams (FHTs). The study was set in six new FHTs in Ontario. This paper is a reflexive examination of some of the challenges encountered while conducting an ethnographic study in a primary care setting. Our experiences in this study highlight some potential benefits of and difficulties in conducting an ethnographic study in family practice. Our study design gave us an opportunity to highlight the changes in routines within an organization in transition. A study with a clinical perspective requires training, support, a mixture of backgrounds and perspectives and ongoing communication. Despite some of the difficulties, the richness of this method has allowed the exploration of a number of additional research questions that emerged during data analysis.
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Clinical Governance in Primary Care; Principles, Prerequisites and Barriers: A Systematic Review
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jaafar Sadeq Tabrizi
2013-07-01
Full Text Available Introduction: Primary care organizations are the entities through which clinical governance is developed at local level. To implement clinical governance in primary care, awareness about principles, prerequisites and barriers of this quality improvement paradigm is necessary. The aim of this study is to pool evidence about implementing clinical governance in primary care organizations. Data sources: The literature search was conducted in July 2012. PubMed, Web of Science, Emerald, Springerlink, and MD Consult were searched using the following MESH keywords; “clinical governance” and “primary care” Study selection: The search was limited to English language journals with no time limitation. Articles that were either quantitative or qualitative on concepts of implementing clinical governance in primary care were eligible for this study. Data extraction: From selected articles, data on principles, prerequisites and barriers of clinical governance in primary health care were extracted and classified in the extraction tables. Results: We classified our findings about principles of clinical governance in primary care in four groups; general principles, principles related to staff, patient and communication. Prerequisites were categorized in eight clusters; same as the seven dimensions of National Health System (NHS models of clinical governance. Barriers were sorted out in five categories as structure and organizing, cultural, resource, theoretical and logistical. Conclusion: Primary care organizations must provide budget holding, incentivized programs, data feedback, peer review, education, human relations, health information technology (HIT support, and resources. Key elements include; enrolled populations, an interdisciplinary team approach, HIT interoperability and access between all providers as well as patients, devolution of hospital based services into the community, inter-sectorial integration, blended payments, and a balance of
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Medicine as It Should Be: Teaching Team and Teamwork during a Palliative Care Clerkship.
Head, Barbara A; Furman, Christian Davis; Lally, Andrew M; Leake, Kimberly; Pfeifer, Mark
2018-05-01
Interprofessional Education (IPE) is an important component of medical education. Rotations with palliative care interdisciplinary teams (IDTs) provide an optimal environment for IPE and teaching teamwork skills. Our objective was to assess the learning of senior medical students during a palliative care rotation. A constant comparison method based on grounded theory was used in this qualitative study. Senior medical students completed a semi-structured reflective writing exercise after a required one-week palliative care clerkship. Sixty randomly selected reflective writings were analyzed. The reflective writings were analyzed to evaluate the student's experiences. Dominant themes identified were related to teams and teamwork. Eight specific themes were identified: value of IDT for team members; value of IDT for patient/family; importance of each team member; reliance on other team members; roles of team members; how teams work; team communication; and interdisciplinary assessment and care planning. Students described exposure to novel experiences and planned to incorporate newly learned behaviors in their future practice. By participating in palliative care IDTs, medical students consistently learned about teamwork within healthcare. Additionally, they learned the importance of such teamwork to patients and the team itself. Rotations with palliative care IDTs have a significant role to play in IPE and preparing medical students to practice on teams.
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Care planning for pressure ulcers in hospice: the team effect.
Eisenberger, Andrew; Zeleznik, Jomarie
2004-09-01
The standards of care for patients at risk for or with a pressure ulcer in hospitals and nursing homes focus on prevention and ulcer healing using an interdisciplinary approach. Although not a primary hospice condition, pressure ulcers are not uncommon in dying patients. Their management in hospices, particularly the involvement of family caregivers, has not been studied. The objective of this study is to identify the factors that influence care planning for the prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers in hospice patients and develop a taxonomy to use for further study. A telephone survey was conducted with 18 hospice directors of clinical services and 10 direct-care nurses. Descriptive qualitative data analysis using grounded theory was utilized. The following three themes were identified: (1) the primary role of the hospice nurse is an educator rather than a wound care provider; (2) hospice providers perceive the barriers and burdens of family caregiver involvement in pressure ulcer care to be bodily location of the pressure ulcer, unpleasant wound characteristics, fear of causing pain, guilt, and having to acknowledge the dying process when a new pressure ulcer develops; and (3) the "team effect" describes the collaboration between family caregivers and the health care providers to establish individualized achievable goals of care ranging from pressure ulcer prevention to acceptance of a pressure ulcer and symptom palliation. Pressure ulcer care planning is a model of collaborative decision making between family caregivers and hospice providers for a condition that occurs as a secondary condition in hospice. A pressure ulcer places significant burdens on family caregivers distinct from common end-of-life symptoms whose treatment is directed at the patient. Because the goals of pressure ulcer care appear to be individualized for a dying patient and their caregivers, the basis of quality-of-care evaluations should be the process of care rather than the outcome
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Jenkins, Rachel; Othieno, Caleb; Okeyo, Stephen; Aruwa, Julyan; Kingora, James; Jenkins, Ben
2013-09-30
Health system weaknesses in Africa are broadly well known, constraining progress on reducing the burden of both communicable and non-communicable disease (Afr Health Monitor, Special issue, 2011, 14-24), and the key challenges in leadership, governance, health workforce, medical products, vaccines and technologies, information, finance and service delivery have been well described (Int Arch Med, 2008, 1:27). This paper uses focus group methodology to explore health worker perspectives on the challenges posed to integration of mental health into primary care by generic health system weakness. Two ninety minute focus groups were conducted in Nyanza province, a poor agricultural region of Kenya, with 20 health workers drawn from a randomised controlled trial to evaluate the impact of a mental health training programme for primary care, 10 from the intervention group clinics where staff had received the training programme, and 10 health workers from the control group where staff had not received the training). These focus group discussions suggested that there are a number of generic health system weaknesses in Kenya which impact on the ability of health workers to care for clients with mental health problems and to implement new skills acquired during a mental health continuing professional development training programmes. These weaknesses include the medicine supply, health management information system, district level supervision to primary care clinics, the lack of attention to mental health in the national health sector targets, and especially its absence in district level targets, which results in the exclusion of mental health from such district level supervision as exists, and the lack of awareness in the district management team about mental health. The lack of mental health coverage included in HIV training courses experienced by the health workers was also striking, as was the intensive focus during district supervision on HIV to the detriment of other
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Arnett, Kelly; Sudore, Rebecca L; Nowels, David; Feng, Cindy X; Levy, Cari R; Lum, Hillary D
2017-12-01
Interprofessional health care team members consider advance care planning (ACP) to be important, yet gaps remain in systematic clinical routines to support ACP. A clearer understanding of the interprofessional team members' perspectives on ACP clinical routines in diverse settings is needed. One hundred eighteen health care team members from community-based clinics, long-term care facilities, academic clinics, federally qualified health centers, and hospitals participated in a 35-question, cross-sectional online survey to assess clinical routines, workflow processes, and policies relating to ACP. Respondents were 53% physicians, 18% advanced practice nurses, 11% nurses, and 18% other interprofessional team members including administrators, chaplains, social workers, and others. Regarding clinical routines, respondents reported that several interprofessional team members play a role in facilitating ACP (ie, physician, social worker, nurse, others). Most (62%) settings did not have, or did not know of, policies related to ACP documentation. Only 14% of settings had a patient education program. Two-thirds of the respondents said that addressing ACP is a high priority and 85% felt that nonphysicians could have ACP conversations with appropriate training. The clinical resources needed to improve clinical routines included training for providers and staff, dedicated staff to facilitate ACP, and availability of patient/family educational materials. Although interprofessional health care team members consider ACP a priority and several team members may be involved, clinical settings lack systematic clinical routines to support ACP. Patient educational materials, interprofessional team training, and policies to support ACP clinical workflows that do not rely solely on physicians could improve ACP across diverse clinical settings.
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Lee, Linda; Weston, W Wayne; Hillier, Loretta; Archibald, Douglas; Lee, Joseph
2018-06-21
Family physicians often find themselves inadequately prepared to manage dementia. This article describes the curriculum for a resident training intervention in Primary Care Collaborative Memory Clinics (PCCMC), outlines its underlying educational principles, and examines its impact on residents' ability to provide dementia care. PCCMCs are family physician-led interprofessional clinic teams that provide evidence-informed comprehensive assessment and management of memory concerns. Within PCCMCs residents learn to apply a structured approach to assessment, diagnosis, and management; training consists of a tutorial covering various topics related to dementia followed by work-based learning within the clinic. Significantly more residents who trained in PCCMCs (sample = 98), as compared to those in usual training programs (sample = 35), reported positive changes in knowledge, ability, and confidence in ability to assess and manage memory problems. The PCCMC training intervention for family medicine residents provides a significant opportunity for residents to learn about best clinical practices and interprofessional care needed for optimal dementia care integrated within primary care practice.
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Primary health care teams and the patient perspective: a social network analysis.
Cheong, Lynn H M; Armour, Carol L; Bosnic-Anticevich, Sinthia Z
2013-01-01
Multidisciplinary care (MDC) has been proposed as a potential strategy to address the rising challenges of modern health issues. However, it remains unclear as to how patients' health connections may impact on multidisciplinary processes and outcomes. This research aims to gain a deeper understanding of patients' potential role in MDC: i) describe patients' health networks, ii) compare different care groups, iii) gain an understanding of the nature and extent of their interactions, and iv) identify the role of pharmacists within patient networks. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with asthma patients from Sydney, Australia. Participants were recruited from a range of standard asthma health care access points (community group) and a specialized multidisciplinary asthma clinic (clinic group). Quantitative social network analysis provided structural insight into asthma networks while qualitative social network analysis assisted in interpretation of network data. A total of 47 interviews were conducted (26 community group participants and 21 clinic group participants). Although participants' asthma networks consisted of a range of health care professionals (HCPs), these did not reflect or encourage MDC. Not only did participants favor minimal interaction with any HCP, they preferred sole-charge care and were found to strongly rely on lay individuals such as family and friends. While general practitioners and respiratory specialists were participants' principal choice of HCP, community pharmacists were less regarded. Limited opportunities were presented for HCPs to collaborate, particularly pharmacists. As patients' choices of HCPs may strongly influence collaborative processes and outcomes, this research highlights the need to consider patient perspectives in the development of MDC models in primary care. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Goodwin, N
2001-01-01
This article reviews the impact of successive experiments in the development of primary care organisations in England and assesses the long-term importance of English primary care groups for the integration of health and community and health and social care and the deinstitutionalisation of hospital care. Governments in a number of Western countries are attempting to improve the efficiency, appropriateness and equity of their health systems. One of the main ways of doing this is to devolve provision and commissioning responsibility from national and regional organisations to more local agencies based in primary care. Such primary care organisations are allocated budgets that span both primary and secondary (hospital) services and also, potentially, social care. This article is based on a systematic review of the literature forthcoming from the UK Government's Department of Health-funded evaluations of successive primary care organisational developments. These include total purchasing pilots, GP commissioning group pilots, personal medical services pilots and primary care groups and trusts. Primary care organisations in England have proved to be a catalyst in facilitating the development of integrated care working between primary and community health services. Conversely, primary care organisations have proved less effective in promoting integration between health and social care agencies where most progress has been made at the strategic commissioning level. The development of primary care trusts in England is heralding an end to traditional community hospitals. The development of primary care groups in England are but an intermediate step of a policy progression towards future primary care-based organisations that will functionally integrate primary and community health services with local authority services under a single management umbrella.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Nick Goodwin
2001-03-01
Full Text Available Purpose: This article reviews the impact of successive experiments in the development of primary care organisations in England and assesses the long-term importance of English primary care groups for the integration of health and community and health and social care and the deinstitutionalisation of hospital care. Theory: Governments in a number of Western countries are attempting to improve the efficiency, appropriateness and equity of their health systems. One of the main ways of doing this is to devolve provision and commissioning responsibility from national and regional organisations to more local agencies based in primary care. Such primary care organisations are allocated budgets that span both primary and secondary (hospital services and also, potentially, social care. Method: This article is based on a systematic review of the literature forthcoming from the UK Government's Department of Health-funded evaluations of successive primary care organisational developments. These include total purchasing pilots, GP commissioning group pilots, personal medical services pilots and primary care groups and trusts. Results: Primary care organisations in England have proved to be a catalyst in facilitating the development of integrated care working between primary and community health services. Conversely, primary care organisations have proved less effective in promoting integration between health and social care agencies where most progress has been made at the strategic commissioning level. The development of primary care trusts in England is heralding an end to traditional community hospitals. Conclusions: The development of primary care groups in England are but an intermediate step of a policy progression towards future primary care-based organisations that will functionally integrate primary and community health services with local authority services under a single management umbrella.
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Factors predicting team climate, and its relationship with quality of care in general practice
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Eccles Martin P
2009-08-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background Quality of care in general practice may be affected by the team climate perceived by its health and non-health professionals. Better team working is thought to lead to higher effectiveness and quality of care. However, there is limited evidence available on what affects team functioning and its relationship with quality of care in general practice. This study aimed to explore individual and practice factors that were associated with team climate, and to explore the relationship between team climate and quality of care. Methods Cross sectional survey of a convenience sample of 14 general practices and their staff in South Tyneside in the northeast of England. Team climate was measured using the short version of Team Climate Inventory (TCI questionnaire. Practice characteristics were collected during a structured interview with practice managers. Quality was measured using the practice Quality and Outcome Framework (QOF scores. Results General Practitioners (GP had a higher team climate scores compared to other professionals. Individual's gender and tenure, and number of GPs in the practice were significantly predictors of a higher team climate. There was no significant correlation between mean practice team climate scores (or subscales with QOF scores. Conclusion The absence of a relationship between a measure of team climate and quality of care in this exploratory study may be due to a number of methodological problems. Further research is required to explore how to best measure team functioning and its relationship with quality of care.
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Factors predicting team climate, and its relationship with quality of care in general practice.
Goh, Teik T; Eccles, Martin P; Steen, Nick
2009-08-04
Quality of care in general practice may be affected by the team climate perceived by its health and non-health professionals. Better team working is thought to lead to higher effectiveness and quality of care. However, there is limited evidence available on what affects team functioning and its relationship with quality of care in general practice. This study aimed to explore individual and practice factors that were associated with team climate, and to explore the relationship between team climate and quality of care. Cross sectional survey of a convenience sample of 14 general practices and their staff in South Tyneside in the northeast of England. Team climate was measured using the short version of Team Climate Inventory (TCI) questionnaire. Practice characteristics were collected during a structured interview with practice managers. Quality was measured using the practice Quality and Outcome Framework (QOF) scores. General Practitioners (GP) had a higher team climate scores compared to other professionals. Individual's gender and tenure, and number of GPs in the practice were significantly predictors of a higher team climate. There was no significant correlation between mean practice team climate scores (or subscales) with QOF scores. The absence of a relationship between a measure of team climate and quality of care in this exploratory study may be due to a number of methodological problems. Further research is required to explore how to best measure team functioning and its relationship with quality of care.
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Osarogiagbon, Raymond U; Rodriguez, Hector P; Hicks, Danielle; Signore, Raymond S; Roark, Kristi; Kedia, Satish K; Ward, Kenneth D; Lathan, Christopher; Santarella, Scott; Gould, Michael K; Krasna, Mark J
2016-11-01
The complexity of lung cancer care mandates interaction between clinicians with different skill sets and practice cultures in the routine delivery of care. Using team science principles and a case-based approach, we exemplify the need for the development of real care teams for patients with lung cancer to foster coordination among the multiple specialists and staff engaged in routine care delivery. Achieving coordinated lung cancer care is a high-priority public health challenge because of the volume of patients, lethality of disease, and well-described disparities in quality and outcomes of care. Coordinating mechanisms need to be cultivated among different types of specialist physicians and care teams, with differing technical expertise and practice cultures, who have traditionally functioned more as coactively working groups than as real teams. Coordinating mechanisms, including shared mental models, high-quality communication, mutual trust, and mutual performance monitoring, highlight the challenge of achieving well-coordinated care and illustrate how team science principles can be used to improve quality and outcomes of lung cancer care. To develop the evidence base to support coordinated lung cancer care, research comparing the effectiveness of a diverse range of multidisciplinary care team approaches and interorganizational coordinating mechanisms should be promoted.
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Suicide index reduction in Slovenia: the impact of primary care provision.
Beškovnik, Lucija; Juričič, Nuša Konec; Svab, Vesna
2011-03-01
Background Education of primary care providers about diagnosis and treatment of depression and anxiety is an evidence-based suicide prevention measure.Aim To analyse suicide index, mental health epidemiological data and primary care provision in Slovenian regions and to identify examples of good suicide prevention practices in different Slovenian regions.Methods Analysis of existent epidemiological data on mental health in Slovenia.Results Anxiety and depression are the most common complaints in a representative sample of the Slovene population. The number of suicides in Slovenia had been dropping in the period from 2002 to 2006 and was again slowly rising in 2008. The number of visits to family physicians' practices because of mental health problems is low in comparison to other European countries, which might be attributed also to the high workload of family physicians. Suicide prevention programmes follow the example of the Suicide Prevention Project in the central-east region of Slovenia. This programme is based on education of primary care providers and the general public about recognition and treatment of depression in line with international guidelines.Conclusions The differentiation of causes for suicide reduction needs further research, as well as urgent improvement in the accessibility of primary care teams in Slovenia.
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Development of Program to Enhance Team Building Leadership Skills of Primary School Administrators
Sairam, Boonchauy; Sirisuthi, Chaiyuth; Wisetrinthong, Kanjana
2017-01-01
Team building leadership skills are important to understandings of how the primary school administrators might work towards creating more effective teamwork in the school. This research aimed 1) to study the components of team building leadership skills needed for primary school administrators, 2) to examine the current states and desirable…
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[Accesibility and use of spirometry in primary care centers in Catalonia].
Llauger, M Antònia; Rosas, Alba; Burgos, Felip; Torrente, Elena; Tresserras, Ricard; Escarrabill, Joan
2014-01-01
Examine the accessibility and use of forced spirometry (FS) in public primary care facilities centers in Catalonia. Cross-sectional study using a survey. Three hundred sixty-six Primary Care Teams (PCT) in Catalonia. Third quarter of 2010. Survey with information on spirometers, training, interpretation and quality control, and the priority that the quality of spirometry had for the team. Indicators FS/100 inhabitants/year, FS/month/PCT; FS/month/10,000 inhabitants. Response rate: 75%. 97.5% of PCT had spirometer and made an average of 2.01 spirometries/100 inhabitants (34.68 spirometry/PCT/month). 83% have trained professionals.>50% centers perform formal training but no information is available on the quality. 70% performed some sort of calibration. Interpretation was made by the family physician in 87.3% of cases. In 68% of cases not performed any quality control of exploration. 2/3 typed data manually into the computerized medical record.>50% recognized a high priority strategies for improving the quality. Despite the accessibility of EF efforts should be made to standardize training, increasing the number of scans test and promote systematic quality control. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.
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A medical assistant-based program to promote healthy behaviors in primary care.
Ferrer, Robert L; Mody-Bailey, Priti; Jaén, Carlos Roberto; Gott, Sherrie; Araujo, Sara
2009-01-01
Most primary care patients have at least 1 major behavioral risk: smoking, risky drinking, low physical activity, or unhealthy diet. We studied the effectiveness of a medical assistant-based program to identify and refer patients with risk behaviors to appropriate interventions. We undertook a randomized control trial in a practice-based research network. The trial included 864 adult patients from 6 primary care practices. Medical assistants screened patients for 4 risk behaviors and applied behavior-specific algorithms to link patients with interventions. Primary outcomes were improved risk behaviors on standardized assessments. Secondary outcomes included participation in a behavioral intervention and the program's effect on the medical assistants' workflow and job satisfaction. Follow-up data were available for 55% of participants at a mean of 12 months. The medical assistant referral arm referred a greater proportion of patients than did usual care (67.4 vs 21.8%; P effects on program adoption. Engaging more primary care team members to address risk behaviors improved referral rates. More extensive medical assistant training, changes in practice culture, and sustained behavioral interventions will be necessary to improve risk behavior outcomes.
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Quanjel, Tessa C C; Struijs, Jeroen N; Spreeuwenberg, Marieke D; Baan, Caroline A; Ruwaard, Dirk
2018-05-09
In an attempt to deal with the pressures on the healthcare system and to guarantee sustainability, changes are needed. This study is focused on a cardiology Primary Care Plus intervention in which cardiologists provide consultations with patients in a primary care setting in order to prevent unnecessary referrals to the hospital. This study explores which patients with non-acute and low-complexity cardiology-related health complaints should be excluded from Primary Care Plus and referred directly to specialist care in the hospital. This is a retrospective observational study based on quantitative data. Data collected between January 1 and December 31, 2015 were extracted from the electronic medical record system. Logistic regression analyses were used to select patient groups that should be excluded from referral to Primary Care Plus. In total, 1525 patients were included in the analyses. Results showed that male patients, older patients, those with the referral indication 'Stable Angina Pectoris' or 'Dyspnoea' and patients whose reason for referral was 'To confirm disease' or 'Screening of unclear pathology' had a significantly higher probability of being referred to hospital care after Primary Care Plus. To achieve efficiency one should exclude patient groups with a significantly higher probability of being referred to hospital care after Primary Care Plus. NTR6629 (Data registered: 25-08-2017) (registered retrospectively).
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Improving care in care homes: a qualitative evaluation of the Croydon care home support team.
Lawrence, Vanessa; Banerjee, Sube
2010-05-01
The Croydon care home support team (CHST) was developed in response to reports of patient abuse within long-term care. It presents a novel strategy for improving standards of care within care homes. A qualitative methodology was used to assess the perceived impact of the CHST. In-depth interviews were conducted with 14 care home managers and 24 members of care home staff across 14 care homes. Grounded theory principles guided the collection and analysis of the data. Reports of improved communication between staff, improved staff development and confidence, and improved quality of care point towards the effectiveness of the CHST model. The collaborative approach of the CHST was considered pivotal to its success and presented as an effective method of engaging care home managers and staff. The CHST adopted a systemic approach that placed an equal emphasis on the social, mental health and nursing needs of residents and aimed to address the whole culture of care within the individual homes. The data demonstrate the potential for specialist multi-disciplinary teams to raise standards of care across long-term care settings. Increased awareness of safeguarding issues, improved staff morale and communication and ongoing opportunities for discussion and problem solving promised to sustain improvements. Such services could be instrumental in meeting the government priority of preventing abuse among vulnerable adults.
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Shaping the future: a primary care research and development strategy for Scotland.
Hannaford, P; Hunt, J; Sullivan, F; Wyke, S
1999-09-01
Primary care is at the centre of the National Health Service (NHS) in Scotland; however, its R & D capacity is insufficiently developed. R&D is a potentially powerful way of improving the health and well-being of the population, and of securing high quality care for those who need it. In order to achieve this, any Scottish strategy for primary care R&D should aim to develop both a knowledge-based service and a research culture in primary care. In this way, decisions will be made based upon best available evidence, whatever the context. Building on existing practice and resources within primary care research, this strategy for achieving a thriving research culture in Scottish primary care has three key components: A Scottish School of Primary Care which will stimulate and co-ordinate a cohesive programme of research and training. A comprehensive system of funding for training and career development which will ensure access to a range of research training which will ensure that Scotland secures effective leadership for its primary care R&D. Designated research and development practices (DRDPs) which will build on the work of existing research practices, in the context of Local Health Care Co-operatives (LHCCs) and Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), to create a co-operative environment in which a range of primary care professionals can work together to improve their personal and teams' research skills, and to support research development in their areas. A modest investment will create substantial increases in both the quality and quantity of research being undertaken in primary care. This investment should be targeted at both existing primary care professionals working in service settings in primary care, LHCCs and PCTs, and at centres of excellence (including University departments). A dual approach will foster collaboration and will allow existing centres of excellence both to undertake more primary care research and to support the development of service based primary care
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Primary care models for treating opioid use disorders: What actually works? A systematic review.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Pooja Lagisetty
Full Text Available Primary care-based models for Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT have been shown to reduce mortality for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD and have equivalent efficacy to MAT in specialty substance treatment facilities.The objective of this study is to systematically analyze current evidence-based, primary care OUD MAT interventions and identify program structures and processes associated with improved patient outcomes in order to guide future policy and implementation in primary care settings.PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, and PsychInfo.We included randomized controlled or quasi experimental trials and observational studies evaluating OUD treatment in primary care settings treating adult patient populations and assessed structural domains using an established systems engineering framework.We included 35 interventions (10 RCTs and 25 quasi-experimental interventions that all tested MAT, buprenorphine or methadone, in primary care settings across 8 countries. Most included interventions used joint multi-disciplinary (specialty addiction services combined with primary care and coordinated care by physician and non-physician provider delivery models to provide MAT. Despite large variability in reported patient outcomes, processes, and tasks/tools used, similar key design factors arose among successful programs including integrated clinical teams with support staff who were often advanced practice clinicians (nurses and pharmacists as clinical care managers, incorporating patient "agreements," and using home inductions to make treatment more convenient for patients and providers.The findings suggest that multidisciplinary and coordinated care delivery models are an effective strategy to implement OUD treatment and increase MAT access in primary care, but research directly comparing specific structures and processes of care models is still needed.
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Wen, Jin; Schulman, Kevin A.
2014-01-01
Background Team-based approaches to patient care are a relatively recent innovation in health care delivery. The effectiveness of these approaches on patient outcomes has not been well documented. This paper reports a systematic review of the relationship between team-based care and patient satisfaction. Methods We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, and PSYCHOINFO for eligible studies dating from inception to October 8, 2012. Eligible studies reported (1) a randomized controlled trial, (2) interventions including both team-based care and non-team-based care (or usual care), and (3) outcomes including an assessment of patient satisfaction. Articles with different settings between intervention and control were excluded, as were trial protocols. The reference lists of retrieved papers were also evaluated for inclusion. Results The literature search yielded 319 citations, of which 77 were screened for further full-text evaluation. Of these, 27 articles were included in the systematic review. The 26 trials with a total of 15,526 participants were included in this systematic review. The pooling result of dichotomous data (number of studies: 10) showed that team-based care had a positive effect on patient satisfaction compared with usual care (odds ratio, 2.09; 95% confidence interval, 1.54 to 2.84); however, combined continuous data (number of studies: 7) demonstrated that there was no significant difference in patient satisfaction between team-based care and usual care (standardized mean difference, −0.02; 95% confidence interval, −0.40 to 0.36). Conclusions Some evidence showed that team-based care is better than usual care in improving patient satisfaction. However, considering the pooling result of continuous data, along with the suboptimal quality of included trials, further large-scale and high-quality randomized controlled trials comparing team-based care and usual care are needed. PMID:25014674
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Team-Based Models for End-of-Life Care: An Evidence-Based Analysis
2014-01-01
Background End of life refers to the period when people are living with advanced illness that will not stabilize and from which they will not recover and will eventually die. It is not limited to the period immediately before death. Multiple services are required to support people and their families during this time period. The model of care used to deliver these services can affect the quality of the care they receive. Objectives Our objective was to determine whether an optimal team-based model of care exists for service delivery at end of life. In systematically reviewing such models, we considered their core components: team membership, services offered, modes of patient contact, and setting. Data Sources A literature search was performed on October 14, 2013, using Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid MEDLINE In-Process and Other Non-Indexed Citations, Ovid Embase, EBSCO Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and EBM Reviews, for studies published from January 1, 2000, to October 14, 2013. Review Methods Abstracts were reviewed by a single reviewer and full-text articles were obtained that met the inclusion criteria. Studies were included if they evaluated a team model of care compared with usual care in an end-of-life adult population. A team was defined as having at least 2 health care disciplines represented. Studies were limited to English publications. A meta-analysis was completed to obtain pooled effect estimates where data permitted. The GRADE quality of the evidence was evaluated. Results Our literature search located 10 randomized controlled trials which, among them, evaluated the following 6 team-based models of care: hospital, direct contact home, direct contact home, indirect contact comprehensive, indirect contact comprehensive, direct contact comprehensive, direct, and early contact Direct contact is when team members see the patient; indirect contact is when they advise another health care practitioner (e.g., a family doctor) who sees
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Dolovich, Lisa; Oliver, Doug; Lamarche, Larkin; Agarwal, Gina; Carr, Tracey; Chan, David; Cleghorn, Laura; Griffith, Lauren; Javadi, Dena; Kastner, Monika; Longaphy, Jennifer; Mangin, Dee; Papaioannou, Alexandra; Ploeg, Jenny; Raina, Parminder; Richardson, Julie; Risdon, Cathy; Santaguida, P Lina; Straus, Sharon; Thabane, Lehana; Valaitis, Ruta; Price, David
2016-04-05
Healthcare systems are not well designed to help people maintain or improve their health. They are generally not person-focused or well-coordinated. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Health Teams Advancing Patient Experience: Strengthening Quality (Health TAPESTRY) approach in older adults. The overarching hypothesis is that using the Health TAPESTRY approach to achieve better integration of the health and social care systems into a person's life that centers on meeting a person's health goals and needs will result in optimal aging. This is a 12-month delayed intervention pragmatic randomized controlled trial. The study will be performed in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in the two-site McMaster Family Health Team. Participants will include 316 patients who are 70 years of age or older. Participants will be randomized to the Health TAPESTRY approach or control group. The Health TAPESTRY approach includes intentional, proactive conversations about a person's life and health goals and health risks and then initiation of congruent tailored interventions that support achievement of those goals and addressing of risks through (1) trained volunteers visiting clients in their homes to serve as a link between the primary care team and the client; (2) the use of novel technology including a personal health record from the home to link directly with the primary healthcare team; and (3) improved processes for connections, system navigation, and care delivery among interprofessional primary care teams, community service providers, and informal caregivers. The primary outcome will be the goal attainment scaling score. Secondary outcomes include self-efficacy for managing chronic disease, quality of life, the participant perspective on their own aging, social support, access to health services, comprehensiveness of care, patient empowerment, patient-centeredness, caregiver strain, satisfaction with care, healthcare resource utilization, and cost
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Characteristics of physical activity programs in the Brazilian primary health care system
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Grace Angélica de Oliveira Gomes
2014-10-01
Full Text Available The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of programs that promote physical activity in the public primary care system by region of Brazil, subject to the presence or absence of multidisciplinary primary care teams (NASF. We conducted a cross sectional and population-based telephone survey of the health unit coordinators from 1,251 health care units. Coordinators were asked about the presence and characteristics of physical activity programs. Four out of ten health units reported having a physical activity intervention program, the most common involving walking groups. Most of the activities were performed in the morning, once or twice a week, and in sessions of 30 minutes or more. Physical education professionals were primarily responsible for directing the activities. Interventions occurred in the health unit itself or in adjacent community spaces. In general, these characteristics were similar between units with or without NASF, but varied substantially across regions. These findings will guide future physical activity policies and programs within primary care in Brazil.
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PRIMARY PALLIATIVE CARE? - Treating terminally ill cancer patients in the primary care sector
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Neergaard, Mette Asbjørn; Jensen, Anders Bonde; Olesen, Frede
BACKGROUND. Palliative care for cancer patients is an important part of a GP's work. Although every GP is frequently involved in care for terminally ill cancer patients, only little is known about how these palliative efforts are perceived by the patients and their families, a knowledge...... that is vital to further improve palliative care in the primary sector.AIM. The aim of the study was to analyse the quality of palliative home care with focus on the GP's role based on evaluations by relatives of recently deceased cancer patients and professionals from both the primary and secondary health care...... approach.RESULTS. The analyses revealed several key areas, e.g.: 1) How to take, give and maintain professional responsibility for palliative home care. 2) A need for transparent communication both among primary care professionals and among professionals across the primary/secondary interface. 3...
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Comprehensiveness and programmatic vulnerability to stds/hiv/aids in primary care
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Luciane Ferreira do Val
2014-08-01
Full Text Available This study aimed to identify programmatic vulnerability to STDs/HIV/AIDS in primary health centers (PHCs. This is a descrip - tive and quantitative study carried out in the city of São Paulo. An online survey was applied (FormSUS platform, involving administrators from 442 PHCs in the city, with responses received from 328 of them (74.2%, of which 53.6% were nurses. At - tention was raised in relation to program - matic vulnerability in the PHCs regarding certain items of infrastructure, prevention, treatment, prenatal care and integration among services on STDs/HIV/AIDS care. It was concluded that in order to reach comprehensiveness of actions for HIV/ AIDS in primary health care, it is necessary to consider programmatic vulnerability, in addition to more investment and reor - ganization of services in a dialogue with the stakeholders (users, multidisciplinary teams, and managers, among others.
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US military primary care: problems, solutions, and implications for civilian medicine.
Mundell, Benjamin F; Friedberg, Mark W; Eibner, Christine; Mundell, William C
2013-11-01
The US Military Health System (MHS), which is responsible for providing care to active and retired members of the military and their dependents, faces challenges in delivering cost-effective, high-quality primary care while maintaining a provider workforce capable of meeting both peacetime and wartime needs. The MHS has implemented workforce management strategies to address these challenges, including "medical home" teams for primary care and other strategies that expand the roles of nonphysician providers such as physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and medical technicians. Because these workforce strategies have been implemented relatively recently, there is limited evidence of their effectiveness. If they prove successful, they could serve as a model for the civilian sector. However, because the MHS model features a broad mix of provider types, changes to civilian scope-of-practice regulations for nonphysician providers would be necessary before the civilian provider mix could replicate that of the MHS.
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Core Competencies in Integrative Pain Care for Entry-Level Primary Care Physicians.
Tick, Heather; Chauvin, Sheila W; Brown, Michael; Haramati, Aviad
2015-11-01
The objective was to develop a set of core competencies for graduating primary care physicians in integrative pain care (IPC), using the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) domains. These competencies build on previous work in competencies for integrative medicine, interprofessional education, and pain medicine and are proposed for inclusion in residency training. A task force was formed to include representation from various professionals who are involved in education, research, and the practice of IPC and who represent broad areas of expertise. The task force convened during a 1.5-day face-to-face meeting, followed by a series of surveys and other vetting processes involving diverse interprofessional groups, which led to the consensus of a final set of competencies. The proposed competencies focus on interprofessional knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) and are in line with recommendations by the Institute of Medicine, military medicine, and professional pain societies advocating the need for coordination and integration of services for effective pain care with reduced risk and cost and improved outcomes. These ACGME domain compatible competencies for physicians reflect the contributions of several disciplines that will need to be included in evolving interprofessional settings and underscore the need for collaborative care. These core competencies can guide the incorporation of KSAs within curricula. The learning experiences should enable medical educators and graduating primary care physicians to focus more on integrative approaches, interprofessional team-based, patient-centered care that use evidence-based, traditional and complementary disciplines and therapeutics to provide safe and effective treatments for people in pain. Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Self-managing teams: a strategy for quality improvement.
Feifer, Chris; Nocella, Kiki; DeArtola, Ignacio; Rowden, Suzanne; Morrison, Stephen
2003-01-01
Organizations are impacted by their environments, and health care settings are no different. Individuals charged with improving a practice are often impeded by environmental barriers, including incomplete information for decision making. One strategy to empower an organization for change is to form a self-managing team. This paper discusses the self-managing team concept and uses a case study to illustrate its application in primary care. Factors contributing to team success are presented as a guide, and a reminder--there is more to an effective team than gathering people in a room.
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Wong, Eunice C.; Jaycox, Lisa H.; Ayer, Lynsay; Batka, Caroline; Harris, Racine; Naftel, Scott; Paddock, Susan M.
2015-01-01
Abstract A RAND team conducted an independent implementation evaluation of the Re-Engineering Systems of Primary Care Treatment in the Military (RESPECT-Mil) Program, a system of care designed to screen, assess, and treat posttraumatic stress disorder and depression among active duty service members in the Army's primary care settings. Evaluating the Implementation of the Re-Engineering Systems of Primary Care Treatment in the Military (RESPECT-Mil) presents the results from RAND's assessment of the implementation of RESPECT-Mil in military treatment facilities and makes recommendations to improve the delivery of mental health care in these settings. Analyses were based on existing program data used to monitor fidelity to RESPECT-Mil across the Army's primary care clinics, as well as discussions with key stakeholders. During the time of the evaluation, efforts were under way to implement the Patient Centered Medical Home, and uncertainties remained about the implications for the RESPECT-Mil program. Consideration of this transition was made in designing the evaluation and applying its findings more broadly to the implementation of collaborative care within military primary care settings. PMID:28083389
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Designing Clinical Space for the Delivery of Integrated Behavioral Health and Primary Care.
Gunn, Rose; Davis, Melinda M; Hall, Jennifer; Heintzman, John; Muench, John; Smeds, Brianna; Miller, Benjamin F; Miller, William L; Gilchrist, Emma; Brown Levey, Shandra; Brown, Jacqueline; Wise Romero, Pam; Cohen, Deborah J
2015-01-01
This study sought to describe features of the physical space in which practices integrating primary care and behavioral health care work and to identify the arrangements that enable integration of care. We conducted an observational study of 19 diverse practices located across the United States. Practice-level data included field notes from 2-4-day site visits, transcripts from semistructured interviews with clinicians and clinical staff, online implementation diary posts, and facility photographs. A multidisciplinary team used a 4-stage, systematic approach to analyze data and identify how physical layout enabled the work of integrated care teams. Two dominant spatial layouts emerged across practices: type-1 layouts were characterized by having primary care clinicians (PCCs) and behavioral health clinicians (BHCs) located in separate work areas, and type-2 layouts had BHCs and PCCs sharing work space. We describe these layouts and the influence they have on situational awareness, interprofessional "bumpability," and opportunities for on-the-fly communication. We observed BHCs and PCCs engaging in more face-to-face methods for coordinating integrated care for patients in type 2 layouts (41.5% of observed encounters vs 11.7%; P < .05). We show that practices needed to strike a balance between professional proximity and private work areas to accomplish job tasks. Private workspace was needed for focused work, to see patients, and for consults between clinicians and clinical staff. We describe the ways practices modified and built new space and provide 2 recommended layouts for practices integrating care based on study findings. Physical layout and positioning of professionals' workspace is an important consideration in practices implementing integrated care. Clinicians, researchers, and health-care administrators are encouraged to consider the role of professional proximity and private working space when creating new facilities or redesigning existing space to foster
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Kiran, Tara; Kopp, Alexander; Moineddin, Rahim; Glazier, Richard H
2015-11-17
We evaluated a large-scale transition of primary care physicians to blended capitation models and team-based care in Ontario, Canada, to understand the effect of each type of reform on the management and prevention of chronic disease. We used population-based administrative data to assess monitoring of diabetes mellitus and screening for cervical, breast and colorectal cancer among patients belonging to team-based capitation, non-team-based capitation or enhanced fee-for-service medical homes as of Mar. 31, 2011 (n = 10 675 480). We used Poisson regression models to examine these associations for 2011. We then used a fitted nonlinear model to compare changes in outcomes between 2001 and 2011 by type of medical home. In 2011, patients in a team-based capitation setting were more likely than those in an enhanced fee-for-service setting to receive diabetes monitoring (39.7% v. 31.6%, adjusted relative risk [RR] 1.22, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.18 to 1.25), mammography (76.6% v. 71.5%, adjusted RR 1.06, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.07) and colorectal cancer screening (63.0% v. 60.9%, adjusted RR 1.03, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.04). Over time, patients in medical homes with team-based capitation experienced the greatest improvement in diabetes monitoring (absolute difference in improvement 10.6% [95% CI 7.9% to 13.2%] compared with enhanced fee for service; 6.4% [95% CI 3.8% to 9.1%] compared with non-team-based capitation) and cervical cancer screening (absolute difference in improvement 7.0% [95% CI 5.5% to 8.5%] compared with enhanced fee for service; 5.3% [95% CI 3.8% to 6.8%] compared with non-team-based capitation). For breast and colorectal cancer screening, there were no significant differences in change over time between different types of medical homes. The shift to capitation payment and the addition of team-based care in Ontario were associated with moderate improvements in processes related to diabetes care, but the effects on cancer screening were less clear. © 2015
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Factors contributing to nursing team work in an acute care tertiary hospital.
Polis, Suzanne; Higgs, Megan; Manning, Vicki; Netto, Gayle; Fernandez, Ritin
Effective nursing teamwork is an essential component of quality health care and patient safety. Understanding which factors foster team work ensures teamwork qualities are cultivated and sustained. This study aims to investigate which factors are associated with team work in an Australian acute care tertiary hospital across all inpatient and outpatient settings. All nurses and midwives rostered to inpatient and outpatient wards in an acute care 600 bed hospital in Sydney Australia were invited to participate in a cross sectional survey between September to October 2013. Data were collected, collated, checked and analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 21. Factors reporting a significant correlation with where p team leadership were 3.6 (S.D. 0.57) and 3.8 (SD 0.6) respectively. Leadership and communication between nurses were significant predictors of team work p team work.
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Tijhuis, Gerhardus J.; Zwinderman, Aeilko H.; Hazes, Johanna M. W.; van den Hout, Wilbert B.; Breedveld, Ferdinand C.; Vliet Vlieland, Theodora P. M.
2002-01-01
OBJECTIVES: To compare in a randomized, controlled trial the clinical effectiveness of care delivered by a clinical nurse specialist, inpatient team care, and day patient team care in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who have increasing functional limitations. METHODS: Between December 1996
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The Effect of Community-Based Specialist Palliative Care Teams on Place of Care.
Seow, Hsien; Dhaliwal, Gagan; Fassbender, Konrad; Rangrej, Jagadish; Brazil, Kevin; Fainsinger, Robin
2016-01-01
Prior research on community-based specialist palliative care teams used outcome measures of place of death and/or dichotomous outcome measures of acute care use in the last two weeks of life. However, existing research seldom measured the diverse places of care used and their timing prior to death. The study objective was to examine the place of care in the last 30 days of life. In this retrospective cohort study, patients who received care from a specialist palliative care team (exposed) were matched by propensity score to patients who received usual care in the community (unexposed) in Ontario, Canada. Measured was the percentage of patients in each place of care in the last month of life as a proportion of the total cohort. After matching, 3109 patients were identified in each group, where 79% had cancer and 77% received end-of-life home care. At 30 days compared to 7 days before death, the exposed group's proportions rose from 33% to 41% receiving home care and 14% to 15% in hospital, whereas the unexposed group's proportions rose from 28% to 32% receiving home care and 16% to 22% in hospital. Linear trend analysis (proportion over time) showed that the exposed group used significantly more home care services and fewer hospital days (p care. Examining place of care in the last month can effectively illustrate the service use trajectory over time.
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McDonald, Julie; Powell Davies, Gawaine; Jayasuriya, Rohan; Fort Harris, Mark
2011-07-01
Ongoing care for chronic conditions is best provided by interprofessional teams. There are challenges in achieving this where teams cross organisational boundaries. This article explores the influence of organisational factors on collaboration between private and public sector primary and community health services involved in diabetes care. It involved a case study using qualitative methods. Forty-five participants from 20 organisations were purposively recruited. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and from content analysis of documents. Thematic analysis was used employing a two-level coding system and cross case comparisons. The patterns of collaborative patient care were influenced by a combination of factors relating to the benefits and costs of collaboration and the influence of support mechanisms. Benefits lay in achieving common or complementary health or organisational goals. Costs were incurred in bridging differences in organisational size, structure, complexity and culture. Collaboration was easier between private sector organisations than between private and public sectors. Financial incentives were not sufficient to overcome organisational barriers. To achieve more coordinated primary and community health care structural changes are also needed to better align funding mechanisms, priorities and accountabilities of the different organisations.
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Primary health care reform, dilemmatic space and risk of burnout among health workers.
Freeman, Toby; Baum, Fran; Labonté, Ronald; Javanparast, Sara; Lawless, Angela
2018-05-01
Health system changes may increase primary health care workers' dilemmatic space, created when reforms contravene professional values. Dilemmatic space may be a risk factor for burnout. This study partnered with six Australian primary health care services (in South Australia: four state government-managed services including one Aboriginal health team and one non-government organisation and in Northern Territory: one Aboriginal community-controlled service) during a period of change and examined workers' dilemmatic space and incidence of burnout. Dilemmatic space and burnout were assessed in a survey of 130 staff across the six services (58% response rate). Additionally, 63 interviews were conducted with practitioners, managers, regional executives and health department staff. Dilemmatic space occurred across all services and was associated with higher rates of self-reported burnout. Three conditions associated with dilemmatic space were (1) conditions inherent in comprehensive primary health care, (2) stemming from service provision for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and (3) changes wrought by reorientation to selective primary health care in South Australia. Responses to dilemmatic space included ignoring directives or doing work 'under the radar', undertaking alternative work congruent with primary health care values outside of hours, or leaving the organisation. The findings show that comprehensive primary health care was contested and political. Future health reform processes would benefit from considering alignment of changes with staff values to reduce negative effects of the reform and safeguard worker wellbeing.
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Santschi, Valérie; Wuerzner, Grégoire; Chiolero, Arnaud; Burnand, Bernard; Schaller, Philippe; Cloutier, Lyne; Paradis, Gilles; Burnier, Michel
2017-01-21
Blood pressure (BP) is poorly controlled among a large proportion of hypertensive outpatients. Innovative models of care are therefore needed to improve BP control. The Team-Based Care for improving Hypertension management (TBC-HTA) study aims to evaluate the effect of a team-based care (TBC) interprofessional intervention, involving nurses, community pharmacists and physicians, on BP control of hypertensive outpatients compared to usual care in routine clinical practice. The TBC-HTA study is a pragmatic randomized controlled study with a 6-month follow-up which tests a TBC interprofessionnal intervention conducted among uncontrolled treated hypertensive outpatients in two ambulatory clinics and among seven nearby community pharmacies in Lausanne and Geneva, Switzerland. A total of 110 patients are being recruited and randomized to TBC (TBC: N = 55) or usual care group (UC: N = 55). Patients allocated to the TBC group receive the TBC intervention conducted by an interprofessional team, involving an ambulatory clinic nurse, a community pharmacist and a physician. A nurse and a community pharmacist meet patients every 6 weeks to measure BP, to assess lifestyle, to estimate medication adherence, and to provide education to the patient about disease, treatment and lifestyle. After each visit, the nurse and pharmacist write a summary report with recommendations related to medication adherence, lifestyle, and changes in therapy. The physician then adjusts antihypertensive therapy accordingly. Patients in the UC group receive usual routine care without sessions with a nurse and a pharmacist. The primary outcome is the difference in daytime ambulatory BP between TBC and UC patients at 6-month of follow-up. Secondary outcomes include patients' and healthcare professionals' satisfaction with the TBC intervention and BP control at 12 months (6 months after the end of the intervention). This ongoing study aims to evaluate the effect of a newly developed team
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Team safety and innovation by learning from errors in long-term care settings.
Buljac-Samardžić, Martina; van Woerkom, Marianne; Paauwe, Jaap
2012-01-01
Team safety and team innovation are underexplored in the context of long-term care. Understanding the issues requires attention to how teams cope with error. Team managers could have an important role in developing a team's error orientation and managing team membership instabilities. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of team member stability, team coaching, and a team's error orientation on team safety and innovation. A cross-sectional survey method was employed within 2 long-term care organizations. Team members and team managers received a survey that measured safety and innovation. Team members assessed member stability, team coaching, and team error orientation (i.e., problem-solving and blaming approach). The final sample included 933 respondents from 152 teams. Stable teams and teams with managers who take on the role of coach are more likely to adopt a problem-solving approach and less likely to adopt a blaming approach toward errors. Both error orientations are related to team member ratings of safety and innovation, but only the blaming approach is (negatively) related to manager ratings of innovation. Differences between members' and managers' ratings of safety are greater in teams with relatively high scores for the blaming approach and relatively low scores for the problem-solving approach. Team coaching was found to be positively related to innovation, especially in unstable teams. Long-term care organizations that wish to enhance team safety and innovation should encourage a problem-solving approach and discourage a blaming approach. Team managers can play a crucial role in this by coaching team members to see errors as sources of learning and improvement and ensuring that individuals will not be blamed for errors.
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Primary care research in Denmark
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Vedsted, Peter; Kallestrup, Per
2016-01-01
International Perspectives on Primary Care Research examines how the evidence base from primary care research can strengthen health care services and delivery, tackle the growing burden of disease, improve quality and safety, and increase a person-centred focus to health care. Demonstrating...... the inter-professional nature of the discipline, the book also features a section on cross-nation organisations and primary care networks supporting research. National perspectives are offered from researchers in 20 countries that form part of the World Organization of Family Doctors, providing case...... histories from research-rich to resource-poor nations that illustrate the range of research development and capacity building. This book argues the importance of primary care research, especially to policy makers, decision makers and funders in informing best practice, training primary health care providers...
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Factors predicting team climate, and its relationship with quality of care in general practice
Goh, Teik T; Eccles, Martin P; Steen, Nick
2009-01-01
Abstract Background Quality of care in general practice may be affected by the team climate perceived by its health and non-health professionals. Better team working is thought to lead to higher effectiveness and quality of care. However, there is limited evidence available on what affects team functioning and its relationship with quality of care in general practice. This study aimed to explore individual and practice factors that were associated with team climate, and to explore the relatio...
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Pharmacist medication reviews to improve safety monitoring in primary care patients.
Gallimore, Casey E; Sokhal, Dimmy; Zeidler Schreiter, Elizabeth; Margolis, Amanda R
2016-06-01
Patients prescribed psychotropic medications within primary care are at risk of suboptimal monitoring. It is unknown whether pharmacists can improve medication safety through targeted monitoring of at risk populations. Access Community Health Centers implemented a quality improvement pilot project that included pharmacists on an integrated care team to provide medication reviews for patients. Aims were to determine whether inclusion of a pharmacist performing medication reviews within a primary care behavioral health (PCBH) practice is feasible and facilitates safe medication use. Pharmacists performed medication reviews of the electronic health record for patients referred for psychiatry consultation. Reviews were performed 1-3 months following consultation and focused on medications with known suboptimal monitoring rates. Reviews were documented within the EHR and routed to the primary care provider. Primary outcome measures were change in percentage up-to-date on monitoring and AIMS assessment, and at risk of experiencing drug interaction(s) between baseline and 3 months postreview. Secondary outcome was provider opinion of medication reviews collected via electronic survey. Reviews were performed for 144 patients. Three months postreview, percentage up-to-date on recommended monitoring increased 18% (p = .0001), at risk for drug interaction decreased 20% (p improved safety monitoring of psychotropic medications. Results identify key areas for improvement that other clinics considering integration of similar pharmacy services should consider. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).
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Hill, Douglas L; Walter, Jennifer K; Casas, Jessica A; DiDomenico, Concetta; Szymczak, Julia E; Feudtner, Chris
2018-04-07
Children with advanced cancer are often not referred to palliative or hospice care before they die or are only referred close to the child's death. The goals of the current project were to learn about pediatric oncology team members' perspectives on palliative care, to collaborate with team members to modify and tailor three separate interdisciplinary team-based interventions regarding initiating palliative care, and to assess the feasibility of this collaborative approach. We used a modified version of experience-based codesign (EBCD) involving members of the pediatric palliative care team and three interdisciplinary pediatric oncology teams (Bone Marrow Transplant, Neuro-Oncology, and Solid Tumor) to review and tailor materials for three team-based interventions. Eleven pediatric oncology team members participated in four codesign sessions to discuss their experiences with initiating palliative care and to review the proposed intervention including patient case studies, techniques for managing uncertainty and negative emotions, role ambiguity, system-level barriers, and team communication and collaboration. The codesign process showed that the participants were strong supporters of palliative care, members of different teams had preferences for different materials that would be appropriate for their teams, and that while participants reported frustration with timing of palliative care, they had difficulty suggesting how to change current practices. The current project demonstrated the feasibility of collaborating with pediatric oncology clinicians to develop interventions about introducing palliative care. The procedures and results of this project will be posted online so that other institutions can use them as a model for developing similar interventions appropriate for their needs.
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Adcock, G B
1999-07-01
Corporate-based nurse managed centers are not the national norm. More prevalent is the use of an occupational health or physician-directed medical model of care. The author describes how a 14-year-old primary care center at a North Carolina computer software company is just "business as usual" when viewed in the context of the company's philosophy, goals, and culture. Included are considerations for nurse practitioners interested in the successful transplantation of this primary care model to other settings.
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Primary care in Switzerland gains strength.
Djalali, Sima; Meier, Tatjana; Hasler, Susann; Rosemann, Thomas; Tandjung, Ryan
2015-06-01
Although there is widespread agreement on health- and cost-related benefits of strong primary care in health systems, little is known about the development of the primary care status over time in specific countries, especially in countries with a traditionally weak primary care sector such as Switzerland. The aim of our study was to assess the current strength of primary care in the Swiss health care system and to compare it with published results of earlier primary care assessments in Switzerland and other countries. A survey of experts and stakeholders with insights into the Swiss health care system was carried out between February and March 2014. The study was designed as mixed-modes survey with a self-administered questionnaire based on a set of 15 indicators for the assessment of primary care strength. Forty representatives of Swiss primary and secondary care, patient associations, funders, health care authority, policy makers and experts in health services research were addressed. Concordance between the indicators of a strong primary care system and the real situation in Swiss primary care was rated with 0-2 points (low-high concordance). A response rate of 62.5% was achieved. Participants rated concordance with five indicators as 0 (low), with seven indicators as 1 (medium) and with three indicators as 2 (high). In sum, Switzerland achieved 13 of 30 possible points. Low scores were assigned because of the following characteristics of Swiss primary care: inequitable local distribution of medical resources, relatively low earnings of primary care practitioners compared to specialists, low priority of primary care in medical education and training, lack of formal guidelines for information transfer between primary care practitioners and specialists and disregard of clinical routine data in the context of medical service planning. Compared to results of an earlier assessment in Switzerland, an improvement of seven indicators could be stated since 1995. As a
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Wittenberg-Lyles, Elaine; Oliver, Debra Parker; Demiris, George; Baldwin, Paula; Regehr, Kelly
2008-12-01
Hospice chaplains provide a specific expertise to patient and family care, however, individual roles and responsibilities that facilitate the interdisciplinary team environment are less well known. The primary aim of this study was to investigate how hospice chaplains perceive their role in interdisciplinary team meetings and to what extent hospice chaplains share common experiences within the interdisciplinary team approach in hospice. Hospice chaplains within a 10-state region participated in a 39-item phone survey about professional roles, group roles, and structural characteristics that influence their ability to participate in interdisciplinary collaboration. Findings revealed that professional role conflict is experienced, primarily with social workers. Informal group task and maintenance roles included team spiritual care advisor and conflict manager, and structural characteristics consisted of extracurricular communication outside of the organization. Although chaplains foster interdisciplinary collaboration within the hospice team, future research needs to address improvements to the chaplain's role within the interdisciplinary team process.
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Improving eye care in the primary health care setting
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
M de Wet
2000-09-01
Full Text Available One of the challenges facing primary health care in South Africa is the delivery of quality eye care to all South Africans. In this regard the role of the primary health care worker, as the first point of contact, is crucial. This paper reports on the problems primary health care workers experience in providing quality eye care in Region B of the Free State. Problems identified by those involved in the study include the cumbersome referral system, the unavailability of appropriate medicine at clinics, the insufficient knowledge of primary health care workers regarding eye conditions and the lack of communication between the various eye care service providers. Suggestions to address the problems identified included more in-service training of primary health care workers regarding eye conditions, liaison with NGO’s providing eye care, decentralisation of services and the establishment of an eye care committee in the region.
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Assessing the critical behavioral competencies of outstanding managed care primary care physicians.
Duberman, T L
1999-03-01
This study used job competence assessment to identify the behavioral characteristics that distinguish outstanding job performances of primary care physicians (PCPs) within a network-model HMO. Primary care physicians were chosen for the study based on six standard performance measures: (1) member satisfaction, (2) utilization, (3) patient complaints, (4) emergency room referrals, (5) out-of-network referrals, and (6) medical record completeness. Outstanding PCPs (N = 16) were identified as those performing within one standard deviation above the mean on all six of the performance measures. A control group of typical PCPs (N = 10) was selected from those performing outside the peer group mean on at least two performance measures. Subjects were administered the Behavioral Event Interview and the Picture Story Exercise. Higher overall competency levels of achievement orientation, concern for personal influence, empathic caregiving, and empowerment drive distinguished outstanding from typical PCPs. Outstanding PCPs also had higher overall frequency of competency in building team effectiveness and interpersonal understanding when compared with typical PCPs. This study suggests that PCP performance is the product of measurable competencies that are potentially amenable to improvement. Competency assessment and development of PCPs may benefit both organizational efficiency and physician and patient satisfaction.
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Hoogendijk, Emiel O; van der Horst, Henriëtte E; van de Ven, Peter M; Twisk, Jos W R; Deeg, Dorly J H; Frijters, Dinnus H M; van Leeuwen, Karen M; van Campen, Jos P C M; Nijpels, Giel; Jansen, Aaltje P D; van Hout, Hein P J
2016-03-01
Primary care-based comprehensive care programs have the potential to improve outcomes in frail older adults. We evaluated the impact of the Geriatric Care Model (GCM) on the quality of life of community-dwelling frail older adults. A 24-month stepped wedge cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted between May 2010 and March 2013 in 35 primary care practices in the Netherlands, and included 1147 frail older adults. The intervention consisted of a geriatric in-home assessment by a practice nurse, followed by a tailored care plan. Reassessment occurred every six months. Nurses worked together with primary care physicians and were supervised and trained by geriatric expert teams. Complex patients were reviewed in multidisciplinary consultations. The primary outcome was quality of life (SF-12). Secondary outcomes were health-related quality of life, functional limitations, self-rated health, psychological wellbeing, social functioning and hospitalizations. Intention-to-treat analyses based on multilevel modeling showed no significant differences between the intervention group and usual care regarding SF-12 and most secondary outcomes. Only for IADL limitations we found a small intervention effect in patients who received the intervention for 18months (B=-0.25, 95%CI=-0.43 to -0.06, p=0.007), but this effect was not statistically significant after correction for multiple comparisons. The GCM did not show beneficial effects on quality of life in frail older adults in primary care, compared to usual care. This study strengthens the idea that comprehensive care programs add very little to usual primary care for this population. The Netherlands National Trial Register NTR2160. Copyright © 2015 European Federation of Internal Medicine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Luger, Tana M; Volkman, Julie E; Rocheleau, Mary; Mueller, Nora; Barker, Anna M; Nazi, Kim M; Houston, Thomas K; Bokhour, Barbara G
2018-01-01
Background As information and communication technology is becoming more widely implemented across health care organizations, patient-provider email or asynchronous electronic secure messaging has the potential to support patient-centered communication. Within the medical home model of the Veterans Health Administration (VA), secure messaging is envisioned as a means to enhance access and strengthen the relationships between veterans and their health care team members. However, despite previous studies that have examined the content of electronic messages exchanged between patients and health care providers, less research has focused on the socioemotional aspects of the communication enacted through those messages. Objective Recognizing the potential of secure messaging to facilitate the goals of patient-centered care, the objectives of this analysis were to not only understand why patients and health care team members exchange secure messages but also to examine the socioemotional tone engendered in these messages. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional coding evaluation of a corpus of secure messages exchanged between patients and health care team members over 6 months at 8 VA facilities. We identified patients whose medical records showed secure messaging threads containing at least 2 messages and compiled a random sample of these threads. Drawing on previous literature regarding the analysis of asynchronous, patient-provider electronic communication, we developed a coding scheme comprising a series of a priori patient and health care team member codes. Three team members tested the scheme on a subset of the messages and then independently coded the sample of messaging threads. Results Of the 711 messages coded from the 384 messaging threads, 52.5% (373/711) were sent by patients and 47.5% (338/711) by health care team members. Patient and health care team member messages included logistical content (82.6%, 308/373 vs 89.1%, 301/338), were neutral in tone (70
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TeamSTEPPS for health care risk managers: Improving teamwork and communication.
Cooke, Marcia
2016-07-01
Ineffective communication among the health care team is a leading cause of errors in the patient care setting. Studies assessing training related to communication and teamwork in the clinical team are prevalent, however, teamwork training at the administrative level is lacking. This includes individuals in leadership positions such as health care risk managers. The purpose was to determine the impact of an educational intervention on the knowledge and attitudes related to communication and teamwork in the health care risk management population. The educational intervention was an adaptation of a national teamwork training program and incorporated didactic content as well as video vignettes and small group activities. Measurement of knowledge and attitudes were used to determine the impact of the education program. Knowledge and attitudes were assessed pre- and postcourse. Findings indicate that teamwork education tailored to the needs of the specific audience resulted in knowledge gained and improved attitudes toward the components of teamwork. The attitudes that most significantly improved were related to team structure and situation monitoring. There was no improvement in participants' attitudes toward leadership, mutual support, and communication. Team training has been shown to improve safety culture, patient satisfaction, and clinical outcomes. Including risk managers in training on teamwork, communication, and collaboration can serve to foster a common language among clinicians and management. In addition, a measurement related to implementation in the health care setting may yield insight into the impact of training. Qualitative measurement may allow the researcher to delve deeper into how these health care facilities are using team training interventions. © 2016 American Society for Healthcare Risk Management of the American Hospital Association.
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Panattoni, Laura; Hurlimann, Lily; Wilson, Caroline; Durbin, Meg; Tai-Seale, Ming
2017-04-19
Team-based chronic care models have not been widely adopted in community settings, partly due to their varying effectiveness in randomized control trials, implementation challenges, and concerns about physician acceptance. The Palo Alto Medical Foundation designed and implemented "Champion," a novel team-based model that includes new standard work (e.g. proactive patient outreach, pre-visit schedule grooming, depression screening, care planning, health coaching) to support patients' self-management of hypertension and diabetes. We investigated whether Champion improved clinical outcomes. We conducted a quasi-experimental study comparing the Champion clinic-level intervention (n = 38 physicians) with a usual care clinic (n = 37 physicians) in Northern California. The primary outcomes, blood pressure and glycohemoglobin (A1c), were analyzed using a piecewise linear growth curve model for patients exposed to a Champion physician visit (n = 3156) or usual care visit (n = 8034) in the two years prior and one year post implementation. Secondary outcomes were provider experience, compared at baseline and 12 months in both the intervention and usual care clinics using multi-level ordered logistic modeling, and electronic health record based fidelity measures. Compared to usual care, in the first 6 months after a Champion physician visit, diabetes patients aged 18-75 experienced an additional -1.13 mm Hg (95% CI: -2.23 to -0.04) decline in diastolic blood pressure and -0.47 (95% CI: -0.61 to -0.33) decline in A1c. There were no additional improvements in blood pressure or A1c 6 to 12 months post physician visit. At 12 months, Champion physicians reported improved experience with managing chronic care patients in 6 of 7 survey items (p work was uneven; depression screening was the most commonly documented element (85% of patients), while care plans were the least (30.8% of patients). Champion standard work improved glycemic control over the first 6
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Toward a strategy of patient-centered access to primary care.
Berry, Leonard L; Beckham, Dan; Dettman, Amy; Mead, Robert
2014-10-01
Patient-centered access (PCA) to primary care services is rapidly becoming an imperative for efficiently delivering high-quality health care to patients. To enhance their PCA-related efforts, some medical practices and health systems have begun to use various tactics, including team-based care, satellite clinics, same-day and group appointments, greater use of physician assistants and nurse practitioners, and remote access to health services. However, few organizations are addressing the PCA imperative comprehensively by integrating these various tactics to develop an overall PCA management strategy. Successful integration means taking into account the changing competitive and reimbursement landscape in primary care, conducting an evidence-based assessment of the barriers and benefits of PCA implementation, and attending to the particular needs of the institution engaged in this important effort. This article provides a blueprint for creating a multifaceted but coordinated PCA strategy-one aimed squarely at making patient access a centerpiece of how health care is delivered. The case of a Wisconsin-based health system is used as an illustrative example of how other institutions might begin to conceive their fledgling PCA strategies without proposing it as a one-size-fits-all model. Copyright © 2014 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Pinto, Luiz Felipe; Rocha, Cristianne Maria Famer
2016-05-01
Social media has been used in different contexts as a way to streamline the flow of data and information for decision making. This has contributed to the issue of knowledge production in networks and the expansion of communication channels so that there is greater access to health services. This article describes the results of research done on 16 Information Technology and Communications Observatories in Health Care - OTICS Network in Rio - covering the Municipal Health Secretariat in Rio de Janeiro which supported the integration of primary health care and promoted the monitoring of health. It is a descriptive case study. The results relate to the support given to employees in training covering the dissemination of information, communication, training and information management in primary health care. This innovative means of communication in public health, with very little cost to the Unified Health System (SUS), allowed for a weekly registering of work processes for teams that worked in 193 primary health care units (APS) using blogs, whose total accesses reached the seven million mark in mid-2015. In the future there is a possibility that distance learning tools could be used to assist in training processes and in the continuing education of professionals in family health teams.
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Team collaborative innovation management based on primary pipes automatic welding project
International Nuclear Information System (INIS)
Li Jing; Wang Dong; Zhang Ke
2012-01-01
The welding quality of primary pipe directly affects the safe operation of nuclear power plants. Primary pipe automatic welding, first of its kind in China, is a complex systematic project involving many facets, such as design, manufacturing, material, and on-site construction. A R and D team was formed by China Guangdong Nuclear Power Engineering Co., Ltd. (CNPEC) together with other domestic nuclear power design institutes, and manufacturing and construction enterprises. According to the characteristics of nuclear power plant construction, and adopting team collaborative innovation management mode, through project co-ordination, resources allocation and building production, education and research collaborative innovation platform, CNPEC successfully developed the primary pipe automatic welding technique which has been widely applied to the construction of nuclear power plant, creating considerable economic benefits. (authors)
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Kim, Mi Ja; Chung, Hyang-In Cho; Ahn, Yang Heui
2008-03-01
This study aimed to describe the range of participation of nursing faculty members and their collaborators in multidisciplinary primary health care in Korea and to analyze facilitators, benefits, barriers, and learned lessons. An exploratory descriptive research design was utilized. A total of 13 nursing faculty members and 13 multidisciplinary collaborators were interviewed face to face using a brief questionnaire and semi-structured interview guide. Descriptive statistics, comparative analysis, and content analysis were used for data analysis. About 43% of the nursing faculty had multidisciplinary primary health care experience. Facilitators included a government-funded research/demonstration project, personal belief and expertise in primary health care, and well-delineated role boundaries. Benefits included improved quality of life, more convenient community life, meeting multifaceted needs of community residents, and enhanced research activities. Barriers were lack of teamwork; territoriality and self-protective behaviors; lack of insight into primary health care among stakeholders; nurses undervaluing their work; and the rigid bureaucratic system of public health centers. Learned lessons were the importance of teamwork and its synergistic benefits, the importance of conducting clinically relevant research, having the government's support in the improvement of public health, developing health policies through multidisciplinary primary health care (M-D PHC) work, and respecting each other's territory and expertise. Teamwork should be included in all health professions' curricula, and nursing clinical practicums should include primary health care in all specialty areas. More faculties should engage in multidisciplinary primary health care. The benefits of a multidisciplinary approach to primary health care outweigh the difficulties experienced by multidisciplinary team members. The findings of this study may be useful for future multidisciplinary primary health
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Dhollander, Naomi; Deliens, Luc; Van Belle, Simon; De Vleminck, Aline; Pardon, Koen
2018-05-01
To date, no randomised controlled trials on the integration of specialised palliative home care into oncology care have been identified. Information on whether existing models of integrated care are applicable to the home care system and how working procedures and skills of the palliative care teams might require adaptation is missing. To gain insight into differences between early and late involvement and the effect on existing working procedures and skills as perceived by palliative home care teams. Qualitative study - focus group interviews. Six palliative home care teams in Flanders, Belgium. Participants included physicians, nurses and psychologists. Differences were found concerning (1) reasons for initiation, (2) planning of care process, (3) focus on future goals versus problems, (4) opportunity to provide holistic care, (5) empowerment of patients and (6) empowerment of professional caregivers. A shift from a medical approach to a more holistic approach is the most noticeable. Being involved earlier also results in a more structured follow-up and in empowering the patient to be part of the decision-making process. Early involvement creates the need for transmural collaboration, which leads to the teams taking on more supporting and coordinating tasks. Being involved earlier leads to different tasks and working procedures and to the need for transmural collaboration. Future research might focus on the development of an intervention model for the early integration of palliative home care into oncology care. To develop this model, components of existing models might need to be adapted or extended.
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Hungin, A P S; Molloy-Bland, M; Claes, R; Heidelbaugh, J; Cayley, W E; Muris, J; Seifert, B; Rubin, G; de Wit, N
2014-11-01
To review studies on the perceptions, diagnosis and management of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in primary care. Systematic searches of PubMed and Embase. Of 746 initial search hits, 29 studies were included. Relatively few primary care physicians were aware of (2-36%; nine studies) or used (0-21%; six studies) formal diagnostic criteria for IBS. Nevertheless, most could recognise the key IBS symptoms of abdominal pain, bloating and disturbed defaecation. A minority of primary care physicians [7-32%; one study (six European countries)] preferred to refer patients to a specialist before making an IBS diagnosis, and few patients [4-23%; three studies (two European, one US)] were referred to a gastroenterologist by their primary care physician. Most PCPs were unsure about IBS causes and treatment effectiveness, leading to varied therapeutic approaches and broad but frequent use of diagnostic tests. Diagnostic tests, including colon investigations, were more common in older patients (>45 years) than in younger patients [<45 years; five studies (four European, one US)]. There has been much emphasis about the desirability of an initial positive diagnosis of IBS. While it appears most primary care physicians do make a tentative IBS diagnosis from the start, they still tend to use additional testing to confirm it. Although an early, positive diagnosis has advantages in avoiding unnecessary investigations and costs, until formal diagnostic criteria are conclusively shown to sufficiently exclude organic disease, bowel investigations, such as colonoscopy, will continue to be important to primary care physicians. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Furbish, Shannon M L; Kroehl, Miranda E; Loeb, Danielle F; Lam, Huong Mindy; Lewis, Carmen L; Nelson, Jennifer; Chow, Zeta; Trinkley, Katy E
2017-08-01
Benzodiazepines are prescribed inappropriately in up to 40% of outpatients. The purpose of this study is to describe a collaborative team-based care model in which clinical pharmacists work with primary care providers (PCPs) to improve the safe use of benzodiazepines for anxiety and sleep disorders and to assess the preliminary results of the impact of the clinical service on patient outcomes. Adult patients were eligible if they received care from the academic primary care clinic, were prescribed a benzodiazepine chronically, and were not pregnant or managed by psychiatry. Outcomes included baseline PCP confidence and knowledge of appropriate benzodiazepine use, patient symptom severity, and medication changes. Twenty-five of 57 PCPs responded to the survey. PCPs reported greater confidence in diagnosing and treating generalized anxiety and panic disorders than sleep disorder and had variable knowledge of appropriate benzodiazepine prescribing. Twenty-nine patients had at least 1 visit. Over 44 total patient visits, 59% resulted in the addition or optimization of a nonbenzodiazepine medication and 46% resulted in the discontinuation or optimization of a benzodiazepine. Generalized anxiety symptom severity scores significantly improved (-2.0; 95% confidence interval (CI): -3.57 to -0.43). Collaborative team-based models that include clinical pharmacists in primary care can assist in optimizing high-risk benzodiazepine use. Although these findings suggest improvements in safe medication use and symptoms, additional studies are needed to confirm these preliminary results.
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Interprofessional team management in pediatric critical care: some challenges and possible solutions
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Stocker M
2016-02-01
Full Text Available Martin Stocker,1 Sina B Pilgrim,2 Margarita Burmester,3 Meredith L Allen,4 Wim H Gijselaers5 1Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Children's Hospital Lucerne, Lucerne, 2Pediatric Intensive Care, University Children's Hospital Berne, Berne, Switzerland; 3Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Royal Brompton Hospital, London, UK; 4Department of Pediatrics, The Royal Children's Hospital, Victoria, Australia; 5Educational Research and Development, School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands Background: Aiming for and ensuring effective patient safety is a major priority in the management and culture of every health care organization. The pediatric intensive care unit (PICU has become a workplace with a high diversity of multidisciplinary physicians and professionals. Therefore, delivery of high-quality care with optimal patient safety in a PICU is dependent on effective interprofessional team management. Nevertheless, ineffective interprofessional teamwork remains ubiquitous.Methods: We based our review on the framework for interprofessional teamwork recently published in association with the UK Centre for Advancement of Interprofessional Education. Articles were selected to achieve better understanding and to include and translate new ideas and concepts.Findings: The barrier between autonomous nurses and doctors in the PICU within their silos of specialization, the failure of shared mental models, a culture of disrespect, and the lack of empowering parents as team members preclude interprofessional team management and patient safety. A mindset of individual responsibility and accountability embedded in a network of equivalent partners, including the patient and their family members, is required to achieve optimal interprofessional care. Second, working competently as an interprofessional team is a learning process. Working declared as a learning process, psychological safety, and speaking up are pivotal
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Evaluation of Team-Based Care in an Urban Free Clinic Setting.
Iddins, Brenda W; Frank, Jennifer Sandson; Kannar, Pegah; Curry, William A; Mullins, Melissa; Hites, Lisle; Selleck, Cynthia
2015-01-01
This article reports the experiences of a school of nursing, academic health center, and community-based organization working via an interprofessional collaborative practice model to meet the mutual goal of serving the health care needs of an indigent, largely minority population in Birmingham, Alabama. The population suffers disproportionately from chronic health problems including diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, asthma, and mental health disorders. The program emphasizes diabetes management because the academic health center recognized the need for transitional and primary care, including mental health services, for the increasing numbers of uninsured patients with diabetes and its comorbidities. Half of the clinicians involved in this project had no prior experience with interprofessional collaborative practice, and there was confusion regarding the roles of team members from the partnering institutions. Activities involving care coordination consistently received low scores on weekly rating scales leading to the creation of positions for a nurse care manager and pharmaceutical patient assistance program coordinator. Conversely, shared decision making and cooperation ratings were consistently high. Evaluation identified the need for reliable, accessible data and data analysis to target clinically effective interventions and care coordination and to assess cost effectiveness. The strengths, challenges, lessons learned, and next steps required for sustainability of this alignment are discussed.
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Sakashita, Akihiro; Kishino, Megumi; Nakazawa, Yoko; Yotani, Nobuyuki; Yamaguchi, Takashi; Kizawa, Yoshiyuki
2016-07-01
To clarify how highly active hospital palliative care teams can provide efficient and effective care regardless of the lack of full-time palliative care physicians. Semistructured focus group interviews were conducted, and content analysis was performed. A total of 7 physicians and 6 nurses participated. We extracted 209 codes from the transcripts and organized them into 3 themes and 21 categories, which were classified as follows: (1) tips for managing palliative care teams efficiently and effectively (7 categories); (2) ways of acquiring specialist palliative care expertise (9 categories); and (3) ways of treating symptoms that are difficult to alleviate (5 categories). The findings of this study can be used as a nautical chart of hospital-based palliative care team (HPCT) without full-time PC physician. Full-time nurses who have high management and coordination abilities play a central role in resource-limited HPCTs. © The Author(s) 2015.
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Palliative care teams: effective through moral reflection.
Hermsen, M.A.; Have, H.A.M.J. ten
2005-01-01
Working as a multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary team is an essential condition to provide good palliative care. This widespread assumption is based on the idea that teamwork makes it possible to address the various needs of the patient and family more effectively. This article is about teamwork
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Dueweke, Aubrey R; Rojas, Sasha M; Anastasia, Elizabeth A; Bridges, Ana J
2017-09-01
We examined whether brief behavioral health visits reduced suicidal and self-harm ideation among primary care patients and compared the effectiveness of interventions that targeted ideation directly (i.e., safety planning) with those that targeted ideation indirectly through management of underlying mental illness (e.g., behavioral activation). We examined first- and last-visit data from 31 primary care patients with suicidal or self-harm ideation seen by behavioral health consultants. Patients reported significantly lower frequencies of suicidal and self-harm ideation at their final visit than at their initial visit. Patients whose ideation was targeted directly showed greater improvements than patients whose ideation was targeted indirectly. Although preliminary, results suggest mild to moderate suicidal ideation could be addressed in primary care through integration of behavioral health consultants into the medical team. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).
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Hogan, Timothy P; Luger, Tana M; Volkman, Julie E; Rocheleau, Mary; Mueller, Nora; Barker, Anna M; Nazi, Kim M; Houston, Thomas K; Bokhour, Barbara G
2018-03-08
As information and communication technology is becoming more widely implemented across health care organizations, patient-provider email or asynchronous electronic secure messaging has the potential to support patient-centered communication. Within the medical home model of the Veterans Health Administration (VA), secure messaging is envisioned as a means to enhance access and strengthen the relationships between veterans and their health care team members. However, despite previous studies that have examined the content of electronic messages exchanged between patients and health care providers, less research has focused on the socioemotional aspects of the communication enacted through those messages. Recognizing the potential of secure messaging to facilitate the goals of patient-centered care, the objectives of this analysis were to not only understand why patients and health care team members exchange secure messages but also to examine the socioemotional tone engendered in these messages. We conducted a cross-sectional coding evaluation of a corpus of secure messages exchanged between patients and health care team members over 6 months at 8 VA facilities. We identified patients whose medical records showed secure messaging threads containing at least 2 messages and compiled a random sample of these threads. Drawing on previous literature regarding the analysis of asynchronous, patient-provider electronic communication, we developed a coding scheme comprising a series of a priori patient and health care team member codes. Three team members tested the scheme on a subset of the messages and then independently coded the sample of messaging threads. Of the 711 messages coded from the 384 messaging threads, 52.5% (373/711) were sent by patients and 47.5% (338/711) by health care team members. Patient and health care team member messages included logistical content (82.6%, 308/373 vs 89.1%, 301/338), were neutral in tone (70.2%, 262/373 vs 82.0%, 277/338), and
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Primary care workforce development in Europe.
Groenewegen, P.; Heinemann, S.; Gress, S.; Schäfer, W.
2014-01-01
Background: There is a large variation in the organization of primary care in Europe. In some health care systems, primary care is the gatekeeper to more specialized care, whilst in others patients have the choice between a wide range of providers. Primary care has increasingly become teamwork.
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Dale, Jeremy; Roscoe, Julia; Hamborg, Thomas; Ahmedzai, Sam H; Arvanitis, Theodoros N; Badger, Douglas; James, Nicholas; Mendelsohn, Richard; Khan, Omar; Parashar, Deepak; Patel, Prashant
2017-01-01
Background The potential of technology to aid integration of care delivery systems is being explored in a range of contexts across a variety of conditions in the United Kingdom. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in UK men. With a 10-year survival rate of 84%, there is a need to explore innovative methods of care that are integrated between primary health care providers and specialist teams in order to address long-term consequences of the disease and its treatment as well as to provide continued monitoring for recurrence. Objective Our aim was to test the feasibility of a randomized controlled trial to compare a model of prostate cancer continuing and follow-up care integration, underpinned by digital technology, with usual care in terms of clinical and cost-effectiveness, patient-reported outcomes, and experience. Methods A first phase of the study has included development of an online adaptive prostate specific Holistic Needs Assessment system (HNA), training for primary care-based nurses, training of an IT peer supporter, and interviews with health care professionals and men with prostate cancer to explore views of their care, experience of technology, and views of the proposed intervention. In Phase 2, men in the intervention arm will complete the HNA at home to help identify and articulate concerns and share them with their health care professionals, in both primary and specialist care. Participants in the control arm will receive usual care. Outcomes including quality of life and well-being, prostate-specific concerns, and patient enablement will be measured 3 times over a 9-month period. Results Findings from phase 1 indicated strong support for the intervention among men, including those who had had little experience of digital technology. Men expressed a range of views on ways that the online system might be used within a clinical pathway. Health care professionals gave valuable feedback on how the output of the assessment might be presented to
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Bridging the gap in ageing: Translating policies into practice in Malaysian Primary Care
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ambigga Krishnapillai S
2011-03-01
Full Text Available Abstract Population ageing is poised to become a major challenge to the health system as Malaysia progresses to becoming a developed nation by 2020. This article aims to review the various ageing policy frameworks available globally; compare aged care policies and health services in Malaysia with Australia; and discuss various issues and challenges in translating these policies into practice in the Malaysian primary care system. Fundamental solutions identified to bridge the gap include restructuring of the health care system, development of comprehensive benefit packages for older people under the national health financing scheme, training of the primary care workforce, effective use of electronic medical records and clinical guidelines; and empowering older people and their caregivers with knowledge, skills and positive attitudes to ageing and self care. Ultimately, family medicine specialists must become the agents for change to lead multidisciplinary teams and work with various agencies to ensure that better coordination, continuity and quality of care are eventually delivered to older patients across time and settings.
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[Self-perception of health care team leaders in Andalusia. A quantitative and qualitative study].
García-Romera, I; Danet, A; March-Cerdà, J C
To determine the perception and self-assessment on leadership among health care team leaders in Andalusia. Design: Exploratory descriptive study using quantitative and qualitative methodology, developed between 2013 and 2015, using a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. Andalusia. All health managers from the Primary Care Management Units and Health Management Areas of the Departments of Paediatrics, Emergency and Internal Medicine, for the quantitative study. A purposive sample of 24 health managers was used for the qualitative study. Descriptive statistical study and bivariate analysis of comparison of means. Content analysis of the semi-structured interviews: Codification, category tree, and triangulation of results. The best self-assessment dimension relates to support, and the worst to considering oneself as a 'good leader'. The definition of a 'good leader' includes: Honesty, trust, and attitudes of good communication, closeness, appreciation, and reinforcement of the health team members. Different leadership styles were perceived. Main difficulties for leadership are related to the economic crisis and the management of personal conflicts. Health managers describe an adaptive leadership style, based on personal and professional support, and using communication as the main cohesive element for the team project. More studies on leaders' perspectives are important, in order to better understand their experiences, needs and expectations. Copyright © 2016 SECA. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.
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Stocker, Martin; Pilgrim, Sina B; Burmester, Margarita; Allen, Meredith L; Gijselaers, Wim H
2016-01-01
Aiming for and ensuring effective patient safety is a major priority in the management and culture of every health care organization. The pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) has become a workplace with a high diversity of multidisciplinary physicians and professionals. Therefore, delivery of high-quality care with optimal patient safety in a PICU is dependent on effective interprofessional team management. Nevertheless, ineffective interprofessional teamwork remains ubiquitous. We based our review on the framework for interprofessional teamwork recently published in association with the UK Centre for Advancement of Interprofessional Education. Articles were selected to achieve better understanding and to include and translate new ideas and concepts. The barrier between autonomous nurses and doctors in the PICU within their silos of specialization, the failure of shared mental models, a culture of disrespect, and the lack of empowering parents as team members preclude interprofessional team management and patient safety. A mindset of individual responsibility and accountability embedded in a network of equivalent partners, including the patient and their family members, is required to achieve optimal interprofessional care. Second, working competently as an interprofessional team is a learning process. Working declared as a learning process, psychological safety, and speaking up are pivotal factors to learning in daily practice. Finally, changes in small steps at the level of the microlevel unit are the bases to improve interprofessional team management and patient safety. Once small things with potential impact can be changed in one's own unit, engagement of health care professionals occurs and projects become accepted. Bottom-up patient safety initiatives encouraging participation of every single care provider by learning effective interprofessional team management within daily practice may be an effective way of fostering patient safety.
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Wong, Sabrina T; Chau, Leena W; Hogg, William; Teare, Gary F; Miedema, Baukje; Breton, Mylaine; Aubrey-Bassler, Kris; Katz, Alan; Burge, Fred; Boivin, Antoine; Cooke, Tim; Francoeur, Danièle; Wodchis, Walter P
2015-02-18
Performance reporting in primary health care in Canada is challenging because of the dearth of concise and synthesized information. The paucity of information occurs, in part, because the majority of primary health care in Canada is delivered through a multitude of privately owned small businesses with no mechanism or incentives to provide information about their performance. The purpose of this paper is to report the methods used to recruit family physicians and their patients across 10 provinces to provide self-reported information about primary care and how this information could be used in recruitment and data collection for future large scale pan-Canadian and other cross-country studies. Canada participated in an international large scale study-the QUALICO-PC (Quality and Costs of Primary Care) study. A set of four surveys, designed to collect in-depth information regarding primary care activities was collected from: practices, providers, and patients (experiences and values). Invitations (telephone, electronic or mailed) were sent to family physicians. Eligible participants were sent a package of surveys. Provincial teams kept records on the number of: invitation emails/letters sent, physicians who registered, practices that were sent surveys, and practices returning completed surveys. Response and cooperation rates were calculated. Invitations to participate were sent to approximately 23,000 family physicians across Canada. A total of 792 physicians and 8,332 patients from 772 primary care practices completed the surveys, including 1,160 participants completing a Patient Values survey and 7,172 participants completing a Patient Experience survey. Overall, the response rate was very low ranging from 2% (British Columbia) to 21% (Nova Scotia). However, the participation rate was high, ranging from 72% (Ontario) to 100% (New Brunswick/Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland & Labrador). The difficulties obtaining acceptable response rates by family physicians for
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Clinical support role for a pharmacy technician within a primary care resource center.
Fera, Toni; Kanel, Keith T; Bolinger, Meghan L; Fink, Amber E; Iheasirim, Serah
2018-02-01
The creation of a clinical support role for a pharmacy technician within a primary care resource center is described. In the Primary Care Resource Center (PCRC) Project, hospital-based care transition coordination hubs staffed by nurses and pharmacist teams were created in 6 independent community hospitals. At the largest site, patient volume for targeted diseases challenged the ability of the PCRC pharmacist to provide expected elements of care to targeted patients. Creation of a new pharmacy technician clinical support role was implemented as a cost-effective option to increase the pharmacist's efficiency. The pharmacist's work processes were reviewed and technical functions identified that could be assigned to a specially trained pharmacy technician under the direction of the PCRC pharmacist. Daily tasks performed by the pharmacy technician included maintenance of the patient roster and pending discharges, retrieval and documentation of pertinent laboratory and diagnostic test information from the patient's medical record, assembly of patient medication education materials, and identification of discrepancies between disparate systems' medication records. In the 6 months after establishing the PCRC pharmacy technician role, the pharmacist's completion of comprehensive medication reviews (CMRs) for target patients increased by 40.5% ( p = 0.0223), driven largely by a 42.4% ( p technician to augment pharmacist care in a PCRC team extended the reach of the pharmacist and allowed more time for the pharmacist to engage patients. Technician support enabled the pharmacist to complete more CMRs and reduced the time required for chart reviews. Copyright © 2018 by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Vesna Ilakovac
2008-02-01
Full Text Available Aim Health care system in the Croatia is undergoing major reforms,including re-organization of primary healthcare officesfrom being a part of state-governed primary healthcare units intoprivate practices. To be successful, private practitioner’s teamshave to acquire new skills and knowledge from the fields of legalprovisions, financial management, and capital management of humanresources.Methods 48 teams underwent education in management conductedby a licensed health care manager and a lawyer and an economistspecialist for health care systems, while 54 teams did not undergoany kind of education to prepare them for the market.Results The results of sanitary, financial, tax, health insurance inspectionand audition were satisfactory after three years of followup. Proportion of positive inspection results was stable during thefollow-up period in both groups, but was significantly higher in thegroup with training comparing to the group without training foreach year. Participants in the group with training paid less incometaxes in each year and on average during the 3-year follow-up period,amounts of income tax paid in the second and third year did notdiffer, but were significantly less than in the first year. Amounts ofincome tax significantly changed during the follow-up period inboth groups. There is no significant difference in the number ofwork disputes between the groups.Conclusion Good preparation of future private entrepreneurshipdoctors gave positive long-term results in functioning of privatemedical offices, and should be recommended as a standard.
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Chukwudozie, Ifeanyi Beverly; Fitzgibbon, Marian L; Schiffer, Linda; Berbaum, Michael; Gilmartin, Cheryl; David, Pyone; Ekpo, Eson; Fischer, Michael J; Porter, Anna C; Aziz-Bradley, Alana; Hynes, Denise M
2018-05-23
Patients with chronic kidney disease have a high disease burand may benefit from primary care services and care coord A medical home model with direct access to primary care services is one approach that may address this need, yet has not been examined. As a substudy of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) patient-centered medical home for kidney disease (PCMH-KD) health system intervention study, we examined the uptake of free primary care physician (PCP) services. The PCORI PCMH-KD study was an initial step toward integrating PCPs, a nurse coordinator, a pharmacist, and community health workers (CHWs) within the health care delivery team. Adult chronic hemodialysis (CHD) at two urban dialysis centers were enrolled in the intervention. We examined trends and factors associated with the use of the PCMH-KD PCP among two groups of patients based on their report of having a regular physician for at least six months (established-PCP) or not (no-PCP). Of the 173 enrolled patients, 91 (53%) patients had at least one visit with the PCMH-KD PCP. The rate of visits was higher in those in the no-PCP group compared with those in the established-PCP group (62% vs. 41%, respectively). Having more visits with the CHW was positively associated with having a visit with the PCMH-KD PCPs for both groups. Embedded CHWs within the care team played a role in facilithe uptake of PCMH-KD PCP. Lessons from this health system intervention can inform future approaches on the integration of PCPs and care coordination for CHD patients.
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[Challenges in primary health care: the experience in Vila Mariana District, São Paulo, Brazil].
Villela, Wilza Vieira; Araújo, Eliane Cardoso de; Ribeiro, Sandra Aparecida; Cuginotti, Aloísio Punhagui; Hayana, Eliana Tiemi; Brito, Francisco Carlos de; Ramos, Luiz Roberto
2009-06-01
This article presents the results of a case study aimed at identifying challenges for the delivery of primary health care in a health district in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, considering comprehensiveness as a central device for organizing work at this level of care. Five units in the district's primary care network were studied. We collected the data by observing work routines and flows, conducting interviews with managers and health professionals from different backgrounds, and through focus groups with family health teams. The analysis shows a mismatch between users' characteristics and their presumed needs and the heterogeneity of the health professionals' perceptions concerning their work. Lack of staff and time and difficulties with referrals were the main problems identified by interviewees.
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Interprofessional practice in primary care: development of a tailored process model
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Stans SEA
2013-04-01
Full Text Available Steffy EA Stans, JG Anita Stevens, Anna JHM Beurskens Research Center of Autonomy and Participation for Persons with a Chronic Illness, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, Heerlen, The Netherlands Purpose: This study investigated the improvement of interprofessional practice in primary care by performing the first three steps of the implementation model described by Grol et al. This article describes the targets for improvement in a setting for children with complex care needs (step 1, the identification of barriers and facilitators influencing interprofessional practice (step 2, and the development of a tailored interprofessional process model (step 3. Methods: In step 2, thirteen qualitative semistructured interviews were held with several stakeholders, including parents of children, an occupational therapist, a speech and language therapist, a physical therapist, the manager of the team, two general practitioners, a psychologist, and a primary school teacher. The data were analyzed using directed content analysis and using the domains of the Chronic Care Model as a framework. In step 3, a project group was formed to develop helpful strategies, including the development of an interprofessional process through process mapping. Results: In step 2, it was found that the most important barriers to implementing interprofessional practice related to the lack of structure in the care process. A process model for interprofessional primary care was developed for the target group. Conclusion: The lack of a shared view of what is involved in the process of interprofessional practice was the most important barrier to its successful implementation. It is suggested that the tailored process developed, supported with the appropriate tools, may provide both professional staff and their clients, in this setting but also in other areas of primary care, with insight to the care process and a clear representation of "who should do what, when, and how." Keywords
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Towards a model for integrative medicine in Swedish primary care
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Falkenberg Torkel
2007-07-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background Collaboration between providers of conventional care and complementary therapies (CTs has gained in popularity but there is a lack of conceptualised models for delivering such care, i.e. integrative medicine (IM. The aim of this paper is to describe some key findings relevant to the development and implementation of a proposed model for IM adapted to Swedish primary care. Methods Investigative procedures involved research group and key informant meetings with multiple stakeholders including general practitioners, CT providers, medical specialists, primary care administrators and county council representatives. Data collection included meeting notes which were fed back within the research group and used as ongoing working documents. Data analysis was made by immersion/crystallisation and research group consensus. Results were categorised within a public health systems framework of structures, processes and outcomes. Results The outcome was an IM model that aimed for a patient-centered, interdisciplinary, non-hierarchical mix of conventional and complementary medical solutions to individual case management of patients with pain in the lower back and/or neck. The IM model case management adhered to standard clinical practice including active partnership between a gate-keeping general practitioner, collaborating with a team of CT providers in a consensus case conference model of care. CTs with an emerging evidence base included Swedish massage therapy, manual therapy/naprapathy, shiatsu, acupuncture and qigong. Conclusion Despite identified barriers such as no formal recognition of CT professions in Sweden, it was possible to develop a model for IM adapted to Swedish primary care. The IM model calls for testing and refinement in a pragmatic randomised controlled trial to explore its clinical effectiveness.
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Wojnar, Danuta M; Whelan, Ellen Marie
With the current emphasis on including registered nurses (RNs) on the primary care teams, it is essential that nursing programs prepare students for employment in these settings. This study explored the current state of prelicensure and RN-to-Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) online education regarding the implementation of primary care content in the curricula. A sample of 1,409 schools and/or colleges from across the United States was invited to participate in an online survey. About 529 surveys were returned for an overall response rate of 37.5%. Summative content analysis was used to analyze survey data. Although most respondents have implemented some primary care content, some found it challenging and others have demurred from incorporating primary care content altogether. Nursing leaders and faculty in academia must collaborate with clinical partners to design and expand didactic and clinical learning experiences that emphasize primary care content in the prelicensure and RN-to-BSN education. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Substance use among persons with homeless experience in primary care.
Stringfellow, Erin J; Kim, Theresa W; Gordon, Adam J; Pollio, David E; Grucza, Richard A; Austin, Erika L; Johnson, N Kay; Kertesz, Stefan G
2016-01-01
Community survey data suggest high prevalence of substance use disorders among currently homeless individuals. There are less data regarding illicit drug and alcohol use problems of homeless-experienced persons engaged in primary care. They may have less severe use and require different care responses from primary care teams. The authors surveyed currently and formerly homeless, i.e., homeless-experienced, persons engaged in primary care at five federally funded programs in the United States, administering the World Health Organization (WHO) Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST). The ASSIST definitions of lower, moderate, and high risk were used to assess a spectrum of lifetime and recent substance use, from any use to likely dependence, and to identify sociodemographic and health status characteristics associated with severity of use. Almost one half of the sample (N = 601) had recently (within the past three months) used alcohol, and one third had recently used an illicit drug. The most commonly used illicit drugs in the past three months were cannabis (19%), cocaine (16%), and opioids (7.5%). Over one half (59%) of respondents had ASSIST-defined moderate- or high-risk substance use. A significant proportion (31%) of those identified as at moderate risk had no recent substance use, but did report past problematic use. Ten percent of the lower-risk group had past problematic use of alcohol. Severity of use was associated with worse health status, but not with housing status or type of homelessness experienced. Less severe (moderate-risk) use and past problematic use, potentially indicative of remitted substance use disorders, were more common than high-risk use in this primary care, homeless-experienced sample. These findings highlight the urgency of identifying effective ways to reduce risky substance use and prevent relapse in homeless-experienced persons.
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Vector surveillance and eradication in primary health care
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Ada Crespo Guzmán
2011-08-01
Full Text Available A bibliographical revision was done about in Dengue fever and the control that is carrier on against the Aedes aegypti “mosquito”, the principal agent that treatments this illness, with the objective of describing the functioning of the Control and Elimination Program of the Mosquito in the Cuban Primary Health Care System. The main objective of this program is to avoid the Dengue epidemics and the loss of human life and the negative impact that will cost to, the socioeconomic development of over country. Accomplishing the promotion, prevention and controlling actions by the basic health care team the mosquito campaign workers and our population, the vector infestation index has been diminished below 0.5 in the last five years. It is important to point out that the rapid decisions taken by our government and its consequent efforts and political willingness has made this program sustained.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Bosch Marije
2009-05-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background Within implementation research, using theory-based approaches to understanding the behaviours of healthcare professionals and the quality of care that they reflect and designing interventions to change them is being promoted. However, such approaches lead to a new range of methodological and theoretical challenges pre-eminent among which are how to appropriately relate predictors of individual's behaviour to measures of the behaviour of healthcare professionals. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between the theory of planned behaviour proximal predictors of behaviour (intention and perceived behavioural control, or PBC and practice level behaviour. This was done in the context of two clinical behaviours – statin prescription and foot examination – in the management of patients with diabetes mellitus in primary care. Scores for the predictor variables were aggregated over healthcare professionals using four methods: simple mean of all primary care team members' intention scores; highest intention score combined with PBC of the highest intender in the team; highest intention score combined with the highest PBC score in the team; the scores (on both constructs of the team member identified as having primary responsibility for the clinical behaviour. Methods Scores on theory-based cognitive variables were collected by postal questionnaire survey from a sample of primary care doctors and nurses from northeast England and the Netherlands. Data on two clinical behaviours were patient reported, and collected by postal questionnaire survey. Planned analyses explored the predictive value of various aggregations of intention and PBC in explaining variance in the behavioural data. Results Across the two countries and two behaviours, responses were received from 37 to 78% of healthcare professionals in 57 to 93% practices; 51% (UK and 69% (Netherlands of patients surveyed responded. None of the aggregations of
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Godfrey, Marjorie M; Andersson-Gare, Boel; Nelson, Eugene C; Nilsson, Mats; Ahlstrom, Gerd
2014-05-01
To investigate health care improvement team coaching activities from the perspectives of coachees, coaches and unit leaders in two national improvement collaboratives. Despite numerous methods to improve health care, inconsistencies in success have been attributed to factors that include unengaged staff, absence of supportive improvement resources and organisational inertia. Mixed methods sequential exploratory study design, including quantitative and qualitative data from interprofessional improvement teams who received team coaching. The coachees (n = 382), coaches (n = 9) and leaders (n = 30) completed three different data collection tools identifying coaching actions perceived to support improvement activities. Coachees, coaches and unit leaders in both collaboratives reported generally positive perceptions about team coaching. Four categories of coaching actions were perceived to support improvement work: context, relationships, helping and technical support. All participants agreed that regardless of who the coach is, emphasis should include the four categories of team coaching actions. Leaders should reflect on their efforts to support improvement teams and consider the four categories of team coaching actions. A structured team coaching model that offers needed encouragement to keep the team energized, seems to support health care improvement. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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March, Sebastià; Jordán Martín, Matilde; Montaner Gomis, Isabel; Benedé Azagra, Carmen Belén; Elizalde Soto, Lázaro; Ramos, María
2014-01-01
To describe the health-promoting community activities developed in primary health care and compare types of activities and how they are performed among autonomous regions. A descriptive multicenter study was carried out in primary care in 5 Spanish regions. We included community activities consisting of non-sporadic activities, carried out in the previous year, with the participation of the primary care team, and the active participation of the community or as a cross-sector activity. The persons responsible for each of the 194 teams were asked if the team participated in community activities and, if so, a questionnaire was completed by the person responsible for each activity. The variables consisted of the topic addressed, the target population, the professionals involved, the time and scope of implementation, evaluation, theoretical perspectives, network registration, the involvement of the community and other agents, and evaluation of this involvement. A descriptive analysis was performed, stratified by region. We identified 183 community activities in 104 teams. Although there was wide variability among regions, most activities were related to general health, nutrition and emotional-sexual health and targeted the general population, children or parents and were carried out in educational or health centers. Participating professionals had a median of 4 years of experience and a median of 2.8 professionals were involved in each activity. A total of 72.5% of the activities were performed during working hours, 75% were evaluated, and 70% were supported by theoretical and methodological perspectives. Non-health sectors were involved in 65%, local government in 60%, and nongovernmental organizations in 58.5%. Nurses were involved in 85.8% of the activities, physicians in 38.5%, and social workers in 35%. Substantial variability was detected among regions. Wide variability was found in the types of activities and their application among the community activities
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Depressive Disorders in Primary Health Care
Vuorilehto, Maria
2008-01-01
The Vantaa Primary Care Depression Study (PC-VDS) is a naturalistic and prospective cohort study concerning primary care patients with depressive disorders. It forms a collaborative research project between the Department of Mental and Alcohol Research of the National Public Health Institute, and the Primary Health Care Organization of the City of Vantaa. The aim is to obtain a comprehensive view on clinically significant depression in primary care, and to compare depressive patients in prima...
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Kilpatrick, Kelley; Lavoie-Tremblay, Mélanie; Lamothe, Lise; Ritchie, Judith A; Doran, Diane
2013-01-01
This article describes a new conceptual framework for acute care nurse practitioner role enactment, boundary work and perceptions of team effectiveness. Acute care nurse practitioners contribute positively to patient care by enacting an expanded scope of practise. Researchers have found both positive and negative reactions to the introduction of acute care nurse practitioners in healthcare teams. The process of role enactment, shifting role boundaries, and perceptions of team effectiveness has been studied disparately. A framework linking team structures and processes to desirable outcomes is needed. Literature was obtained by searching CINAHL, PsycInfo, MedLine, PubMed, British Nursing Index, Cochrane Library, JSTOR Archive, Web of Science, and Google Scholar from 1985-2010. A descriptive multiple-case study was completed from March 2009-May 2009. A new conceptual framework describing how role enactment and boundary work affect perceptions of team effectiveness was developed by combining theoretical and empirical sources. The framework proposes proximal indicators used by team members to assess their team's performance. The framework identifies the inter-related dimensions and concepts that different stakeholders need to consider when introducing nurse practitioners in healthcare teams. Further study is needed to identify team-level outcomes that reflect the contributions of all providers to quality patient care, and explore the patients' and families' perceptions of team effectiveness following the introduction of acute care nurse practitioners. The new framework can guide decision-making and research related to the structures, processes, and outcomes of nurse practitioner roles in healthcare teams. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
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Nursing involvement in risk and patient safety management in Primary Care.
Coronado-Vázquez, Valle; García-López, Ana; López-Sauras, Susana; Turón Alcaine, José María
Patient safety and quality of care in a highly complex healthcare system depends not only on the actions of professionals at an individual level, but also on interaction with the environment. Proactive risk management in the system to prevent incidents and activities targeting healthcare teams is crucial in establishing a culture of safety in centres. Nurses commonly lead these safety strategies. Even though safety incidents are relatively infrequent in primary care, since the majority are preventable, actions at this level of care are highly effective. Certification of services according to ISO standard 9001:2008 focuses on risk management in the system and its use in certifying healthcare centres is helping to build a safety culture amongst professionals. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.
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Morris, Rebecca Lauren; Stocks, Susan Jill; Alam, Rahul; Taylor, Sian; Rolfe, Carly; Glover, Steven William; Whitcombe, Joanne; Campbell, Stephen M
2018-02-28
To identify the top 10 unanswered research questions for primary care patient safety research. A modified nominal group technique. UK. Anyone with experience of primary care including: patients, carers and healthcare professionals. 341 patients and 86 healthcare professionals submitted questions. A top 10, and top 30, future research questions for primary care patient safety. 443 research questions were submitted by 341 patients and 86 healthcare professionals, through a national survey. After checking for relevance and rephrasing, a total of 173 questions were collated into themes. The themes were largely focused on communication, team and system working, interfaces across primary and secondary care, medication, self-management support and technology. The questions were then prioritised through a national survey, the top 30 questions were taken forward to the final prioritisation workshop. The top 10 research questions focused on the most vulnerable in society, holistic whole-person care, safer communication and coordination between care providers, work intensity, continuity of care, suicide risk, complex care at home and confidentiality. This study was the first national prioritisation exercise to identify patient and healthcare professional priorities for primary care patient safety research. The research priorities identified a range of important gaps in the existing evidence to inform everyday practice to address primary care patient safety. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.
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Nanton, Veronica; Appleton, Rebecca; Dale, Jeremy; Roscoe, Julia; Hamborg, Thomas; Ahmedzai, Sam H; Arvanitis, Theodoros N; Badger, Douglas; James, Nicholas; Mendelsohn, Richard; Khan, Omar; Parashar, Deepak; Patel, Prashant
2017-07-28
The potential of technology to aid integration of care delivery systems is being explored in a range of contexts across a variety of conditions in the United Kingdom. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in UK men. With a 10-year survival rate of 84%, there is a need to explore innovative methods of care that are integrated between primary health care providers and specialist teams in order to address long-term consequences of the disease and its treatment as well as to provide continued monitoring for recurrence. Our aim was to test the feasibility of a randomized controlled trial to compare a model of prostate cancer continuing and follow-up care integration, underpinned by digital technology, with usual care in terms of clinical and cost-effectiveness, patient-reported outcomes, and experience. A first phase of the study has included development of an online adaptive prostate specific Holistic Needs Assessment system (HNA), training for primary care-based nurses, training of an IT peer supporter, and interviews with health care professionals and men with prostate cancer to explore views of their care, experience of technology, and views of the proposed intervention. In Phase 2, men in the intervention arm will complete the HNA at home to help identify and articulate concerns and share them with their health care professionals, in both primary and specialist care. Participants in the control arm will receive usual care. Outcomes including quality of life and well-being, prostate-specific concerns, and patient enablement will be measured 3 times over a 9-month period. Findings from phase 1 indicated strong support for the intervention among men, including those who had had little experience of digital technology. Men expressed a range of views on ways that the online system might be used within a clinical pathway. Health care professionals gave valuable feedback on how the output of the assessment might be presented to encourage engagement and uptake by
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Community participation in primary care in Ireland: the need for implementation research.
LENUS (Irish Health Repository)
McEvoy, Rachel
2012-04-30
There are now several decades of history of community participation in health, with significant international evidence to suggest that there is much to be gained by primary health services and disadvantaged communities working in partnership.In this paper we provide an overview of community participation in primary care, establishing the policy context in which a recent \\'Joint Initiative on Community Participation in Primary Health Care\\' was developed in Ireland. This Initiative was designed to support the involvement of disadvantaged communities and groups in the development of primary health care services at local level.An independent formative evaluation of the Joint Initiative took place between September 2009 and April 2010. We present a summary of key findings from this evaluation. We pay particular attention to the issue of sustaining community participation in newly developed Primary Care Teams (PCTs) in the current and changing economic climate, an issue considered crucial if the documented positive impacts of the Joint Initiative are to be maintained and the potential for health gains in the longer term are to be realised.We then argue that the Joint Initiative referred to in this paper clearly provides a strong prototype for community participation in PCTs in Ireland. We also ask whether it can be replicated across all PCTs in the country and embedded as a core part of thinking and everyday health care. We highlight the need for research to build knowledge about the ways in which innovations such as this can be embedded into ongoing, routine healthcare practice. This research agenda will have relevance for policy makers, practitioners and evaluators in Ireland and other healthcare jurisdictions.
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Team dynamics within quality improvement teams: a scoping review.
Rowland, Paula; Lising, Dean; Sinclair, Lynne; Baker, G Ross
2018-03-31
This scoping review examines what is known about the processes of quality improvement (QI) teams, particularly related to how teams impact outcomes. The aim is to provide research-informed guidance for QI leaders and to inform future research questions. Databases searched included: MedLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science and SCOPUS. Eligible publications were written in English, published between 1999 and 2016. Articles were included in the review if they examined processes of the QI team, were related to healthcare QI and were primary research studies. Studies were excluded if they had insufficient detail regarding QI team processes. Descriptive detail extracted included: authors, geographical region and health sector. The Integrated (Health Care) Team Effectiveness Model was used to synthesize findings of studies along domains of team effectiveness: task design, team process, psychosocial traits and organizational context. Over two stages of searching, 4813 citations were reviewed. Of those, 48 full-text articles are included in the synthesis. This review demonstrates that QI teams are not immune from dysfunction. Further, a dysfunctional QI team is not likely to influence practice. However, a functional QI team alone is unlikely to create change. A positive QI team dynamic may be a necessary but insufficient condition for implementing QI strategies. Areas for further research include: interactions between QI teams and clinical microsystems, understanding the role of interprofessional representation on QI teams and exploring interactions between QI team task, composition and process.
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Diabetes care provision in UK primary care practices.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Gillian Hawthorne
Full Text Available Although most people with Type 2 diabetes receive their diabetes care in primary care, only a limited amount is known about the quality of diabetes care in this setting. We investigated the provision and receipt of diabetes care delivered in UK primary care.Postal surveys with all healthcare professionals and a random sample of 100 patients with Type 2 diabetes from 99 UK primary care practices.326/361 (90.3% doctors, 163/186 (87.6% nurses and 3591 patients (41.8% returned a questionnaire. Clinicians reported giving advice about lifestyle behaviours (e.g. 88% would routinely advise about calorie restriction; 99.6% about increasing exercise more often than patients reported having received it (43% and 42% and correlations between clinician and patient report were low. Patients' reported levels of confidence about managing their diabetes were moderately high; a median (range of 21% (3% to 39% of patients reporting being not confident about various areas of diabetes self-management.Primary care practices have organisational structures in place and are, as judged by routine quality indicators, delivering high quality care. There remain evidence-practice gaps in the care provided and in the self confidence that patients have for key aspects of self management and further research is needed to address these issues. Future research should use robust designs and appropriately designed studies to investigate how best to improve this situation.
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Project ‘play and tell’: occupational therapy in primary health care
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Débora Barbosa e Alcântara
2012-12-01
Full Text Available This paper reports the experience of a “storytelling and playing” group that took place in a FamilyHealth Unit in Sao Carlos, State of Sao Paulo. The group was formed as from the evaluation of the occupationaltherapist in the context of Primary Health Care, which broadly considers the daily lives of the actors involved:children, one user of the system, and the health team. From the viewpoint of Occupational Therapy, with focuson the problems of the territory, interventions linking the following matters were proposed: individual care,collective care, and co-responsibility of the community and staff in pursuit of the resignificance of the everydaylives of the actors involved. This is a concrete example of paradigm shift from the existing health model to theprecepts of the Family Health Strategy, with the involvement of users and professionals from various areas.The occupational therapist identified different demands of the territory: the need for transformation of dailylife and routine of a user; the need for children’s leisure; and the desire of the health team to build this spacethrough a playroom. The possible combination of the user, children and the team’s everyday realities composedan intervention project based on the vision of the clinic expanded. The “playing and storytelling” was able toactually transform the health care model.
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Improving post-stroke recovery: the role of the multidisciplinary health care team
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Clarke DJ
2015-09-01
Full Text Available David J Clarke, Anne Forster Academic Unit of Elderly Care and Rehabilitation, Bradford Institute for Health Research, Bradford, UK Abstract: Stroke is a leading cause of serious, long-term disability, the effects of which may be prolonged with physical, emotional, social, and financial consequences not only for those affected but also for their family and friends. Evidence for the effectiveness of stroke unit care and the benefits of thrombolysis have transformed treatment for people after stroke. Previously viewed nihilistically, stroke is now seen as a medical emergency with clear evidence-based care pathways from hospital admission to discharge. However, stroke remains a complex clinical condition that requires health professionals to work together to bring to bear their collective knowledge and specialist skills for the benefit of stroke survivors. Multidisciplinary team working is regarded as fundamental to delivering effective care across the stroke pathway. This paper discusses the contribution of team working in improving recovery at key points in the post-stroke pathway. Keywords: stroke care, rehabilitation, multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, team working
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Medication safety programs in primary care: a scoping review.
Khalil, Hanan; Shahid, Monica; Roughead, Libby
2017-10-01
measures. The objectives, inclusion criteria and methods for this scoping review were specified in advance and documented in a protocol that was previously published. This scoping review included nine studies published over an eight-year period that investigated or described the effects of medication safety programs in primary care settings. We classified each of the nine included studies into three main sections according to whether they included an organizational, professional or patient component. The organizational component is aimed at changing the structure of the organization to implement the intervention, the professional component is aimed at the healthcare professionals involved in implementing the interventions, and the patient component is aimed at counseling and education of the patient. All of the included studies had different types of medication safety programs. The programs ranged from complex interventions including pharmacists and teams of healthcare professionals to educational packages for patients and computerized system interventions. The outcome measures described in the included studies were medication error incidence, adverse events and number of drug-related problems. Multi-faceted medication safety programs are likely to vary in characteristics. They include educational training, quality improvement tools, informatics, patient education and feedback provision. The most likely outcome measure for these programs is the incidence of medication errors and reported adverse events or drug-related problems.
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Adams, Scott J; Xu, Stanley; Dong, Fran; Fortney, John; Rost, Kathryn
2006-01-01
Federally qualified health centers across the country are adopting depression disease management programs following federally mandated training; however, little is known about the relative effectiveness of depression disease management in rural versus urban patient populations. To explore whether a depression disease management program has a comparable impact on clinical outcomes over 2 years in patients treated in rural and urban primary care practices and whether the impact is mediated by receiving evidence-based care (antidepressant medication and specialty care counseling). A preplanned secondary analysis was conducted in a consecutively sampled cohort of 479 depressed primary care patients recruited from 12 practices in 10 states across the country participating in the Quality Enhancement for Strategic Teaming study. Depression disease management improved the mental health status of urban patients over 18 months but not rural patients. Effects were not mediated by antidepressant medication or specialty care counseling in urban or rural patients. Depression disease management appears to improve clinical outcomes in urban but not rural patients. Because these programs compete for scarce resources, health care organizations interested in delivering depression disease management to rural populations need to advocate for programs whose clinical effectiveness has been demonstrated for rural residents.
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Farrell, Timothy W; Supiano, Katherine P; Wong, Bob; Luptak, Marilyn K; Luther, Brenda; Andersen, Troy C; Wilson, Rebecca; Wilby, Frances; Yang, Rumei; Pepper, Ginette A; Brunker, Cherie P
2018-05-01
Health professions trainees' performance in teams is rarely evaluated, but increasingly important as the healthcare delivery systems in which they will practice move towards team-based care. Effective management of care transitions is an important aspect of interprofessional teamwork. This mixed-methods study used a crossover design to randomise health professions trainees to work as individuals and as teams to formulate written care transition plans. Experienced external raters assessed the quality of the written care transition plans as well as both the quality of team process and overall team performance. Written care transition plan quality did not vary between individuals and teams (21.8 vs. 24.4, respectively, p = 0.42). The quality of team process did not correlate with the quality of the team-generated written care transition plans (r = -0.172, p = 0.659). However, there was a significant correlation between the quality of team process and overall team performance (r = 0.692, p = 0.039). Teams with highly engaged recorders, performing an internal team debrief, had higher-quality care transition plans. These results suggest that high-quality interprofessional care transition plans may require advance instruction as well as teamwork in finalising the plan.
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Integrated primary health care in Australia
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Gawaine Powell Davies
2009-10-01
Full Text Available Introduction: To fulfil its role of coordinating health care, primary health care needs to be well integrated, internally and with other health and related services. In Australia, primary health care services are divided between public and private sectors, are responsible to different levels of government and work under a variety of funding arrangements, with no overarching policy to provide a common frame of reference for their activities. Description of policy: Over the past decade, coordination of service provision has been improved by changes to the funding of private medical and allied health services for chronic conditions, by the development in some states of voluntary networks of services and by local initiatives, although these have had little impact on coordination of planning. Integrated primary health care centres are being established nationally and in some states, but these are too recent for their impact to be assessed. Reforms being considered by the federal government include bringing primary health care under one level of government with a national primary health care policy, establishing regional organisations to coordinate health planning, trialling voluntary registration of patients with general practices and reforming funding systems. If adopted, these could greatly improve integration within primary health care. Discussion: Careful change management and realistic expectations will be needed. Also other challenges remain, in particular the need for developing a more population and community oriented primary health care.
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Integrated primary health care in Australia.
Davies, Gawaine Powell; Perkins, David; McDonald, Julie; Williams, Anna
2009-10-14
To fulfil its role of coordinating health care, primary health care needs to be well integrated, internally and with other health and related services. In Australia, primary health care services are divided between public and private sectors, are responsible to different levels of government and work under a variety of funding arrangements, with no overarching policy to provide a common frame of reference for their activities. Over the past decade, coordination of service provision has been improved by changes to the funding of private medical and allied health services for chronic conditions, by the development in some states of voluntary networks of services and by local initiatives, although these have had little impact on coordination of planning. Integrated primary health care centres are being established nationally and in some states, but these are too recent for their impact to be assessed. Reforms being considered by the federal government include bringing primary health care under one level of government with a national primary health care policy, establishing regional organisations to coordinate health planning, trialling voluntary registration of patients with general practices and reforming funding systems. If adopted, these could greatly improve integration within primary health care. Careful change management and realistic expectations will be needed. Also other challenges remain, in particular the need for developing a more population and community oriented primary health care.
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Buljac, M.; van Woerkom, M.; van Wijngaarden, P.
2013-01-01
This study examines the impact of real-team--as opposed to a team in name only--characteristics (i.e., team boundaries, stability of membership, and task interdependence) on team processes (i.e., team learning and emotional support) and team effectiveness in the long-term care sector. We employed a
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Hernan, Andrea L; Giles, Sally J; Fuller, Jeffrey; Johnson, Julie K; Walker, Christine; Dunbar, James A
2015-09-01
Patients can have an important role in reducing harm in primary-care settings. Learning from patient experience and feedback could improve patient safety. Evidence that captures patients' views of the various contributory factors to creating safe primary care is largely absent. The aim of this study was to address this evidence gap. Four focus groups and eight semistructured interviews were conducted with 34 patients and carers from south-east Australia. Participants were asked to describe their experiences of primary care. Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim and specific factors that contribute to safety incidents were identified in the analysis using the Yorkshire Contributory Factors Framework (YCFF). Other factors emerging from the data were also ascertained and added to the analytical framework. Thirteen factors that contribute to safety incidents in primary care were ascertained. Five unique factors for the primary-care setting were discovered in conjunction with eight factors present in the YCFF from hospital settings. The five unique primary care contributing factors to safety incidents represented a range of levels within the primary-care system from local working conditions to the upstream organisational level and the external policy context. The 13 factors included communication, access, patient factors, external policy context, dignity and respect, primary-secondary interface, continuity of care, task performance, task characteristics, time in the consultation, safety culture, team factors and the physical environment. Patient and carer feedback of this type could help primary-care professionals better understand and identify potential safety concerns and make appropriate service improvements. The comprehensive range of factors identified provides the groundwork for developing tools that systematically capture the multiple contributory factors to patient safety. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not
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Bondevik, Gunnar Tschudi; Holst, Lone; Haugland, Mildrid; Bærheim, Anders; Raaheim, Arild
2015-01-01
Interprofessional education may be defined as an occasion when two or more professions learn with, from, and about each other in order to improve collaboration and quality of care. We studied the self-reported experiences from Norwegian health care students participating in interprofessional workplace learning in primary care. We discuss the results particularly in light of self-determination theory. During 2012, 24 students from eight different health educations at the University of Bergen a...
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Nurse's perceptions of physiotherapists in critical care team: Report of a qualitative study.
Gupte, Pranati; Swaminathan, Narasimman
2016-03-01
Interprofessional relationship plays a major role in effective patient care. Specialized units such as critical care require multidisciplinary care where perception about every members role may affect the delivery of patient care. The objective of this study was to find out nurses' perceptions of the role of physiotherapists in the critical care team. Qualitative study by using semi-structured interview was conducted among the qualified nurses working in the Intensive Care Unit of a tertiary care hospital. The interview consisted of 19 questions divided into 3 sections. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. In-depth content analysis was carried out to identify major themes in relation to the research question. Analysis identified five major issues which included role and image of a physiotherapist, effectiveness of treatment, communications, teamwork, and interprofessional relations. Physiotherapists were perceived to be an important member of the critical team with the role of mobilizing the patients. The respondents admitted that there existed limitations in interprofessional relationship. Nurses perceived the role of physiotherapist in the critical care unit as an integral part and agreed on the need for inclusion of therapist multidisciplinary critical care team.
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Teunissen, E; Gravenhorst, K; Dowrick, C; Van Weel-Baumgarten, E; Van den Driessen Mareeuw, F; de Brún, T; Burns, N; Lionis, C; Mair, F S; O'Donnell, C; O'Reilly-de Brún, M; Papadakaki, M; Saridaki, A; Spiegel, W; Van Weel, C; Van den Muijsenbergh, M; MacFarlane, A
2017-02-10
Cross-cultural communication in primary care is often difficult, leading to unsatisfactory, substandard care. Supportive evidence-based guidelines and training initiatives (G/TIs) exist to enhance cross cultural communication but their use in practice is sporadic. The objective of this paper is to elucidate how migrants and other stakeholders can adapt, introduce and evaluate such G/TIs in daily clinical practice. We undertook linked qualitative case studies to implement G/TIs focused on enhancing cross cultural communication in primary care, in five European countries. We combined Normalisation Process Theory (NPT) as an analytical framework, with Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) as the research method to engage migrants, primary healthcare providers and other stakeholders. Across all five sites, 66 stakeholders participated in 62 PLA-style focus groups over a 19 month period, and took part in activities to adapt, introduce, and evaluate the G/TIs. Data, including transcripts of group meetings and researchers' fieldwork reports, were coded and thematically analysed by each team using NPT. In all settings, engaging migrants and other stakeholders was challenging but feasible. Stakeholders made significant adaptations to the G/TIs to fit their local context, for example, changing the focus of a G/TI from palliative care to mental health; or altering the target audience from General Practitioners (GPs) to the wider multidisciplinary team. They also progressed plans to deliver them in routine practice, for example liaising with GP practices regarding timing and location of training sessions and to evaluate their impact. All stakeholders reported benefits of the implemented G/TIs in daily practice. Training primary care teams (clinicians and administrators) resulted in a more tolerant attitude and more effective communication, with better focus on migrants' needs. Implementation of interpreter services was difficult mainly because of financial and other
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Blueprint for an Undergraduate Primary Care Curriculum.
Fazio, Sara B; Demasi, Monica; Farren, Erin; Frankl, Susan; Gottlieb, Barbara; Hoy, Jessica; Johnson, Amanda; Kasper, Jill; Lee, Patrick; McCarthy, Claire; Miller, Kathe; Morris, Juliana; O'Hare, Kitty; Rosales, Rachael; Simmons, Leigh; Smith, Benjamin; Treadway, Katherine; Goodell, Kristen; Ogur, Barbara
2016-12-01
In light of the increasing demand for primary care services and the changing scope of health care, it is important to consider how the principles of primary care are taught in medical school. While the majority of schools have increased students' exposure to primary care, they have not developed a standardized primary care curriculum for undergraduate medical education. In 2013, the authors convened a group of educators from primary care internal medicine, pediatrics, family medicine, and medicine-pediatrics, as well as five medical students to create a blueprint for a primary care curriculum that could be integrated into a longitudinal primary care experience spanning undergraduate medical education and delivered to all students regardless of their eventual career choice.The authors organized this blueprint into three domains: care management, specific areas of content expertise, and understanding the role of primary care in the health care system. Within each domain, they described specific curriculum content, including longitudinality, generalism, central responsibility for managing care, therapeutic alliance/communication, approach to acute and chronic care, wellness and prevention, mental and behavioral health, systems improvement, interprofessional training, and population health, as well as competencies that all medical students should attain by graduation.The proposed curriculum incorporates important core features of doctoring, which are often affirmed by all disciplines but owned by none. The authors argue that primary care educators are natural stewards of this curriculum content and can ensure that it complements and strengthens all aspects of undergraduate medical education.
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Alpers–Huttenlocher syndrome: the role of a multidisciplinary health care team
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Saneto RP
2016-07-01
Full Text Available Russell P Saneto1,2 1Department of Neurology, University of Washington, 2Division of Pediatric Neurology, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle, WA, USA Abstract: Alpers–Huttenlocher syndrome (AHS is a mitochondrial DNA-depletion syndrome. Age of onset is bimodal: early onset at 2–4 years and later adolescent onset at 17–24 years of age. Early development is usually normal, with epilepsy heralding the disorder in ~50% of patients. The onset of seizures is coupled with progressive cognitive decline. Hepatopathy is variable, and when present is a progressive dysfunction leading to liver failure in many cases. These features of seizures, cognitive degeneration, and hepatopathy represent the “classic triad” of AHS. However, most patients develop other system involvement. Therefore, although AHS is ultimately a lethal disorder, medical care is required for sustained quality of life. Frequently, additional organ systems – gastrointestinal, respiratory, nutritional, and psychiatric – abnormalities appear and need treatment. Rarely, cardiovascular dysfunction and even pregnancy complicate medical treatment. Optimal care requires a team of physicians and caretakers to make sure quality of life is optimized. The care team, together with the family and palliative care specialists, need to be in communication as the disease progresses and medical changes occur. Although the unpredictable losses of function challenge medical care, the team approach can foster the individual quality-of-life care needed for the patient and family. Keywords: Mitochondrial depletion syndrome, polymerase gamma 1, clinical care, mitochondria
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Acceptance of lean redesigns in primary care: A contextual analysis.
Hung, Dorothy; Gray, Caroline; Martinez, Meghan; Schmittdiel, Julie; Harrison, Michael I
Lean is a leading change strategy used in health care to achieve short-term efficiency and quality improvement while promising longer-term system transformation. Most research examines Lean intervention to address isolated problems, rather than to achieve broader systemic changes to care delivery. Moreover, no studies examine contextual influences on system-wide Lean implementation efforts in primary care. The aim of this study was to identify contextual factors most critical to implementing and scaling Lean redesigns across all primary care clinics in a large, ambulatory care delivery system. Over 100 interviews and focus groups were conducted with frontline physicians, clinical staff, and operational leaders. Data analysis was guided by a modified Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), a popular implementation science framework. On the basis of expert recommendations, the modified framework targets factors influencing the implementation of process redesigns. This modified framework, the CFIR-PR, informed our identification of contextual factors that most impacted Lean acceptance among frontline physicians and staff. Several domains identified by the CFIR-PR were critical to acceptance of Lean redesigns. Regarding the implementation process acceptance was influenced by time and intensity of exposure to changes, "top-down" versus "bottom-up" implementation styles, and degrees of employee engagement in developing new workflows. Important factors in the inner setting were the clinic's culture and style of leadership, along with availability of information about Lean's effectiveness. Last, implementation efforts were impacted by individual and team characteristics regarding changed work roles and related issues of professional identity, authority, and autonomy. This study underscores the need for change leaders to consider the contextual factors that surround efforts to implement Lean in primary care. As Lean redesigns are scaled across a system
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Location and deprivation are important influencers of physical activity in primary care populations.
Barrett, E M; Hussey, J; Darker, C D
2016-07-01
To investigate the physical activity of adults attending primary care services in the Republic of Ireland and to determine whether the location (urban/rural) and deprivation of the primary care centre influenced physical activity. Cross sectional study. Stratified random sampling based on urban/rural location and deprivation was used to identify three primary care centres from a list of established primary care teams in the Leinster region. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was used to collate data on physical activity category (low/moderate/high), total weekly activity (MET-minutes/week) and weekly walking (MET-minutes/week) of participants. Data from 885 participants with a median age of 39 years (IQR 31-53) were analysed. There were significant differences in physical activity between the primary care areas (P < 0.001). Rural mixed deprivation participants were the least active with almost 60% of this group (59.4%, n = 177) classified as inactive (535 median MET-minutes/week, IQR 132-1197). Urban deprived participants were the most active (low active 37.6%, n = 111, 975 median MET-minutes/week, IQR 445-1933). Upon adjustment for multiple factors, rural participants (OR = 2.81, 95% CI 1.97-4.01), urban non-deprived participants (OR = 1.61, 95% CI 1.08-2.39), females (OR = 1.66, 95% CI 1.23-2.23) and older adults (OR = 1.01, 95% CI 1.00-1.02) were more likely to be categorised as low active. Overall 47.2% (n = 418) of all participants were classified within the low physical activity category. Significant disparities exist in the physical activity levels of primary care populations. This has important implications for the funding and planning of physical activity interventions. Copyright © 2016 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Perceived risk of mental health problems in primary care
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Constança ePaúl
2015-11-01
Full Text Available In the face of limited resources and an ageing population with increasingly care needs, healthcare systems must identify community-dwelling older adults with mental health problems at higher risk of adverse outcomes such as institutionalisation, hospitalisation and death, in order to deliver timely and efficient care. The objectives of this study were to assess the prevalence of mental health concerns and the associated perceived risk of adverse outcomes in a large sample of older patients in primary care. We trained general practitioners and nurses to use the Risk Instrument for Screening in the Community (RISC to rank perceived risk of mental health concerns (including neurocognitive and mood disorders from 1 (mild to 3 (Severe. The mean age of the 4499 people assessed was 76.3 years (sd=7.3 and 2645 (58.8% were female. According to the primary care team 1616 (35.9% were perceived to have mental health concerns of whom 847 (52.4% were mild, 559 (34.6% were moderate and 210 (13% were severe. Patients with mental health concerns had higher odds of perceived risk of adverse outcomes (OR=2.22, 95% CI 1.83-2.69 for institutionalisation; OR=1.66, 95% CI 1.41-1.94 for hospitalisation; OR=1.69, 95% CI 1.42-2.01 for death. These results suggest a high prevalence of mental health concerns among older adults and supports the need for early identification of patients at high-risk of adverse healthcare outcomes.
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Parental experiences with a paediatric palliative care team: A qualitative study
Verberne, Lisa M.; Schouten-van Meeteren, Antoinette Yn; Bosman, Diederik K.; Colenbrander, Derk A.; Jagt, Charissa T.; Grootenhuis, Martha A.; van Delden, Johannes Jm; Kars, Marijke C.
2017-01-01
Background: Parents of children with a life-limiting disease have to rely on themselves at home while adequate paediatric palliative care is lacking. In several countries, paediatric palliative care teams are introduced to ensure continuity and quality of care and to support the child and the
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Borgermans, L.D.A.; Goderis, G.; Broeke, C.V.; Mathieu, C.; Aertgeerts, B.; Verbeke, G.; Carbonez, A.; Ivanova, A.; Grol, R.P.T.M.; Heyrman, J.
2008-01-01
ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Most quality improvement programs in diabetes care incorporate aspects of clinician education, performance feedback, patient education, care management, and diabetes care teams to support primary care physicians. Few studies have applied all of these dimensions to address
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Brush, John E; Handberg, Eileen M; Biga, Cathleen; Birtcher, Kim K; Bove, Alfred A; Casale, Paul N; Clark, Michael G; Garson, Arthur; Hines, Jerome L; Linderbaum, Jane A; Rodgers, George P; Shor, Robert A; Thourani, Vinod H; Wyman, Janet F
2015-05-19
The mission of the American College of Cardiology is "to transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health." Cardiovascular team-based care is a paradigm for practice that can transform care, improve heart health, and help meet the demands of the future. One strategic goal of the College is to help members successfully transition their clinical practices to the future, with all its complexity, challenges, and opportunities. The ACC's strategic plan is aligned with the triple aim of improved care, improved population health, and lower costs per capita. The traditional understanding of quality, access, and cost is that you cannot improve one component without diminishing the others. With cardiovascular team-based care, it is possible to achieve the triple aim of improving quality, access, and cost simultaneously to also improve cardiovascular health. Striving to serve the best interests of patients is the true north of our guiding principles. Cardiovascular team-based care is a model that can improve care coordination and communication and allow each team member to focus more on the quality of care. In addition, the cardiovascular team-based care model increases access to cardiovascular care and allows expansion of services to populations and geographic areas that are currently underserved. This document will increase awareness of the important components of cardiovascular team-based care and create an opportunity for more discussion about the most creative and effective means of implementing it. We hope that this document will stimulate further discussions and activities within the ACC and beyond about team-based care. We have identified areas that need improvement, specifically in APP education and state regulation. The document encourages the exploration of collaborative care models that should enable team members to optimize their education, training, experience, and talent. Improved team leadership, coordination, collaboration, engagement, and efficiency
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Evaluating multidisciplinary health care teams: taking the crisis out of CRM.
Sutton, Gigi
2009-08-01
High-reliability organisations are those, such as within the aviation industry, which operate in complex, hazardous environments and yet despite this are able to balance safety and effectiveness. Crew resource management (CRM) training is used to improve the non-technical skills of aviation crews and other high-reliability teams. To date, CRM within the health sector has been restricted to use with "crisis teams" and "crisis events". The purpose of this discussion paper is to examine the application of CRM to acute, ward-based multidisciplinary health care teams and more broadly to argue for the repositioning of health-based CRM to address effective everyday function, of which "crisis events" form just one part. It is argued that CRM methodology could be applied to evaluate ward-based health care teams and design non-technical skills training to increase their efficacy, promote better patient outcomes, and facilitate a range of positive personal and organisational level outcomes.
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Prue-Owens, Kathy; Watkins, Miko; Wolgast, Kelly A
2011-01-01
The Patient CaringTouch System emerged from a comprehensive assessment and gap analysis of clinical nursing capabilities in the Army. The Patient CaringTouch System now provides the framework and set of standards by which we drive excellence in quality nursing care for our patients and excellence in quality of life for our nurses in Army Medicine. As part of this enterprise transformation, we placed particular emphasis on the delivery of nursing care at the bedside as well as the integration of a formal professional peer feedback process in support of individual nurse practice enhancement. The Warrior Care Imperative Action Team was chartered to define and establish the standards for care teams in the clinical settings and the process by which we established formal peer feedback for our professional nurses. This back-to-basics approach is a cornerstone of the Patient CaringTouch System implementation and sustainment.
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Bakal, Jeffrey A.; Green, Lee; Bahler, Brad; Lewanczuk, Richard
2018-01-01
BACKGROUND: Primary care networks are designed to facilitate access to inter-professional, team-based care. We compared health outcomes associated with primary care networks versus conventional primary care. METHODS: We obtained data on all adult residents of Alberta who visited a primary care physician during fiscal years 2008 and 2009 and classified them as affiliated with a primary care network or not, based on the physician most involved in their care. The primary outcome was an emergency department visit or nonelective hospital admission for a Patient Medical Home indicator condition (asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure, coronary disease, hypertension and diabetes) within 12 months. RESULTS: Adults receiving care within a primary care network (n = 1 502 916) were older and had higher comorbidity burdens than those receiving conventional primary care (n = 1 109 941). Patients in a primary care network were less likely to visit the emergency department for an indicator condition (1.4% v. 1.7%, mean 0.031 v. 0.035 per patient, adjusted risk ratio [RR] 0.98, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.96–0.99) or for any cause (25.5% v. 30.5%, mean 0.55 v. 0.72 per patient, adjusted RR 0.93, 95% CI 0.93–0.94), but were more likely to be admitted to hospital for an indicator condition (0.6% v. 0.6%, mean 0.018 v. 0.017 per patient, adjusted RR 1.07, 95% CI 1.03–1.11) or all-cause (9.3% v. 9.1%, mean 0.25 v. 0.23 per patient, adjusted RR 1.08, 95% CI 1.07–1.09). Patients in a primary care network had 169 fewer all-cause emergency department visits and 86 fewer days in hospital (owing to shorter lengths of stay) per 1000 patient-years. INTERPRETATION: Care within a primary care network was associated with fewer emergency department visits and fewer hospital days. PMID:29530868
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Functioning of primary health care in opinion of managers of primary health care units.
Bojar, I; Wdowiak, L; Kwiatosz-Muc, M
2006-01-01
The aim of the research is to get to know opinions of primary health care managers concerning working of primary health care and concerning quality of medical services offered by family doctors out-patient clinics. The research among managers of primary health care units took place in all out-patient clinics in Lublin province. Research instrument was survey questionnaire of authors own construction. Results were statistically analyzed. From 460 surveys sent, 108 questionnaires were accepted to analysis. Majority of managers of out-patient clinics of primary health care is satisfied with the way and the quality of work of employed staff. In opinion of 71.3% of managers access to family doctor services is very good. Availability of primary health care services is better estimated by managers of not public units. The occupied local provide comfortable work for the staff in opinion of 78.5% of surveyed managers of out-patient clinics. Managers estimate the level of their services as very good (37.96%) and good (37.96%) comparing to other such a subjects present in the market. Internal program of improving quality is run in 22% of out-patient clinics, which were investigated. Managers of primary health care units assess the quality of their services as good and very good. They estimate positively the comfort and politeness in serving patients as well as technical status of equipment and the lodging. They assess availability of their services as very good. Large group of managers of family doctors practices recognizes neighborhood practices as a competitors.
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COMMUNITY MEDICINE & PRIMARY HEALTH CARE
African Journals Online (AJOL)
the_monk
%) was the least common. On bivariate analysis ... the power to determine what their wives do or fail to ... pregnancy care while joint decision-making ... Other maternal health services rendered This data collection was done by a team of trained.
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Rishi Mannan
2006-06-01
Conclusions At the time of the study the systems that form part of NHS Connecting for Health, apart from the Quality Management and Analysis System (QMAS, were not implemented across the PCT. All the practices in the study acknowledged the benefits new technology would bring to the workplace, but there were also some common concerns, which suggest that staff working in primary care practices are not ready for e-health. Successful implementation of the NHS Connecting for Health programme rests on identifying, acknowledging and overcoming these concerns. A different approach might be required for those practices that have made very little progress in using email or moving towards an electronic patient record. This study suggests that a mistrust of technology and fears as to the heavy initial workload involved in becoming fully computerised have dissuaded some practices from embracing e-health. If NHS Connecting for Health is to be a success, implementation teams might need to focus initially on practices that have been reluctant to use technology to support both clinical care and the day-to-day work of the practice.
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Coupe, Nia; Anderson, Emma; Gask, Linda; Sykes, Paul; Richards, David A; Chew-Graham, Carolyn
2014-05-01
Collaborative care (CC) is an organisational framework which facilitates the delivery of a mental health intervention to patients by case managers in collaboration with more senior health professionals (supervisors and GPs), and is effective for the management of depression in primary care. However, there remains limited evidence on how to successfully implement this collaborative approach in UK primary care. This study aimed to explore to what extent CC impacts on professional working relationships, and if CC for depression could be implemented as routine in the primary care setting. This qualitative study explored perspectives of the 6 case managers (CMs), 5 supervisors (trial research team members) and 15 general practitioners (GPs) from practices participating in a randomised controlled trial of CC for depression. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and data was analysed using a two-step approach using an initial thematic analysis, and a secondary analysis using the Normalisation Process Theory concepts of coherence, cognitive participation, collective action and reflexive monitoring with respect to the implementation of CC in primary care. Supervisors and CMs demonstrated coherence in their understanding of CC, and consequently reported good levels of cognitive participation and collective action regarding delivering and supervising the intervention. GPs interviewed showed limited understanding of the CC framework, and reported limited collaboration with CMs: barriers to collaboration were identified. All participants identified the potential or experienced benefits of a collaborative approach to depression management and were able to discuss ways in which collaboration can be facilitated. Primary care professionals in this study valued the potential for collaboration, but GPs' understanding of CC and organisational barriers hindered opportunities for communication. Further work is needed to address these organisational barriers in order to facilitate
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[Analysis of the activity of mobile rehabilitation-physiotherapy units in primary care].
López-Liria, Remedios; Padilla Góngora, David; Catalán Matamoros, Daniel; Arrebola López, Clara; Garrido Fernández, Pablo; Martínez Cortés, María Del Carmen; Zurita Ortega, Félix
2010-05-01
To describe the home care provided by mobile rehabilitation-physiotherapy teams as a response to the needs of the dependent population, the characteristics of their application, and the results they have on patients and their functional independence. A descriptive, cross-sectional study from 2004 to June 2007. Community setting. Mobile rehabilitation-physiotherapy teams from Primary Care in Almeria. A total of 1093 patients were included in the programme. Data were collected on, the state of the patients' health (primary disabling process, reasons for inclusion in the treatment, initial and final functional assessment and Barthel Index); details of physiotherapy treatment, and number of sessions. Of the total sample, the mean age was 78 years and 64.2% were female. The mean waiting time for their assessment was 4 days and there was a wide variety of primary disabling processes described. There was a high percentage of symptoms of severe motor deterioration, pain and muscle weakness. Physiotherapy treatment was given in 88.6%, physiotherapy and occupational therapy in 11.1%, and orthopaedic treatment in 0.3%, of the patients. The mean number of sessions was 12.85. The variation in the Barthel Index after the final therapy was given was, 61.9% for kinesiotherapy, 10.2% combined with electrotherapy, and 14.5% for kinesiotherapy and carer education. Valuable information is provided as regards the characteristics of the geriatric and dependent population, as well as the physiotherapy help they are receiving, and also how the procedure is carried out. Copyright 2009 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.
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Dalal, Anuj K; Schnipper, Jeffrey L
2016-05-01
Patient-centered communication is essential to coordinate care and safely progress patients from admission through discharge. Hospitals struggle with improving the complex and increasingly electronic conversation patterns among care team members, patients, and caregivers to achieve effective patient-centered communication across settings. Accurate and reliable identification of all care team members is a precursor to effective patient-centered communication and ideally should be facilitated by the electronic health record. However, the process of identifying care team members is challenging, and team lists in the electronic health record are typically neither accurate nor reliable. Based on the literature and on experience from 2 initiatives at our institution, we outline strategies to improve care team identification in the electronic health record and discuss potential implications for patient-centered communication. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2016;11:381-385. © 2016 Society of Hospital Medicine. © 2016 Society of Hospital Medicine.
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Soones, Tacara N; O'Brien, Bridget C; Julian, Katherine A
2015-09-01
In order to teach residents how to work in interprofessional teams, educators in graduate medical education are implementing team-based care models in resident continuity clinics. However, little is known about the impact of interprofessional teams on residents' education in the ambulatory setting. To identify factors affecting residents' experience of team-based care within continuity clinics and the impact of these teams on residents' education. This was a qualitative study of focus groups with internal medicine residents. Seventy-seven internal medicine residents at the University of California San Francisco at three continuity clinic sites participated in the study. Qualitative interviews were audiotaped and transcribed. The authors used a general inductive approach with sensitizing concepts in four frames (structural, human resources, political and symbolic) to develop codes and identify themes. Residents believed that team-based care improves continuity and quality of care. Factors in four frames affected their ability to achieve these goals. Structural factors included communication through the electronic medical record, consistent schedules and regular team meetings. Human resources factors included the presence of stable teams and clear roles. Political and symbolic factors negatively impacted team-based care, and included low staffing ratios and a culture of ultimate resident responsibility, respectively. Regardless of the presence of these factors or resident perceptions of their teams, residents did not see the practice of interprofessional team-based care as intrinsically educational. Residents' experiences practicing team-based care are influenced by many principles described in the interprofessional teamwork literature, including understanding team members' roles, good communication and sufficient staffing. However, these attributes are not correlated with residents' perceptions of the educational value of team-based care. Including residents in
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[End-of-life and euthanasia, an intensive care team's experience].
Baruteau, J; Devilliers, A; François, I; Blettery, B
2002-04-20
The improvement in the medical techniques used in intensive care units over the last 30 years has led to a different approach towards the end of life and death. Our study has underlined the feelings of all the staff of an intensive care unit towards the various difficulties engendered by death and the question of euthanasia. Conducted in the particular context of an intensive care unit, this work is a survey on the staff's feelings and factual experiences, in order to promote discussions on this painful subject. Sixty-one percent of the persons surveyed declared that euthanasia was ethically acceptable. The patients take the initiative of the request (92%) and the cohesion of the team is unanimously required. Pain and corporeal deterioration are the first motivations. Euthanasia is a difficult question, sometimes impassionate, and the care units have to consider whether they are concerned by the quality of their patients' care. The press regularly issues reports on this. But beyond these quantified questions, the staff who care for these ill patients are often very discreet. The regular confrontation with this situation changes the medical team's view of the profession.
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Patient engagement: an investigation at a primary care clinic
Gill, Preetinder Singh
2013-01-01
Background Engaged employees are an asset to any organization. They are instrumental in ensuring good commercial outcomes through continuous innovation and incremental improvement. A health care facility is similar to a regular work setting in many ways. A health care provider and a patient have roles akin to a team leader and a team member/stakeholder, respectively. Hence it can be argued that the concept of employee engagement can be applied to patients in health care settings in order to improve health outcomes. Methods Patient engagement data were collected using a survey instrument from a primary care clinic in the northern Indian state of Punjab. Canonical correlation equations were formulated to identify combinations which were strongly related to each other. In addition, the cause-effect relationship between patient engagement and patient-perceived health outcomes was described using structural equation modeling. Results Canonical correlation analysis showed that the first set of canonical variables had a fairly strong relationship, ie, a magnitude > 0.80 at the 95% confidence interval, for five dimensions of patient engagement. Structural equation modeling analysis yielded a β ≥ 0.10 and a Student’s t statistic ≥ 2.96 for these five dimensions. The threshold Student’s t statistic was 1.99. Hence it was found the β values were significant at the 95% confidence interval for all census regions. Conclusion A scaled reliable survey instrument was developed to measured patient engagement. Better patient engagement is associated with better patient-perceived health outcomes. This study provides preliminary evidence that patient engagement has a causal relationship with patient-perceived health outcomes. PMID:23515133
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Basu, Sanjay; Phillips, Russell S; Bitton, Asaf; Song, Zirui; Landon, Bruce E
2015-10-20
Physicians have traditionally been reimbursed for face-to-face visits. A new non-visit-based payment for chronic care management (CCM) of Medicare patients took effect in January 2015. To estimate financial implications of CCM payment for primary care practices. Microsimulation model incorporating national data on primary care use, staffing, expenditures, and reimbursements. National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and other published sources. Medicare patients. 10 years. Practice-level. Comparison of CCM delivery approaches by staff and physicians. Net revenue per full-time equivalent (FTE) physician; time spent delivering CCM services. If nonphysician staff were to deliver CCM services, net revenue to practices would increase despite opportunity and staffing costs. Practices could expect approximately $332 per enrolled patient per year (95% CI, $234 to $429) if CCM services were delivered by registered nurses (RNs), approximately $372 (CI, $276 to $468) if services were delivered by licensed practical nurses, and approximately $385 (CI, $286 to $485) if services were delivered by medical assistants. For a typical practice, this equates to more than $75 ,00 of net annual revenue per FTE physician and 12 hours of nursing service time per week if 50% of eligible patients enroll. At a minimum, 131 Medicare patients (CI, 115 to 140 patients) must enroll for practices to recoup the salary and overhead costs of hiring a full-time RN to provide CCM services. If physicians were to deliver all CCM services, approximately 25% of practices nationwide could expect net revenue losses due to opportunity costs of face-to-face visit time. The CCM program may alter long-term primary care use, which is difficult to predict. Practices that rely on nonphysician team members to deliver CCM services will probably experience substantial net revenue gains but must enroll a sufficient number of eligible patients to recoup costs. None.
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Morales-Piga, Antonio; García Ribes, Miguel; Arribas Álvaro, Pilar; Casado Álvaro, Carlos; Posada de La Paz, Manuel; Bachiller-Corral, Javier
2013-01-01
Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva is one of the most devastating constitutional diseases of the bone, and may be a valid example to establish the role of Primary Care in the care of rare diseases. Although rare diseases usually present with marked anomalies, they can mimic signs and symptoms of common disorders, with the risk of going unnoticed. For this reason, all health professionals should proceed with a reasonable suspicion when confronted with a patient with an apparently common disease with atypical symptoms and a non-conventional progress. The care given by the Primary Care team along with other health care services are fundamental in the integrated and individualised follow-up. The quality of care in rare diseases must not be inferior to that provided to the other chronic diseases, since, besides being a requirement of justice and fairness, these patients are, in essence, the "paradigm of chronicity". Copyright © 2012 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.
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2010-10-01
... 45 Public Welfare 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Primary care. 96.47 Section 96.47 Public Welfare... and Tribal Organizations § 96.47 Primary care. Applications for direct funding of Indian tribes and tribal organizations under the primary care block grant must comply with 42 CFR Part 51c (Grants for...
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First contact, simplified technology, or risk anticipation? Defining primary health care.
Frenk, J; González-Block, M A; Alvarez-Manilla, J M
1990-11-01
Elements important to defining primary health care (PHC) are discussed, with examples from Latin American countries. Topics are identified as follows: the origins and dilemmas of PHC, conflicting PHC values and practices, organizational changes and PHC, health care reforms and examples from Latin America, and the implications for medical education. The new paradigm for medical education and practice is in the classic Kuhn tradition. A paradigm for health care is an ideological model about the form, content, and organization of health care. There are rules that prescribe in a normative way how resources should be combined to produce health services. The current dominant paradigm is that of curative medicine, and the PHC paradigm assumes that a diversified health care team uses modern technology and resources to actively anticipate health damage and promote well being. The key word is anticipatory. As a consequence secondary care also needs to be redefined as actually treating the illness or damage itself. Organizations must be changed to establish this model. Contrasting primary, anticipatory health care with technical, curative medicine has been discussed over at least the past 150 years. An important development was the new model for developing countries which was a result of a Makerere, Kenya symposium on the Medicine of Poverty. The Western model of physicians acting independently and in a highly specialized fashion to address each patient's complaints was considered inappropriate. The concern must be for training and supervising auxiliaries, designing cost-effective systems, and a practice mode limited to what can actually be provided to the population. How to adapt this to existing medical systems was left undetermined. In 1978 with the WHO drive for health for all, there emerged different conceptions and models of PHC. Conceptually, PHC is realized when services are directed to identifying and modifying risk factors at the collective level, where the health
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Marco Matteo Ciccone
2010-04-01
Full Text Available Marco Matteo Ciccone1, Ambrogio Aquilino2, Francesca Cortese1, Pietro Scicchitano1, Marco Sassara1, Ernesto Mola3, Rodolfo Rollo4,Pasquale Caldarola5, Francesco Giorgino6, Vincenzo Pomo2, Francesco Bux21Section of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, School of Medicine, University of Bari, Bari, Italy; 2Agenzia Regionale Sanitaria – Regione Puglia (ARES, Apulia, Italy; 3ASL, Lecce, Italy; 4ASL, Brindisi, Italy; 5Cardiologia, Ospedale “Sarcone”, Terlizzi, Italy; 6Section of Endocrinology, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, School of Medicine, University of Bari, Bari, ItalyPurpose: Project Leonardo represented a feasibility study to evaluate the impact of a disease and care management (D&CM model and of the introduction of “care manager” nurses, trained in this specialized role, into the primary health care system. Patients and methods: Thirty care managers were placed into the offices of 83 general practitioners and family physicians in the Apulia Region of Italy with the purpose of creating a strong cooperative and collaborative “team” consisting of physicians, care managers, specialists, and patients. The central aim of the health team collaboration was to empower 1,160 patients living with cardiovascular disease (CVD, diabetes, heart failure, and/or at risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD risk to take a more active role in their health. With the support of dedicated software for data collection and care management decision making, Project Leonardo implemented guidelines and recommendations for each condition aimed to improve patient health outcomes and promote appropriate resource utilization.Results: Results show that Leonardo was feasible and highly effective in increasing patient health knowledge, self-management skills, and readiness to make changes in health behaviors. Patient skill-building and ongoing monitoring by the health care team of diagnostic tests and services
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Heather L. Maracle
2012-01-01
Full Text Available This study explored primary care providers' (PCPs experiences with the practice of pharmaceutical care-based medication therapy management (MTM. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with six PCPs who have experiences working with MTM pharmacists for at least three years. The first author conducted the interviews that were audio-taped, transcribed, and coded independently. The codes were then harmonized via discussion and consensus with the other authors. Data were analyzed for themes using the hermeneutic-phenomenological method as proposed by Max van Manen. Three men and three women were interviewed. On average, the interviewees have worked with MTM pharmacists for seven years. The six (6 themes uncovered from the interviews included: (1 "MTM is just part of our team approach to the practice of medicine": MTM as an integral part of PCPs' practices; (2 "Frankly it's education for the patient but it's also education for me": MTM services as a source of education; (3 "It's not exactly just the pharmacist that passes out the medicines at the pharmacy": The MTM practitioner is different from the dispensing pharmacist; (4 "So, less reactive, cleaning up the mess, and more proactive and catching things before they become so involved": MTM services as preventative health care efforts; (5"I think that time is the big thing": MTM pharmacists spend more time with patients; (6 "There's an access piece, there's an availability piece, there's a finance piece": MTM services are underutilized at the clinics. In conclusion, PCPs value having MTM pharmacists as part of their team in ambulatory clinics. MTM pharmacists are considered an important source of education to patients as well as to providers as they are seen as having a unique body of knowledge äóñmedication expertise. All PCPs highly treasure the time and education provided by the MTM pharmacists, their ability to manage and adjust patients' medications, and their capability to
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Heather L. Maracle, Pharm.D.
2012-01-01
Full Text Available This study explored primary care providers’ (PCPs experiences with the practice of pharmaceutical care-based medication therapy management (MTM. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with six PCPs who have experiences working with MTM pharmacists for at least three years. The first author conducted the interviews that were audio-taped, transcribed, and coded independently. The codes were then harmonized via discussion and consensus with the other authors. Data were analyzed for themes using the hermeneutic-phenomenological method as proposed by Max van Manen. Three men and three women were interviewed. On average, the interviewees have worked with MTM pharmacists for seven years. The six (6 themes uncovered from the interviews included: (1 “MTM is just part of our team approach to the practice of medicine”: MTM as an integral part of PCPs’ practices; (2 “Frankly it’s education for the patient but it’s also education for me”: MTM services as a source of education; (3 “It’s not exactly just the pharmacist that passes out the medicines at the pharmacy”: The MTM practitioner is different from the dispensing pharmacist; (4 “So, less reactive, cleaning up the mess, and more proactive and catching things before they become so involved”: MTM services as preventative health care efforts; (5“I think that time is the big thing”: MTM pharmacists spend more time with patients; (6 “There’s an access piece, there’s an availability piece, there’s a finance piece”: MTM services are underutilized at the clinics. In conclusion, PCPs value having MTM pharmacists as part of their team in ambulatory clinics. MTM pharmacists are considered an important source of education to patients as well as to providers as they are seen as having a unique body of knowledge –medication expertise. All PCPs highly treasure the time and education provided by the MTM pharmacists, their ability to manage and adjust patients
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Multidisciplinary program for stress-related disease in primary health care
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Eva Ekvall Hansson
2009-05-01
Full Text Available Eva Ekvall Hansson1, Eva Håkansson2, Annelie Raushed2, Anders Håkansson1 1Lund University, Department of Clinical Sciences in Malmö/General Practice, Malmö, Sweden; 2Primary Health Care Malmö, SwedenObjective: To describe a multidisciplinary program, given by an occupational therapist and a physiotherapist, for patients with stress-related disease in primary health care and to measure the effect of this program in terms of self-perceived health, degree of burnout, physical activity, symptoms, recreational activities, and psychological and physical well-being.Method: Retrospective study.Results: At measures after three months, the thirteen patients included in this study had improved in self-estimated health, measured with EuroQol-5D Visual Analogue Scale (p = 0.000, and in degree of burnout, measured with the Shirom–Melamed Burnout Questionnaire (p = 0.001. There was also a decrease in presence of headache, in physical activity and in satisfaction with leisure time, although not statistically significant. After six months, the improvements remained for all measures except physical activity. The patients were also satisfied with the program to a high degree, measured with Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (median 3.7.Conclusion: This descriptive study shows that a stress-management program, provided by a team including an occupational therapist and a physiotherapist in primary health care, is both feasible and effective in terms of self-estimated health, degree of burnout, and patient satisfaction. Keywords: stress-related health, burnout, occupational therapy, physiotherapy
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Primary health care attributes and responses to intimate partner violence in Spain.
Goicolea, Isabel; Mosquera, Paola; Briones-Vozmediano, Erica; Otero-García, Laura; García-Quinto, Marta; Vives-Cases, Carmen
This study provides an overview of the perceptions of primary care professionals on how the current primary health care (PHC) attributes in Spain could influence health-related responses to intimate partner violence (IPV). A qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with 160 health professionals working in 16 PHC centres in Spain. Data were analysed using a qualitative content analysis. Four categories emerged from the interview analysis: those committed to the PHC approach, but with difficulties implementing it; community work relying on voluntarism; multidisciplinary team work or professionals who work together?; and continuity of care hindered by heavy work load. Participants felt that person-centred care as well as other attributes of the PHC approach facilitated detecting IPV and a better response to the problem. However, they also pointed out that the current management of the health system (workload, weak supervision and little feedback, misdistribution of human and material resources, etc.) does not facilitate the sustainability of such an approach. There is a gap between the theoretical attributes of PHC and the "reality" of how these attributes are managed in everyday work, and how this influences IPV care. Copyright © 2017 SESPAS. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.
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Lie, Désirée A.; Forest, Christopher P.; Walsh, Anne; Banzali, Yvonne; Lohenry, Kevin
2016-01-01
. Participation is associated with interest in serving the underserved and in primary care careers. The authors proposed a framework for interprofessional learning with implications for optimal learning environments to promote team-based care. Future research is suggested to identify core faculty functions and best settings to advance and enhance student preparation for future collaborative team practice. PMID:27499364
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Assessing primary care in Austria: room for improvement.
Stigler, Florian L; Starfield, Barbara; Sprenger, Martin; Salzer, Helmut J F; Campbell, Stephen M
2013-04-01
There is emerging evidence that strong primary care achieves better health at lower costs. Although primary care can be measured, in many countries, including Austria, there is little understanding of primary care development. Assessing the primary care development in Austria. A primary care assessment tool developed by Barbara Starfield in 1998 was implemented in Austria. This tool defines 15 primary care characteristics and distinguishes between system and practice characteristics. Each characteristic was evaluated by six Austrian primary care experts and rated as 2 (high), 1 (intermediate) or 0 (low) points, respectively, to their primary care strength (maximum score: n = 30). Austria received 7 out of 30 points; no characteristic was rated as '2' but 8 were rated as '0'. Compared with the 13 previously assessed countries, Austria ranks 10th of 14 countries and is classified as a 'low primary care' country. This study provides the first evidence concerning primary care in Austria, benchmarking it as weak and in need of development. The practicable application of an existing assessment tool can be encouraging for other countries to generate evidence about their primary care system as well.
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Stilos, Kalli; Daines, Pat
2013-03-01
Demand for palliative care services in Canada will increase owing to an aging population and the evolving role of palliative care in non-malignant illness. Increasing healthcare demands continue to shape the clinical nurse specialist (CNS) role, especially in the area of palliative care. Clinical nurse specialists bring specialized knowledge, skills and leadership to the clinical setting to enhance patient and family care. This paper highlights the clinical leadership role of the CNS as triage leader for a hospital-based palliative care consulting team. Changes to the team's referral and triage processes are emphasized as key improvements to team efficiency and timely access to care for patients and families.
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D'Angelo, Matthew R; Saperstein, Adam K; Seibert, Diane C; Durning, Steven J; Varpio, Lara
2016-11-01
Despite efforts to increase patient safety, hundreds of thousands of lives are lost each year to preventable health care errors. The Institute of Medicine and other organizations have recommended that facilitating effective interprofessional health care team work can help address this problem. While the concept of interprofessional health care teams is known, understanding and organizing effective team performance have proven to be elusive goals. Although considerable research has been conducted in the civilian sector, scholars have yet to extend research to the military context. Indeed, delivering the highest caliber of health care to our service men and women is vitally important. This commentary describes a new initiative as the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences aimed at researching the characteristics of successful military interprofessional teams and why those characteristics are important. It also describes the interprofessional education initiative that Uniformed Services University is launching to help optimize U.S. military health care. Reprint & Copyright © 2016 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.
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DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Goldschmidt, Dorthe; Groenvold, Mogens; Johnsen, Anna Thit
2005-01-01
BACKGROUND: Palliative home-care teams often cooperate with general practitioners (GPs) and district nurses. Our aim was to evaluate a palliative home-care team from the viewpoint of GPs and district nurses. METHODS: GPs and district nurses received questionnaires at the start of home-care and one...... month later. Questions focussed on benefits to patients, training issues for professionals and cooperation between the home-care team and the GP/ district nurse. A combination of closed- and open-ended questions was used. RESULTS: Response rate was 84% (467/553). Benefits to patients were experienced...... by 91 %, mainly due to improvement in symptom management, 'security', and accessibility of specialists in palliative care. After one month, 57% of the participants reported to have learnt aspects of palliative care, primarily symptom control, and 89% of them found cooperation satisfactory...
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Field, B E; Devich, L E; Carlson, R W
1989-08-01
We developed a supportive care team for hopelessly ill patients in an urban emergency/trauma hospital. The team includes a clinical nurse specialist and a faculty physician as well as a chaplain and social worker. The supportive care team provides an alternative to intensive care or conventional ward management of hopelessly ill patients and concentrates on the physical and psychosocial comfort needs of patients and their families. We describe our experience with 20 hopelessly ill patients with multiple organ failure vs a similar group treated before the development of the supportive care team. Although there was no difference in mortality (100 percent), the length of stay in the medical ICU for patients with multiple organ failure decreased by 12 days to 6 days. Additionally, there were 50 percent fewer therapeutic interventions provided by the supportive care team vs intensive care or conventional ward treatment of multiple organ failure patients. We describe the methods that the supportive care team uses in an attempt to meet the physical and psychosocial comfort needs of hopelessly ill multiple organ failure patients and their families. This multidisciplinary approach to the care of the hopelessly ill may have applications in other institutions facing the ethical, medical, and administrative challenges raised by these patients.
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Leadership of interprofessional health and social care teams: a socio-historical analysis.
Reeves, Scott; Macmillan, Kathleen; van Soeren, Mary
2010-04-01
The aim of this paper is to explore some of the key socio-historical issues related to the leadership of interprofessional teams. Over the past quarter of a century, there have been repeated calls for collaboration to help improve the delivery of care. Interprofessional teamwork is regarded as a key approach to delivering high-quality, safe care. We draw upon historical documents to understand how modern health and social care professions emerged from 16th-century crafts guilds. We employ sociological theories to help analyse the nature of these professional developments for team leadership. As the forerunners of professions, crafts guilds were established on the basis of protection and promotion of their members. Such traits have been emphasized during the evolution of professions, which have resulted in strains for teamwork and leadership. Understanding a problem through a socio-historical analysis can assist management to understand the barriers to collaboration and team leadership. Nursing management is in a unique role to observe and broker team conflict. It is rare to examine these phenomena through a humanities/social sciences lens. This paper provides a rare perspective to foster understanding - an essential precursor to effective change management.
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Team-Based Care for Managing Cardiac Comorbidities in Heart Failure.
Bellam, Naveen; Kelkar, Anita A; Whellan, David J
2015-07-01
The need for HF management is predicted to increase as the HF population ages. Balancing HF and the multiple cardiac comorbidities remains difficult for any single provider, but becomes Fig. 6. Five-year rates of death or urgent heart transplantation by deciles of total cholesterol in heart failure. (From Horwich TB, Fonarow GC, Hamilton MA, et al. Low serum total cholesterol is associated with marked increase in mortality in advanced heart failure. J Card Fail 2002;8(4):222; with permission.) easier with the involvement of a team. Collaboration between physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, and other health care workers reduces the burden of care coordination and simultaneously improves delivery of care. Team-based approaches increase cost-effectiveness, reduce hospitalization rates, and equally important, give patients more resources and support, which research shows may ultimately improve compliance and outcomes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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von Kodolitsch, Yskert; Rybczynski, Meike; Vogler, Marina; Mir, Thomas S; Schüler, Helke; Kutsche, Kerstin; Rosenberger, Georg; Detter, Christian; Bernhardt, Alexander M; Larena-Avellaneda, Axel; Kölbel, Tilo; Debus, E Sebastian; Schroeder, Malte; Linke, Stephan J; Fuisting, Bettina; Napp, Barbara; Kammal, Anna Lena; Püschel, Klaus; Bannas, Peter; Hoffmann, Boris A; Gessler, Nele; Vahle-Hinz, Eva; Kahl-Nieke, Bärbel; Thomalla, Götz; Weiler-Normann, Christina; Ohm, Gunda; Neumann, Stefan; Benninghoven, Dieter; Blankenberg, Stefan; Pyeritz, Reed E
2016-01-01
Marfan syndrome (MFS) is a rare, severe, chronic, life-threatening disease with multiorgan involvement that requires optimal multidisciplinary care to normalize both prognosis and quality of life. In this article, each key team member of all the medical disciplines of a multidisciplinary health care team at the Hamburg Marfan center gives a personal account of his or her contribution in the management of patients with MFS. The authors show how, with the support of health care managers, key team members organize themselves in an organizational structure to create a common meaning, to maximize therapeutic success for patients with MFS. First, we show how the initiative and collaboration of patient representatives, scientists, and physicians resulted in the foundation of Marfan centers, initially in the US and later in Germany, and how and why such centers evolved over time. Then, we elucidate the three main structural elements; a team of coordinators, core disciplines, and auxiliary disciplines of health care. Moreover, we explain how a multidisciplinary health care team integrates into many other health care structures of a university medical center, including external quality assurance; quality management system; clinical risk management; center for rare diseases; aorta center; health care teams for pregnancy, for neonates, and for rehabilitation; and in structures for patient centeredness. We provide accounts of medical goals and standards for each core discipline, including pediatricians, pediatric cardiologists, cardiologists, human geneticists, heart surgeons, vascular surgeons, vascular interventionists, orthopedic surgeons, ophthalmologists, and nurses; and of auxiliary disciplines including forensic pathologists, radiologists, rhythmologists, pulmonologists, sleep specialists, orthodontists, dentists, neurologists, obstetric surgeons, psychiatrist/psychologist, and rehabilitation specialists. We conclude that a multidisciplinary health care team is a means
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What is the impact of primary care model type on specialist referral rates? A cross-sectional study.
Liddy, Clare; Singh, Jatinderpreet; Kelly, Ryan; Dahrouge, Simone; Taljaard, Monica; Younger, Jamie
2014-02-03
Several new primary care models have been implemented in Ontario, Canada over the past two decades. These practice models differ in team structure, physician remuneration, and group size. Few studies have examined the impact of these models on specialist referrals. We compared specialist referral rates amongst three primary care models: 1) Enhanced Fee-for-service, 2) Capitation- Non-Interdisciplinary (CAP-NI), 3) Capitation - Interdisciplinary (CAP-I). We conducted a cross-sectional study using health administrative data from primary care practices in Ontario from April 1st, 2008 to March 31st, 2010. The analysis included all family physicians providing comprehensive care in one of the three models, had at least 100 patients, and did not have a prolonged absence (eight consecutive weeks). The primary outcome was referral rate (# of referrals to all medical specialties/1000 patients/year). A multivariable clustered Poisson regression analysis was used to compare referral rates between models while adjusting for provider (sex, years since graduation, foreign trained, time in current model) and patient (age, sex, income, rurality, health status) characteristics. Fee-for-service had a significantly lower adjusted referral rate (676, 95% CI: 666-687) than the CAP-NI (719, 95% confidence interval (CI): 705-734) and CAP-I (694, 95% CI: 681-707) models and the interdisciplinary CAP-I group had a 3.5% lower referral rate than the CAP-NI group (RR = 0.965, 95% CI: 0.943-0.987, p = 0.002). Female and Canadian-trained physicians referred more often, while female, older, sicker and urban patients were more likely to be referred. Primary care model is significantly associated with referral rate. On a study population level, these differences equate to 111,059 and 37,391 fewer referrals by fee-for-service versus CAP-NI and CAP-I, respectively - a difference of $22.3 million in initial referral appointment costs. Whether a lower rate of referral is more appropriate or not is not
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Providing high-quality care in primary care settings: how to make trade-offs.
Beaulieu, Marie-Dominique; Geneau, Robert; Del Grande, Claudio; Denis, Jean-Louis; Hudon, Eveline; Haggerty, Jeannie L; Bonin, Lucie; Duplain, Réjean; Goudreau, Johanne; Hogg, William
2014-05-01
To gain a deeper understanding of how primary care (PC) practices belonging to different models manage resources to provide high-quality care. Multiple-case study embedded in a cross-sectional study of a random sample of 37 practices. Three regions of Quebec. Health care professionals and staff of 5 PC practices. Five cases showing above-average results on quality-of-care indicators were purposefully selected to contrast on region, practice size, and PC model. Data were collected using an organizational questionnaire; the Team Climate Inventory, which was completed by health care professionals and staff; and 33 individual interviews. Detailed case histories were written and thematic analysis was performed. The core common feature of these practices was their ongoing effort to make trade-offs to deliver services that met their vision of high-quality care. These compromises involved the same 3 areas, but to varying degrees depending on clinic characteristics: developing a shared vision of high-quality care; aligning resource use with that vision; and balancing professional aspirations and population needs. The leadership of the physician lead was crucial. The external environment was perceived as a source of pressure and dilemmas rather than as a source of support in these matters. Irrespective of their models, PC practices' pursuit of high-quality care is based on a vision in which accessibility is a key component, balanced by appropriate management of available resources and of external environment expectations. Current PC reforms often create tensions rather than support PC practices in their pursuit of high-quality care. Copyright© the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
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Quality Assessment in the Primary care
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Muharrem Ak
2013-04-01
Full Text Available -Quality Assessment in the Primary care Dear Editor; I have read the article titled as “Implementation of Rogi Kalyan Samiti (RKS at Primary Health Centre Durvesh” with great interest. Shrivastava et all concluded that assessment mechanism for the achievement of objectives for the suggested RKS model was not successful (1. Hereby I would like to emphasize the importance of quality assessment (QA especially in the era of newly established primary care implementations in our country. Promotion of quality has been fundamental part of primary care health services. Nevertheless variations in quality of care exist even in the developed countries. Accomplishment of quality in the primary care has some barriers like administration and directorial factors, absence of evidence-based medicine practice lack of continuous medical education. Quality of health care is no doubt multifaceted model that covers all components of health structures and processes of care. Quality in the primary care set up includes patient physician relationship, immunization, maternal, adolescent, adult and geriatric health care, referral, non-communicable disease management and prescribing (2. Most countries are recently beginning the implementation of quality assessments in all walks of healthcare. Organizations like European society for quality and safety in family practice (EQuiP endeavor to accomplish quality by collaboration. There are reported developments and experiments related to the methodology, processes and outcomes of quality assessments of health care. Quality assessments will not only contribute the accomplishment of the program / project but also detect the areas where obstacles also exist. In order to speed up the adoption of QA and to circumvent the occurrence of mistakes, health policy makers and family physicians from different parts of the world should share their experiences. Consensus on quality in preventive medicine implementations can help to yield
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Sandoval, Brian E; Bell, Jennifer; Khatri, Parinda; Robinson, Patricia J
2017-12-12
Primary care continues to be at the center of health care transformation. The Primary Care Behavioral Health (PCBH) model of service delivery includes patient-centered care delivery strategies that can improve clinical outcomes, cost, and patient and primary care provider satisfaction with services. This article reviews the link between the PCBH model of service delivery and health care services quality improvement, and provides guidance for initiating PCBH model clinical pathways for patients facing depression, chronic pain, alcohol misuse, obesity, insomnia, and social barriers to health.
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Girard, Ariane; Hudon, Catherine; Poitras, Marie-Eve; Roberge, Pasquale; Chouinard, Maud-Christine
2017-05-01
To describe nursing activities in primary care with patients affected by physical chronic disease and common mental disorders. Patients in primary care who are affected by physical chronic disease and common mental disorders such as anxiety and depression require care and follow-up based on their physical and mental health condition. Primary care nurses are increasingly expected to contribute to the care and follow-up of this growing clientele. However, little is known about the actual activities carried out by primary care nurses in providing this service in the Province of Quebec (Canada). A qualitative descriptive study was conducted. Data were obtained through semistructured individual interviews with 13 nurses practising among patients with physical chronic disease in seven Family Medicine Groups in Quebec (Canada). Participants described five activity domains: assessment of physical and mental health condition, care planning, interprofessional collaboration, therapeutic relationship and health promotion. The full potential of primary care nurses is not always exploited, and some activities could be improved. Evidence for including nurses in collaborative care for patients affected by physical chronic disease and common mental disorders has been shown but is not fully implemented in Family Medicine Groups. Future research should emphasise collaboration among mental health professionals, primary care nurses and family physicians in the care of patients with physical chronic disease and common mental disorders. Primary care nurses would benefit from gaining more knowledge about common mental disorders and from identifying the resources they need to contribute to managing them in an interdisciplinary team. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Primary care nurses: effects on secondary care referrals for diabetes?
Dijk, C.E. van; Verheij, R.A.; Hansen, J.; Velden, L. van der; Nijpels, G.; Groenewegen, P.P.; Bakker, D.H. de
2010-01-01
BACKGROUND: Primary care nurses play an important role in diabetes care, and were introduced in GP-practice partly to shift care from hospital to primary care. The aim of this study was to assess whether the referral rate for hospital treatment for diabetes type II (T2DM) patients has changed with
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Yamani, Nikoo; Asgarimoqadam, Marzieh; Haghani, Fariba; Alavijeh, Abbas Qari
2014-01-01
The increase in life expectancy and changes in lifestyle have led to prevalence of non-communicable diseases including diabetes whose treatment and care requires effective teamwork. This study was conducted to examine the effect of inter-professional education on performance and diabetes care knowledge of health care teams. This quasi-experimental study was performed as an inter-professional education on 6 healthcare teams (34 people) based on Kolb's Learning Cycle and consisted of a set of training activities to improve individual, group, and inter-professional capabilities of members of the health care team. The pre- and post-tests included Team Climate Inventory (TCI) and a knowledge assessment tool performed before the workshop and 3 months later. Mean scores for knowledge of health care team before intervention and 3 months later were 7.06 ± 1.04 and 7.97 ± 0.97 out of 10, respectively, that showed a significant difference (P teams. It also can make the health-related messages provided to the covered population more consistent in addition to enhancing self-confidence of the personnel.
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Exploring teams of learners becoming "WE" in the Intensive Care Unit--a focused ethnographic study.
Conte, Helen; Scheja, Max; Hjelmqvist, Hans; Jirwe, Maria
2015-08-16
Research about collaboration within teams of learners in intensive care is sparse, as is research on how the learners in a group develop into a team. The aim of this study was to explore the collaboration in teams of learners during a rotation in an interprofessional education unit in intensive care from a sociocultural learning perspective. Focused Ethnographic methods were used to collect data following eight teams of learners in 2009 and 2010. Each team consisted of one resident, one specialist nurse student and their supervisors (n = 28). The material consisted of 100 hours of observations, interviews, and four hours of sound recordings. A qualitative analysis explored changing patterns of interplay through a constant comparative approach. The learners' collaboration progressed along a pattern of participation common to all eight groups with a chronological starting point and an end point. The progress consisted of three main steps where the learners' groups developed into teams during a week's training. The supervisors' guided the progress by gradually stepping back to provide latitude for critical reflection and action. Our main conclusion in training teams of learners how to collaborate in the intensive care is the crucial understanding of how to guide them to act like a team, feel like a team and having the authority to act as a team.
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Applying organizational behavior theory to primary care.
Mullangi, Samyukta; Saint, Sanjay
2017-03-01
Addressing the mounting primary care shortage in the United States has been a focus of educators and policy makers, especially with the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 and the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act in 2015, placing increased pressure on the system. The Association of American Medical Colleges recently projected a shortage of as many as 65,000 primary care physicians by 2025, in part because fewer than 20% of medical students are picking primary care for a career. We examined the issue of attracting medical students to primary care through the lens of organizational behavior theory. Assuming there are reasons other than lower income potential for why students are inclined against primary care, we applied various principles of the Herzberg 2-factor theory to reimagine the operational flow and design of primary care. We conclude by proposing several solutions to enrich the job, such as decreasing documentation requirements, reducing the emphasis on specialty consultations, and elevating physicians to a supervisory role.
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The Diversity of Providers on the Family Medicine Team.
Bazemore, Andrew; Wingrove, Peter; Peterson, Lars; Petterson, Stephen
2016-01-01
Family physicians are increasingly incorporating other health care providers into their practice teams to better meet the needs of increasingly complex and comorbid patients. While a majority of family physicians report working with a nurse practitioner, only 21% work with a behavioral health specialist. A better understanding of optimal team composition and function in primary care is essential to realizing the promise of a patient-centered medical home and achieving the triple aim. © Copyright 2016 by the American Board of Family Medicine.
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Shaw, James; Kearney, Colleen; Glenns, Brenda; McKay, Sandra
2016-01-01
Home-based palliative care is increasingly dependent on interprofessional teams to deliver collaborative care that more adequately meets the needs of clients and families. The purpose of this pilot evaluation was to qualitatively explore the views of an interprofessional group of home care providers (occupational therapists, nurses, personal support work supervisors, community care coordinators, and a team coordinator) regarding a pilot project encouraging teamwork in interprofessional palliative home care services. We used qualitative methods, informed by an interprofessional conceptual framework, to analyse participants' accounts and provide recommendations regarding strategies for interprofessional team building in palliative home health care. Findings suggest that encouraging practitioners to share past experiences and foster common goals for palliative care are important elements of team building in interprofessional palliative care. Also, establishing a team leader who emphasises sharing power among team members and addressing the need for mutual emotional support may help to maximise interprofessional teamwork in palliative home care. These findings may be used to develop and test more comprehensive efforts to promote stronger interprofessional teamwork in palliative home health care delivery.
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Primary care and health reform in New Zealand.
Grant, C C; Forrest, C B; Starfield, B
1997-02-14
(1) To describe New Zealand's primary care system (2) to compare New Zealand to other Anglo-American members of the OECD with respect to the adequacy of primary care, and (3) to assess the cost-efficiency and effectiveness of New Zealand's system by comparing health spending and health indicators relevant to primary care. A cross-national comparison of primary care, health spending and health indicators in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Main outcome measures were health spending measured in purchasing power parties. Health indicators: mean life expectancy in years, years of potential life lost and infant mortality rates. New Zealand's primary care system ranked below the UK, above the USA and similar to Canada and Australia. Favourable characteristics of New Zealand's primary care system were the use of generalists as the predominant type of practitioner and the low proportion of active physicians who were specialists. Compared to the other countries, New Zealand scored poorly for financial that are necessary for the practise of good primary care. New Zealand and the UK had the lowest spending per capita on health care. New Zealand and the USA scored lowest for all three of the health care indicators. The quality of primary care in New Zealand is limited by barriers to access to care and the intermediate level of practise characteristics essential to primary care. Compared to other AngloAmerican OECD nations, New Zealand has relatively low levels of national health expenditure. In order to improve the quality of primary care, future reform should aim to facilitate access to care, increase the gatekeeping role of primary care physicians, and promote the practise characteristics essential to primary care.
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van Dongen, Jerôme Jean Jacques; van Bokhoven, Marloes Amantia; Goossens, Wilhelmus Nicolaas Marie; Daniëls, Ramon; van der Weijden, Trudy; Beurskens, Anna
2018-01-25
Interprofessional teamwork is increasingly necessary in primary care to meet the needs of people with complex care demands. Needs assessment shows that this requires efficient interprofessional team meetings, focusing on patients' personal goals. The aim of this study was to develop a programme to improve the efficiency and patient-centredness of such meetings. Action research approach: a first draft of the programme was developed, and iteratively used and evaluated by three primary care teams. Data were collected using observations, interviews and a focus group, and analysed using directed content analysis. The final programme comprises a framework to reflect on team functioning, and training activities supplemented by a toolbox. Training is intended for the chairperson and a co-chair, and aims at organizing and structuring meetings, and enhancing patient-centredness. Our findings emphasize the essential role of the team's chairperson, who, in addition to technically structuring meetings, should act as a change agent guiding team development. Findings show that the programme should be customizable to each individual team's context and participants' learning objectives. Becoming acquainted with new structures can be considered a growth process, in which teams have to find their way, with the chairperson as change agent.
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Third sector primary care for vulnerable populations.
Crampton, P; Dowell, A; Woodward, A
2001-12-01
This paper aims to describe and explain the development of third sector primary care organisations in New Zealand. The third sector is the non-government, non-profit sector. International literature suggests that this sector fulfils an important role in democratic societies with market-based economies, providing services otherwise neglected by the government and private for-profit sectors. Third sector organisations provided a range of social services throughout New Zealand's colonial history. However, it was not until the 1980s that third sector organisations providing comprehensive primary medical and related services started having a significant presence in New Zealand. In 1994 a range of union health centres, tribally based Mäori health providers, and community-based primary care providers established a formal network -- Health Care Aotearoa. While not representing all third sector primary care providers in New Zealand, Health Care Aotearoa was the best-developed example of a grouping of third sector primary care organisations. Member organisations served populations that were largely non-European and lived in deprived areas, and tended to adopt population approaches to funding and provision of services. The development of Health Care Aotearoa has been consistent with international experience of third sector involvement -- there were perceived "failures" in government policies for funding primary care and private sector responses to these policies, resulting in lack of universal funding and provision of primary care and continuing patient co-payments. The principal policy implication concerns the role of the third sector in providing primary care services for vulnerable populations as a partial alternative to universal funding and provision of primary care. Such an alternative may be convenient for proponents of reduced state involvement in funding and provision of health care, but may not be desirable from the point of view of equity and social cohesion
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Davy, Zowie; Middlemass, Jo; Siriwardena, Aloysius N
2015-10-01
Insomnia is common leading to patients with sleep problems often presenting to primary care services including general practice, community pharmacies and community mental health teams. Little is known about how health professionals in primary care respond to patients with insomnia. We aimed to explore health professionals' and patients' experiences and perceptions of the management of insomnia in primary care. We used a qualitative design and thematic approach. Primary care in Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire. We undertook focus groups and one-to-one interviews with a purposive sample of health professionals and adults with insomnia. We interviewed 28 patients and 23 health professionals. Practitioners focused on treating the cause of insomnia rather than the insomnia itself. They described providing stepped care for insomnia, but this focused on sleep hygiene which patients often disregarded, rather than cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). Practitioners were ambivalent towards hypnotic drugs but often colluded with patients to prescribe to avoid confrontation or express empathy. Patients sometimes took hypnotics in ways that were not intended, for example together with over-the-counter medication. Practitioners and patients were sometimes but not always concerned about addiction. Practitioners sometimes prescribed despite these concerns but at other times withdrew hypnotics abruptly without treating insomnia. Both patients and practitioners wanted more options and better training for the management of insomnia in primary care. A better understanding of the current approaches and difficulties in the management of insomnia will help to inform more therapeutic options and health professional training. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Liira, Helena; Koskela, Tuomas; Thulesius, Hans; Pitkälä, Kaisu
2016-01-01
the course collaboration sometimes led to paper co-authoring. In the Nordic countries, the primary care health professionals are used to working in multi-professional teams. A multi-professional strategy also seems fruitful in doctoral research education.
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Diversity of primary care systems analysed.
Kringos, D.; Boerma, W.; Bourgueil, Y.; Cartier, T.; Dedeu, T.; Hasvold, T.; Hutchinson, A.; Lember, M.; Oleszczyk, M.; Pavlick, D.R.
2015-01-01
This chapter analyses differences between countries and explains why countries differ regarding the structure and process of primary care. The components of primary care strength that are used in the analyses are health policy-making, workforce development and in the care process itself (see Fig.
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Team-training in healthcare: a narrative synthesis of the literature
Weaver, Sallie J; Dy, Sydney M; Rosen, Michael A
2014-01-01
Background Patients are safer and receive higher quality care when providers work as a highly effective team. Investment in optimising healthcare teamwork has swelled in the last 10 years. Consequently, evidence regarding the effectiveness for these interventions has also grown rapidly. We provide an updated review concerning the current state of team-training science and practice in acute care settings. Methods A PubMed search for review articles examining team-training interventions in acute care settings published between 2000 and 2012 was conducted. Following identification of relevant reviews with searches terminating in 2008 and 2010, PubMed and PSNet were searched for additional primary studies published in 2011 and 2012. Primary outcomes included patient outcomes and quality indices. Secondary outcomes included teamwork behaviours, knowledge and attitudes. Results Both simulation and classroom-based team-training interventions can improve teamwork processes (eg, communication, coordination and cooperation), and implementation has been associated with improvements in patient safety outcomes. Thirteen studies published between 2011 and 2012 reported statistically significant changes in teamwork behaviours, processes or emergent states and 10 reported significant improvement in clinical care processes or patient outcomes, including mortality and morbidity. Effects were reported across a range of clinical contexts. Larger effect sizes were reported for bundled team-training interventions that included tools and organisational changes to support sustainment and transfer of teamwork competencies into daily practice. Conclusions Overall, moderate-to-high-quality evidence suggests team-training can positively impact healthcare team processes and patient outcomes. Additionally, toolkits are available to support intervention development and implementation. Evidence suggests bundled team-training interventions and implementation strategies that embed effective
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What research impacts do Australian primary health care researchers expect and achieve?
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Reed Richard L
2011-11-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background Funding for research is under pressure to be accountable in terms of benefits and translation of research findings into practice and policy. Primary health care research has considerable potential to improve health care in a wide range of settings, but little is known about the extent to which these impacts actually occur. This study examines the impact of individual primary health care research projects on policy and practice from the perspective of Chief Investigators (CIs. Methods The project used an online survey adapted from the Buxton and Hanney Payback Framework to collect information about the impacts that CIs expected and achieved from primary health care research projects funded by Australian national competitive grants. Results and Discussion Chief Investigators (CIs provided information about seventeen completed projects. While no CI expected their project to have an impact in every domain of the framework used in the survey, 76% achieved at least half the impacts they expected. Sixteen projects had published and/or presented their work, 10 projects included 11 doctorate awards in their research capacity domain. All CIs expected their research to lead to further research opportunities with 11 achieving this. Ten CIs achieved their expectation of providing information for policy making but only four reported their research had influenced policy making. However 11 CIs achieved their expectation of providing information for organizational decision making and eight reported their research had influenced organizational decision making. Conclusion CIs reported that nationally funded primary health care research projects made an impact on knowledge production, staff development and further research, areas within the realm of influence of the research team and within the scope of awareness of the CIs. Some also made an impact on policy and organizational decision-making, and on localized clinical practice and service
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[Heart failure in primary care: Attitudes, knowledge and self-care].
Salvadó-Hernández, Cristina; Cosculluela-Torres, Pilar; Blanes-Monllor, Carmen; Parellada-Esquius, Neus; Méndez-Galeano, Carmen; Maroto-Villanova, Neus; García-Cerdán, Rosa Maria; Núñez-Manrique, M Pilar; Barrio-Ruiz, Carmen; Salvador-González, Betlem
2018-04-01
To determine the attitudes, knowledge, and self-care practices in patients with heart failure (HF) in Primary Care, as well as to identify factors associated with better self-care. Cross-sectional and multicentre study. Primary Care. Subjects over 18 years old with HF diagnosis, attended in 10 Primary Health Care Centres in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona. Self-care was measured using the European Heart Failure Self-Care Behaviour Scale. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, tests on attitudes (Self-efficacy Managing Chronic Disease Scale), knowledge (Patient Knowledge Questionnaire), level of autonomy (Barthel), and anxiety and depression screening (Goldberg Test), were also gathered in an interview. A multivariate mixed model stratified by centre was used to analyse the adjusted association of covariates with self-care. A total of 295 subjects (77.6%) agreed to participate, with a mean age of 75.6 years (SD: 11), 56.6% women, and 62% with no primary education. The mean self-care score was 28.65 (SD: 8.22), with 25% of patients scoring lower than 21 points. In the final stratified multivariate model (n=282; R 2 conditional=0.3382), better self-care was associated with higher knowledge (coefficient, 95% confidence interval: -1.37; -1.85 to -0.90), and coronary heart disease diagnosis (-2.41; -4.36: -0.46). Self-care was moderate. The correlation of better self-care with higher knowledge highlights the opportunity to implement strategies to improve self-care, which should consider the characteristics of heart failure patients attended in Primary Care. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.
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Zgierska, Aleksandra E; Vidaver, Regina M; Smith, Paul; Ales, Mary W; Nisbet, Kate; Boss, Deanne; Tuan, Wen-Jan; Hahn, David L
2018-06-05
Systematic implementation of guidelines for opioid therapy management in chronic non-cancer pain can reduce opioid-related harms. However, implementation of guideline-recommended practices in routine care is subpar. The goal of this quality improvement (QI) project is to assess whether a clinic-tailored QI intervention improves the implementation of a health system-wide, guideline-driven policy on opioid prescribing in primary care. This manuscript describes the protocol for this QI project. A health system with 28 primary care clinics caring for approximately 294,000 primary care patients developed and implemented a guideline-driven policy on long-term opioid therapy in adults with opioid-treated chronic non-cancer pain (estimated N = 3980). The policy provided multiple recommendations, including the universal use of treatment agreements, urine drug testing, depression and opioid misuse risk screening, and standardized documentation of the chronic pain diagnosis and treatment plan. The project team drew upon existing guidelines, feedback from end-users, experts and health system leadership to develop a robust QI intervention, targeting clinic-level implementation of policy-directed practices. The resulting multi-pronged QI intervention included clinic-wide and individual clinician-level educational interventions. The QI intervention will augment the health system's "routine rollout" method, consisting of a single educational presentation to clinicians in group settings and a separate presentation for staff. A stepped-wedge design will enable 9 primary care clinics to receive the intervention and assessment of within-clinic and between-clinic changes in adherence to the policy items measured by clinic-level electronic health record-based measures and process measures of the experience with the intervention. Developing methods for a health system-tailored QI intervention required a multi-step process to incorporate end-user feedback and account for the needs of
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Stout, Somava; Zallman, Leah; Arsenault, Lisa; Sayah, Assaad; Hacker, Karen
2017-01-01
Team-based care is a foundation of health care redesign models like the patient-centered medical home (PCMH). Yet few practices rigorously examine how the implementation of PCMH relates to teamwork. We identified factors associated with the perception of a practice operating as a real team. An online workforce survey was conducted with all staff of 12 primary care sites of Cambridge Health Alliance at different stages of PCMH transformation. Bivariate and multivariate analyses of factors associated with teamwork perceptions were conducted. In multivariate models, having effective leadership was the main factor associated with practice teamwork perceptions (odds ratio [OR], 10.49; 95% confidence interval [CI], 5.39-20.43); in addition, practicing at a site in an intermediate stage of PCMH transformation was also associated with enhanced team perceptions (OR, 2.44; 95% CI, 1.28-4.64). In a model excluding effective leadership, respondents at sites in an intermediate stage of PCMH transformation (OR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.1-3.4) and who had higher care team behaviors (such as huddles and weekly meetings; OR, 3.41; 95% CI, 1.30-8.92), higher care team perceptions (OR, 2.65; 95% CI, 1.15-6.11), and higher job satisfaction (OR, 2.00; 95% CI, 1.02-3.92) had higher practice teamwork perceptions. This study highlights the strong association between effective leadership, care team behaviors and perceptions, and job satisfaction with perceptions that practices operate as real teams. Although we cannot infer causality with these cross-sectional data, this study raises the possibility that providing attention to these factors may be important in augmenting practice teamwork perceptions.
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Health care interprofessional education: encouraging technology, teamwork, and team performance.
2014-04-01
It is critical to prepare nurses for future practice to work in teams by engaging students in interprofessional education (IPE) that fosters positive attitudes toward teamwork. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of computer-supported IPE on students’ attitudes and perceptions toward health care teamwork and team performance. A hybrid approach to IPE was used to provide students with an educational experience that combined the benefits of traditional face-to-face communication methodology with a computer-mediated platform that focused on reflection and team building. A statistically significant difference was found in students’ perceptions of team performance after engaging in computer-supported IPE. No statistically significant difference in students’ pretest–posttest composite attitude toward teamwork scores was noted; however, there was a positive trend toward improved scores.
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Aleluia, Italo Ricardo Santos; Medina, Maria Guadalupe; Almeida, Patty Fidelis de; Vilasbôas, Ana Luiza Queiroz
2017-06-01
International and Brazilian studies have highlighted the importance of the coordination of care for the organization of local health systems. This study aimed to analyze the coordination of care by Primary Health Care (PHC) in a municipal health system in the State of Bahia. This study was conducted in the lead municipality of the macro-region and involved two levels of analysis: PHC team and municipal management. Outlining conditions for the study were defined (hypertension and diabetes mellitus) and an objective image corresponding to the coordination of care was developed based on current national and international literature review. Semi-structured interviews with professionals, managers of PHC services were conducted and current documentary sources were also used. It was demonstrated that the coordination of care has not been met by municipal systems, where only 14 of the 22 proposed criteria have been met. The main difficulties and reasons were: a lack of health care protocols and the non-implementation of computer systems and telecommunication technologies. The results and the conceptual framework to assess the coordination of care are relevant contributions to this study, which can be applied to other contexts with similar characteristics.
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Randhawa, Gurvaneet S; Ahern, David K; Hesse, Bradford W
2017-03-01
The existing healthcare delivery systems across the world need to be redesigned to ensure high-quality care is delivered to all patients. This redesign needs to ensure care is knowledge-based, patient-centered and systems-minded. The rapid advances in the capabilities of information and communication technology and its recent rapid adoption in healthcare delivery have ensured this technology will play a vital role in the redesign of the healthcare delivery system. This commentary highlights promising new developments in health information technology (IT) that can support patient engagement and self-management as well as team-based, patient-centered care. Collaborative care is an effective approach to screen and treat depression in cancer patients and it is a good example of the benefits of team-based and patient-centered care. However, this approach was developed prior to the widespread adoption and use of health IT. We provide examples to illustrate how health IT can improve prevention and treatment of depression in cancer patients. We found several knowledge gaps that limit our ability to realize the full potential of health IT in the context of cancer and comorbid depression care. These gaps need to be filled to improve patient engagement; enhance the reach and effectiveness of collaborative care and web-based programs to prevent and treat depression in cancer patients. We also identify knowledge gaps in health IT design and implementation. Filling these gaps will help shape policies that enable clinical teams to deliver high-quality cancer care globally.
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Parekh, Sanjoti; Bush, Robert; Cook, Susan; Grant, Phillipa
2015-11-01
The purpose of this study is to evaluate an educational programme, 'Diabetes Connect: Connecting Professions', which was developed to enhance communication across primary care networks, to support best practice in clinical interventions and progress multidisciplinary team work to benefit patients in diabetes care. A total of 26 workshops were successfully delivered for 309 primary care professionals across the state of Queensland in Australia from November 2011. It consists of two separate, but complementary training elements: a series of online clinical education training modules and state-wide interprofessional learning workshops developed to enhance professional competencies. The evaluation design included completion of online surveys by the participants at two time points: first upon registering for the online modules or workshops; second, one week after attending a workshop. The survey included questions to evaluate the change in role performance measures. Overall, significant increases in participants' current knowledge, perceived ability to adopt this knowledge at work and willingness to change professional behaviour in the short term were observed. The study suggests that for maximum benefit both, workshop and online training, should be combined and made available widely. Future programmes should use a randomised trial design to test the delivery model.
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Prerequisites for sustainable care improvement using the reflective team as a work model.
Jonasson, Lise-Lotte; Carlsson, Gunilla; Nyström, Maria
2014-01-01
Several work models for care improvement have been developed in order to meet the requirement for evidence-based care. This study examines a work model for reflection, entitled the reflective team (RT). The main idea behind RTs is that caring skills exist among those who work closest to the patients. The team leader (RTL) encourages sustainable care improvement, rooted in research and proven experience, by using a lifeworld perspective to stimulate further reflection and a developmental process leading to research-based caring actions within the team. In order to maintain focus, it is important that the RTL has a clear idea of what sustainable care improvement means, and what the prerequisites are for such improvement. The aim of the present study is, therefore, to explore the prerequisites for improving sustainable care, seeking to answer how RTLs perceive these and use RTs for concrete planning. Nine RTLs were interviewed, and their statements were phenomenographically analysed. The analysis revealed three separate qualitative categories, which describe personal, interpersonal, and structural aspects of the prerequisites. In the discussion, these categories are compared with previous research on reflection, and the conclusion is reached that the optimal conditions for RTs to work, when focussed on sustainable care improvement, occur when the various aspects of the prerequisites are intertwined and become a natural part of the reflective work.
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[Clinical Psychology in Primary Care: A Descriptive Study of One Year of Operation].
Sánchez-Reales, S; Tornero-Gómez, M J; Martín-Oviedo, P; Redondo-Jiménez, M; del-Arco-Jódar, R
2015-01-01
Our aim is to present the first year of operation of a Clinical Psychology service in a Primary Care setting. A descriptive study was performed by analysing the requests and the care intervention of the Psychology Service, in collaboration with 36 general practitioners (33% of the staff), belonging to 6 health centres. Within the one year period, 171 outpatients from 15 years and older were referred with mild psychological disorders (> 61 in the global assessment functioning scale, APA, 2002). A total of 111 outpatients received psychological care. The main diagnoses were adaptation disorder, affective disorder, and anxiety. More than half (54.82%) of them achieved a full recovery. After a year follow up, a drop of 25.19% was observed in medicines use. The Primary Care Psychology team is a halfway unit between Primary Care practitioners and specialised units in order to deal with mild mental symptomatology which otherwise could be undertreated. It represents an important support for practitioners. Secondly, the early intervention can prevent mental problems becoming chronic, as shown by the drop in medication use. In spite of the not very high agreement between the practitioner's diagnoses and those made by the Psychology unit, it has set up an important means of communication and with direct and immediate interdisciplinary action. This should eventually lead to savings in economic resources and human suffering. Copyright © 2014. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U.
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Leaders, leadership and future primary care clinical research
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Qureshi Nadeem
2008-09-01
Full Text Available Abstract Background A strong and self confident primary care workforce can deliver the highest quality care and outcomes equitably and cost effectively. To meet the increasing demands being made of it, primary care needs its own thriving research culture and knowledge base. Methods Review of recent developments supporting primary care clinical research. Results Primary care research has benefited from a small group of passionate leaders and significant investment in recent decades in some countries. Emerging from this has been innovation in research design and focus, although less is known of the effect on research output. Conclusion Primary care research is now well placed to lead a broad re-vitalisation of academic medicine, answering questions of relevance to practitioners, patients, communities and Government. Key areas for future primary care research leaders to focus on include exposing undergraduates early to primary care research, integrating this early exposure with doctoral and postdoctoral research career support, further expanding cross disciplinary approaches, and developing useful measures of output for future primary care research investment.
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Janke, Robert; Rush, Kathy L
2014-06-01
The objective of this study was to explore the role librarians play on research teams. The experiences of a librarian and a faculty member are situated within the wider literature addressing collaborations between health science librarians and research faculty. A case study approach is used to outline the involvement of a librarian on a team created to investigate the best practices for integrating nurses into the workplace during their first year of practice. Librarians contribute to research teams including expertise in the entire process of knowledge development and dissemination including the ability to navigate issues related to copyright and open access policies of funding agencies. The librarian reviews the various tasks performed as part of the research team ranging from the grant application, to working on the initial literature review as well as the subsequent manuscripts that emerged from the primary research. The motivations for joining the research team, including authorship and relationship building, are also discussed. Recommendations are also made in terms of how librarians could increase their participation on research teams. The study shows that librarians can play a key role on interprofessional primary research teams. © 2014 The authors. Health Information and Libraries Journal © 2014 Health Libraries Group.
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Fujita, Junko; Fukui, Sakiko; Ikezaki, Sumie; Otoguro, Chizuru; Tsujimura, Mayuko
2017-11-01
To define the team types consisting of doctors, home-visiting nurses and care managers for end-of-life care by measuring the collaboration relationship, and to identify the factors related to the team types. A questionnaire survey of 43 teams including doctors, home-visiting nurses and care managers was carried out. The team types were classified based on mutual evaluations of the collaborative relationships among the professionals. To clarify the factors between team types with the patient characteristics, team characteristics and collaboration competency, univariate analysis was carried out with the Fisher's exact test or one-way analysis and multiple comparison analysis. Three team types were classified: the team where the collaborative relationships among all healthcare professionals were good; the team where the collaborative relationships between the doctors and care managers were poor; and the team where the collaborative relationships among all of the professionals were poor. There was a statistically significant association between the team types and the following variables: patient's dementia level, communication tool, professionals' experience of working with other team members, home-visiting nurses' experience of caring for dying patients, care managers' background qualifications, doctor's face-to-face cooperation with other members and home-visiting nurses' collaborative practice. It is suggested that a collaborative relationship would be fostered by more experience of working together, using communication tools and enhancing each professional's collaboration competency. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 1943-1950. © 2017 Japan Geriatrics Society.
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Interprofessional intensive care unit team interactions and medical crises: a qualitative study.
Piquette, Dominique; Reeves, Scott; Leblanc, Vicki R
2009-05-01
Research has suggested that interprofessional collaboration could improve patient outcomes in the intensive care unit (ICU). Maintaining optimal interprofessional interactions in a setting where unpredictable medical crises occur periodically is however challenging. Our study aimed to investigate the perceptions of ICU health care professionals regarding how acute medical crises affect their team interactions. We conducted 25 semi-structured interviews of ICU nurses, staff physicians, and respiratory therapists. All interviews were audio-taped and transcribed, and the analysis was undertaken using an inductive thematic approach. Our data indicated that the nature of interprofessional interactions changed as teams passed through three key temporal periods around medical crises. During the "pre-crisis period", interactions were based on the mutual respect of each other's expertise. During the "crisis period", hierarchical interactions were expected and a certain lack of civility was tolerated. During the "post-crisis period", divergent perceptions emerged amongst health professionals. Post-crisis team dispersion left the nurses with questions and emotions not expressed by other team members. Nurses believed that systematic interprofessional feedback sessions held immediately after a crisis could address some of their needs. Further research is needed to establish the possible benefits of strategies addressing ICU health care professionals' specific needs for interprofessional feedback after a medical crisis.
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Pharmaceutical care in Brazil’s primary health care
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Patricia Sodré Araújo
2017-11-01
Full Text Available ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To characterize the activities of clinical nature developed by pharmacists in basic health units and their participation in educational activities aiming at health promotion. METHODS This article is part of the Pesquisa Nacional sobre Acesso, Utilização e Promoção do Uso Racional de Medicamentos – Serviços, 2015 (PNAUM – National Survey on Access, Use and Promotion of Rational Use of Medicines – Services, 2015, a cross-sectional and exploratory study, of evaluative nature, consisting of a survey of information in a representative sample of cities, stratified by the Brazilian regions that constitute domains of study, and a subsample of primary health care services. The interviewed pharmacists (n=285 were responsible for the delivery of medicines and were interviewed in person with the use of a script. The characterization of the activities of clinical nature was based on information from pharmacists who declared to perform them, and on participation in educational activities aiming at health promotion, according to information from all pharmacists. The results are presented in frequency and their 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS From the interviewed subjects, 21.3% said they perform activities of clinical nature. Of these, more than 80% considered them very important; the majority does not dispose of specific places to perform them, which hinders privacy and confidentiality in these activities. The main denominations were “pharmaceutical guidance” and “pharmaceutical care.” The registration of activities is mainly made in the users’ medical records, computerized system, and in a specific document filed at the pharmacy, impairing the circulation of information among professionals. Most pharmacists performed these activities mainly along with physicians and nurses; 24.7% rarely participated in meetings with the health team, and 19.7% have never participated. CONCLUSIONS Activities of clinical nature
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Role of the multidisciplinary team in the care of the tracheostomy patient
Bonvento, Barbara; Wallace, Sarah; Lynch, James; Coe, Barry; McGrath, Brendan A
2017-01-01
Tracheostomies are used to provide artificial airways for increasingly complex patients for a variety of indications. Patients and their families are dependent on knowledgeable multidisciplinary staff, including medical, nursing, respiratory physiotherapy and speech and language therapy staff, dieticians and psychologists, from a wide range of specialty backgrounds. There is increasing evidence that coordinated tracheostomy multidisciplinary teams can influence the safety and quality of care for patients and their families. This article reviews the roles of these team members and highlights the potential for improvements in care. PMID:29066907
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Screening and Identification in Pediatric Primary Care
Simonian, Susan J.
2006-01-01
This article reviews issues related to behavioral screening in pediatric primary care settings. Structural-organizational issues affecting the use of pediatric primary care screening are discussed. This study also reviewed selected screening instruments that have utility for use in the primary care setting. Clinical and research issues related to…
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Guimarães, Wilderi Sidney Gonçalves; Parente, Rosana Cristina Pereira; Guimarães, Thayanne Louzada Ferreira; Garnelo, Luiza
2018-05-10
This study focuses on access to prenatal care and quality of care in the Family Health Strategy in Brazil as a whole and in the North region, through evaluation of infrastructure characteristics in the health units, management, and supply of care provided by the teams, from the perspective of regional and state inequalities. A cross-sectional evaluative and normative study was performed, drawing on the external evaluation component of the second round of the Program for Improvement of Access and Quality of Primary Care, in 2013-2014. The results revealed the inadequacy of the primary healthcare network's infrastructure for prenatal care, low adequacy of clinical actions for quality of care, and the teams' low management capacity to guarantee access and quality of care. In the distribution according to geopolitical regions, the findings pertaining to the units' infrastructure indicate a direct relationship between the infrastructure's adequacy and social contexts with higher municipal human development indices and income. For the clinical actions in patient care, the teams in all the regions scored low on adequacy, with slightly better results in the North and South regions of the country. There were important differences between the states of the North, and the states with higher mean income and human development scored higher on adequacy. The results indicate important organizational difficulties in both access and quality of care provided by the health teams, in addition to visible insufficiency in management activities aimed to improve access and quality of prenatal care.
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Achieving continuity of care: facilitators and barriers in community mental health teams.
Belling, Ruth; Whittock, Margaret; McLaren, Susan; Burns, Tom; Catty, Jocelyn; Jones, Ian Rees; Rose, Diana; Wykes, Til
2011-03-18
The integration of mental health and social services for people diagnosed with severe mental illness (SMI) has been a key aspect of attempts to reform mental health services in the UK and aims to minimise user and carer distress and confusion arising from service discontinuities. Community mental health teams (CMHTs) are a key component of UK policy for integrated service delivery, but implementing this policy has raised considerable organisational challenges. The aim of this study was to identify and explore facilitators and barriers perceived to influence continuity of care by health and social care professionals working in and closely associated with CMHTs. This study employed a survey design utilising in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a proportionate, random sample of 113 health and social care professionals and representatives of voluntary organisations. Participants worked in two NHS Mental Health Trusts in greater London within eight adult CMHTs and their associated acute in-patient wards, six local general practices, and two voluntary organisations. Team leadership, decision making, and experiences of teamwork support were facilitators for cross boundary and team continuity; face-to-face communication between teams, managers, general practitioners, and the voluntary sector were facilitators for information continuity. Relational, personal, and longitudinal continuity were facilitated in some local areas by workforce stability. Barriers for cross boundary and team continuity were specific leadership styles and models of decision making, blurred professional role boundaries, generic working, and lack of training for role development. Barriers for relational, personal, and longitudinal continuity were created by inadequate staffing levels, high caseloads, and administrative duties that could limit time spent with users. Incompatibility of information technology systems hindered information continuity. Flexible continuity was challenged by the
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Bowie, Paul; McNaughton, Elaine; Bruce, David; Holly, Deirdre; Forrest, Eleanor; Macleod, Marion; Kennedy, Susan; Power, Ailsa; Toppin, Denis; Black, Irene; Pooley, Janet; Taylor, Audrey; Swanson, Vivien; Kelly, Moya; Ferguson, Julie; Stirling, Suzanne; Wakeling, Judy; Inglis, Angela; McKay, John; Sargeant, Joan
2016-01-01
Significant event analysis (SEA) is well established in many primary care settings but can be poorly implemented. Reasons include the emotional impact on clinicians and limited knowledge of systems thinking in establishing why events happen and formulating improvements. To enhance SEA effectiveness, we developed and tested "guiding tools" based on human factors principles. Mixed-methods development of guiding tools (Personal Booklet-to help with emotional demands and apply a human factors analysis at the individual level; Desk Pad-to guide a team-based systems analysis; and a written Report Format) by a multiprofessional "expert" group and testing with Scottish primary care practitioners who submitted completed enhanced SEA reports. Evaluation data were collected through questionnaire, telephone interviews, and thematic analysis of SEA reports. Overall, 149/240 care practitioners tested the guiding tools and submitted completed SEA reports (62.1%). Reported understanding of how to undertake SEA improved postintervention (P systems issues (85/123, 69.1%), while most found the Report Format clear (94/123, 76.4%) and would recommend it (88/123, 71.5%). Most SEA reports adopted a systems approach to analyses (125/149, 83.9%), care improvement (74/149, 49.7), or planned actions (42/149, 28.2%). Applying human factors principles to SEA potentially enables care teams to gain a systems-based understanding of why things go wrong, which may help with related emotional demands and with more effective learning and improvement.
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[Response of primary care teams to manage mental health problems after the 2010 earthquake].
Vitriol, Verónica; Minoletti, Alberto; Alvarado, Rubén; Sierralta, Paula; Cancino, Alfredo
2014-09-01
Thirty to 50% of people exposed to a natural disaster suffer psychological problems in the ensuing months. To characterize the activities in mental health developed by Primary Health Care centers after the earthquake that affected Chile on february 27th, 2010. A cross-sectional study analyzing 16 urban centers of Maule Region, was carried out. A questionnaire was developed to know the preparatory and supportive activities directed to the community and the training and self-care activities directed to Health Care personnel that were made during the 12 months following the catastrophe. In addition, a questionnaire evaluating structural aspects was designed. Only 1/3 of the centers made some preparatory activity and none of them made a diagnosis of population vulnerability. The average of protective Mental Health interventions coverage reached 35% of the population estimated to be most affected. The activities lasted 31 to 62% of the optimal duration standards set by experts (according to the type of action). Important differences between centers in economic and geographical accessibility, construction and professional resources were found. This study shows the difficulties faced by urban centers of Maule Region to deal with mental health problems caused by the earthquake, which were attributable to the absence of local planning and drills, and to the lack of intra and inter sectorial coordination.
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van Leeuwen, Karen M; Bosmans, Judith E; Jansen, Aaltje P D; Hoogendijk, Emiel O; Muntinga, Maaike E; van Hout, Hein P J; Nijpels, Giel; van der Horst, Henriette E; van Tulder, Maurits W
2015-12-01
To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the Geriatric Care Model (GCM), an integrated care model for frail older adults based on the Chronic Care Model, with that of usual care. Economic evaluation alongside a 24-month stepped-wedge cluster-randomized controlled trial. Primary care (35 practices) in two regions in the Netherlands. Community-dwelling older adults who were frail according to their primary care physicians and the Program on Research for Integrating Services for the Maintenance of Autonomy case-finding tool questionnaire (N = 1,147). The GCM consisted of the following components: a regularly scheduled in-home comprehensive geriatric assessment by a practice nurse followed by a customized care plan, management and training of practice nurses by a geriatric expert team, and coordination of care through community network meetings and multidisciplinary team consultations of individuals with complex care needs. Outcomes were measured every 6 months and included costs from a societal perspective, health-related quality of life (Medical Outcomes Study 12-item Short-Form Survey (SF-12) physical (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) scales), functional limitations (Katz activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living), and quality-adjusted life years based on the EQ-5D. Multilevel regression models adjusted for time and baseline confounders showed no significant differences in costs ($356, 95% confidence interval = -$488-1,134) and outcomes between intervention and usual care phases. Cost-effectiveness acceptability curves showed that, for the SF-12 PCS and MCS, the probability of the intervention being cost-effective was 0.76 if decision-makers are willing to pay $30,000 per point improvement on the SF-12 scales (range 0-100). For all other outcomes the probability of the intervention being cost-effective was low. Because the GCM was not cost-effective compared to usual care after 24 months of follow-up, widespread implementation
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Taylor, Johanna; Aldridge, Jan
2017-12-16
Children's hospices are a key provider of palliative care for children and young people with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions. However, despite recent policy attention to the provision of paediatric palliative care, little is known about the role of children's hospice staff and the factors that may impact on their wellbeing at work. This study explored the rewards and challenges of working in a children's hospice with an aim to identify staff support and development needs. We conducted an exploratory, qualitative study involving thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 34 staff and three focus groups with 17 staff working in a multi-disciplinary care team in a UK children's hospice. Participants identified rewards and challenges related to the direct work of caring for children and their families; team dynamics and organisational structures; and individual resilience and job motivation. Participants described the work as emotionally intensive and multi-faceted; 'getting it right' for children was identified as a strong motivator and reward, but also a potential stressor as staff strived to maintain high standards of personalised and emotional care. Other factors were identified as both a reward and stressor, including team functioning, the allocation of work, meeting parent expectations, and the hospice environment. Many participants identified training needs for different aspects of the role to help them feel more confident and competent. Participants also expressed concerns about work-related stress, both for themselves and for colleagues, but felt unable to discuss this at work. Informal support from colleagues and group clinical reflection were identified as primary resources to reflect on and learn from work and for emotional support. However, opportunities for this were limited. Providing regular, structured, and dedicated clinical reflection provides a mechanism through which children's hospice staff can come together for support and
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Interdisciplinary Educational Approaches to Promote Team-Based Geriatrics and Palliative Care
Howe, Judith L.; Sherman, Deborah Witt
2006-01-01
Despite the increasing public demand for enhanced care of older patients and those with life-threatening illness, health professionals have had limited formal education in geriatrics and palliative care. Furthermore, formal education in interdisciplinary team training is limited. In order to remedy this situation, proactive interventions are being…
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Donohue, SarahMaria; Haine, James E; Li, Zhanhai; Trowbridge, Elizabeth R; Kamnetz, Sandra A; Feldstein, David A; Sosman, James M; Wilke, Lee G; Sesto, Mary E; Tevaarwerk, Amye J
2017-09-20
Survivorship care plans (SCPs) have been recommended as tools to improve care coordination and outcomes for cancer survivors. SCPs are increasingly being provided to survivors and their primary care providers. However, most primary care providers remain unaware of SCPs, limiting their potential benefit. Best practices for educating primary care providers regarding SCP existence and content are needed. We developed an education program to inform primary care providers of the existence, content, and potential uses for SCPs. The education program consisted of a 15-min presentation highlighting SCP basics presented at mandatory primary care faculty meetings. An anonymous survey was electronically administered via email (n = 287 addresses) to evaluate experience with and basic knowledge of SCPs pre- and post-education. A total of 101 primary care advanced practice providers (APPs) and physicians (35% response rate) completed the baseline survey with only 23% reporting prior receipt of a SCP. Only 9% could identify the SCP location within the electronic health record (EHR). Following the education program, primary care physicians and APPs demonstrated a significant improvement in SCP knowledge, including improvement in their ability to locate one within the EHR (9 vs 59%, p educational program containing information about SCP existence, content, and location in the EHR increased primary care physician and APP knowledge in these areas, which are prerequisites for using SCP in clinical practice.
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Leadership training in health care action teams: a systematic review.
Rosenman, Elizabeth D; Shandro, Jamie R; Ilgen, Jonathan S; Harper, Amy L; Fernandez, Rosemarie
2014-09-01
To identify and describe the design, implementation, and evidence of effectiveness of leadership training interventions for health care action (HCA) teams, defined as interdisciplinary teams whose members coordinate their actions in time-pressured, unstable situations. The authors conducted a systematic search of the PubMed/MEDLINE, CINAHL, ERIC, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and Web of Science databases, key journals, and review articles published through March 2012. They identified peer-reviewed English-language articles describing leadership training interventions targeting HCA teams, at all levels of training and across all health care professions. Reviewers, working in duplicate, abstracted training characteristics and outcome data. Methodological quality was evaluated using the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument (MERSQI). Of the 52 included studies, 5 (10%) focused primarily on leadership training, whereas the remainder included leadership training as part of a larger teamwork curriculum. Few studies reported using a team leadership model (2; 4%) or a theoretical framework (9; 17%) to support their curricular design. Only 15 studies (29%) specified the leadership behaviors targeted by training. Forty-five studies (87%) reported an assessment component; of those, 31 (69%) provided objective outcome measures including assessment of knowledge or skills (21; 47%), behavior change (8; 18%), and patient- or system-level metrics (8; 18%). The mean MERSQI score was 11.4 (SD 2.9). Leadership training targeting HCA teams has become more prevalent. Determining best practices in leadership training is confounded by variability in leadership definitions, absence of supporting frameworks, and a paucity of robust assessments.
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Schmidt, Karen L; Lingler, Jennifer H; Schulz, Richard
2009-11-01
Primary care visits of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) often involve communication among patients, family caregivers, and primary care physicians (PCPs). The objective of this study was to understand the nature of each individual's verbal participation in these triadic interactions. To define the verbal communication dynamics of AD care triads, we compared verbal participation (percent of total visit speech) by each participant in patient/caregiver/PCP triads. Twenty-three triads were audio taped during a routine primary care visit. Rates of verbal participation were described and effects of patient cognitive status (MMSE score, verbal fluency) on verbal participation were assessed. PCP verbal participation was highest at 53% of total visit speech, followed by caregivers (31%) and patients (16%). Patient cognitive measures were related to patient and caregiver verbal participation, but not to PCP participation. Caregiver satisfaction with interpersonal treatment by PCP was positively related to caregiver's own verbal participation. Caregivers of AD patients and PCPs maintain active, coordinated verbal participation in primary care visits while patients participate less. Encouraging verbal participation by AD patients and their caregivers may increase the AD patient's active role and caregiver satisfaction with primary care visits.
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[Nurses and social care workers in emergency teams in Norway].
Hilpüsch, Frank; Parschat, Petra; Fenes, Sissel; Aaraas, Ivar J; Gilbert, Mads
2011-01-07
The Norwegian counties Troms and Finnmark are dominated by large areas with widespread habitation and rather long response times for ambulances and doctors. We wished to investigate the extent to which the municipal preparedness in these counties use employees from the municipal nursing and social care services and if these are part of local emergency teams. In the autumn of 2008, we sent a questionnaire to the district medical officers and the leaders for municipal nursing and social care services in all 44 municipalities in Troms and Finnmark. The answers were analyzed manually. 41 municipalities responded. In 34 of these the municipal nurses and social care workers practice emergency medicine procedures. The content in these training sessions is much more comprehensive than that in a typical first aid course. In three of four municipalities ambulance personnel do not participate in this training. In 31 municipalities the inhabitants contact nurses and social care workers directly if they are acutely ill. In only 10 of the municipalities the nurses and social care workers are organized in local teams including a doctor and an ambulance. In the districts, nursing and social care services are a resource in an emergency medicine context. The potential within these professions can be exploited better and be an important supplement in emergencies. In emergencies, cooperation across disciplines requires a clear organizational and economical structure, local basis and leadership.
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Gomez, Fernando; Curcio, Carmen Lucia
2013-01-01
The underlying rationale to support interdisciplinary collaboration in geriatrics and gerontology is based on the complexity of elderly care. The most important characteristic about interdisciplinary health care teams for older people in Latin America is their subjective-basis framework. In other regions, teams are organized according to a…
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Bowman, Brent; Smith, Scott
2010-01-01
Of the key Health Plan patient satisfaction measures used in Kaiser Permanente Colorado, ease of contacting the physician's office with a medical question was consistently rated as the lowest quarterly patient satisfaction measure. Furthermore, medical office staff had become dissatisfied with their inability to contact patients who had previously left messages. In addition to the shear volume of messages, the return calls were often unanswered, leading to subsequent attempts to reach patients, creating additional work for medical office staff. DirectConnect—the project name for a system and set of processes focused on improving patient satisfaction with the ability to contact Primary Care delivery teams by telephone—focuses on isolating medical advice calls from the other types of calls handled by the centralized Call Center. The system identifies the patient using his/her unique electronic medical record number, then automatically routes medical advice calls directly to the appropriate Primary Care Physician (PCP) or staff. The clinician may then evaluate and respond to the patient's need quickly, thus managing more of their panel's requests in real time. How is DirectConnect different from simply having the patient contact their PCP's office directly? The primary difference is “one-number” convenience that allows all patients to dial one number to access their PCP's team. In addition, calls are routed to various staff as available to reduce long telephone queues and wait times. The DirectConnect system has resulted in statistically significant improvement in key service quality measures. Patient satisfaction improved from a pre-implementation nine quarter mean of 55.9% to a post-implementation 12 quarter mean of 70.2%. Fourteen percent to 17% of all Primary Care calls are now handled by the patient's home medical office team, creating a 54% improvement in the centralized Call Center's speed of answering calls in the first quarter post implementation
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Corrêa, Santiago
2018-01-01
Brazil has 206 million people, and 1.2 million deaths and 600,000 new cases of cancer per year. Palliative Care services are patchily distributed. The Family Health Strategy, made up from 41,000 primary care teams across Brazil forms a comprehensive primary care network. The Project EstaraoSeuLado-Primary Palliative Care developed working from Community Centers. We created a model based on compassionate communities, with community carers working alongside primary care teams. We identified people who need palliative care, gave them specific care and enrolled their carers into a program of monthly meetings called "Comunidade Cuidador". We discussed caring at end of life and provided skills training. During 2015 we ran 8 training programmes with an average of 10 carers. The major themes of discussion were carer burnout, dealing with denial and skills needed daily. The effect of these meetings was better relations between carers and professionals with expansion of the naturally occurring supportive network. The results of this project have been remarkable. The joint working of professionals and supportive networks together is recognised as being transformational. Carers themselves spread this approach by recommending it to others they know with life limiting illness. We will discuss the model and how it can be replicated more broadly across Brazil. Family Health teams can use tools of identification, evaluation and assessment working with networks including the community as an important part. We will propose a new model of End-of-Life Care to be adopted as national policy. We have implemented a compassionate community programme in the area of Rio Grande in Brazil. This has been a combination of primary care working in harmony with communities, providing education, resources and training to enhance the skill of communities to care for their dying. This is a necessary solution for Brazil, where resources and access to healthcare is limited. Our model is successful and
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Swedish pediatric diabetes teams' perception of fathers' involvement: A Grounded Theory study.
Boman, Ase; Povlsen, Lene; Dahlborg-Lyckhage, Elisabeth; Borup, Ina
2013-06-01
The purpose of this study was to analyze how Swedish pediatric diabetes teams perceived and discussed fathers' involvement in the care of their child with type 1 diabetes. It also aimed to discuss how the teams' attitudes towards the fathers' involvement developed during the data collection process. The Constructivist Grounded Theory design was used and data were collected during three repeated focus group discussions with three Swedish pediatric diabetes teams. The core category of the teams' perception of fathers' involvement emerged as: If dad attends, we are happy - if mom doesn't, we become concerned. Initially the teams balanced their perception of fathers' involvement on the mother's role as the primary caregiver. In connection with the teams' directed attention on fathers, in the focus group discussions, the teams' awareness of the importance of fathers increased. As a consequence, the team members began to encourage fathers' engagement in their child's care. We conclude that by increasing the teams' awareness of fathers as a health resource, an active health promotion perspective could be implemented in pediatric diabetes care. © 2012 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.
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[Strengthening primary health care: a strategy to maximize coordination of care].
de Almeida, Patty Fidelis; Fausto, Márcia Cristina Rodrigues; Giovanella, Lígia
2011-02-01
To describe and analyze the actions developed in four large cities to strengthen the family health strategy (FHS) in Brazil. Case studies were carried out in Aracaju, Belo Horizonte, Florianópolis, and Vitória based on semi-structured interviews with health care managers. In addition, a cross-sectional study was conducted with questionnaires administered to a sample of FHS workers and services users. Actions needed to strengthen primary health care services were identified in all four cities. These include increasing the number of services offered at the primary health care level, removing barriers to access, restructuring primary services as the entry point to the health care system, enhancing problem-solving capacity (diagnostic and therapeutic support and networking between health units to organize the work process, training, and supervision), as well as improving articulation between surveillance and care actions. The cities studied have gained solid experience in the reorganization of the health care model based on a strengthening of health primary care and of the capacity to undertake the role of health care coordinator. However, to make the primary care level the customary entry point and first choice for users, additional actions are required to balance supplier-induced and consumer-driven demands. Consumer driven demand is the biggest challenge for the organization of teamwork processes. Support for and recognition of FHS as a basis for primary health care is still an issue. Initiatives to make FHS better known to the population, health care professionals at all levels, and civil society organizations are still needed.
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Loignon, Christine; Hudon, Catherine; Boudreault-Fournier, Alexandrine; Dupéré, Sophie; Macaulay, Ann C; Pluye, Pierre; Gaboury, Isabelle; Haggerty, Jeannie L; Fortin, Martin; Goulet, Émilie; Lambert, Mireille; Pelissier-Simard, Luce; Boyer, Sophie; de Laat, Marianne; Lemire, Francine; Champagne, Louise; Lemieux, Martin
2013-03-11
Ensuring access to timely and appropriate primary healthcare for people living in poverty is an issue facing all countries, even those with universal healthcare systems. The transformation of healthcare practices and organization could be improved by involving key stakeholders from the community and the healthcare system in the development of research interventions. The aim of this project is to stimulate changes in healthcare organizations and practices by encouraging collaboration between care teams and people living in poverty. Our objectives are twofold: 1) to identify actions required to promote the adoption of professional practices oriented toward social competence in primary care teams; and 2) to examine factors that would encourage the inclusion of people living in poverty in the process of developing social competence in healthcare organizations. This study will use a participatory action research design applied in healthcare organizations. Participatory research is an increasingly recognized approach that is helpful for involving the people for whom the research results are intended. Our research team consists of 19 non-academic researchers, 11 academic researchers and six partners. A steering committee composed of academic researchers and stakeholders will have a decision-making role at each step, including knowledge dissemination and recommendations for new interventions. In this project we will adopt a multiphase approach and will use a variety of methods, including photovoice, group discussions and interviews. The proposed study will be one of only a few using participatory research in primary care to foster changes aimed at enhancing quality and access to care for people living in poverty. To our knowledge this will be the first study to use photovoice in healthcare organizations to promote new interventions. Our project includes partners who are targeted for practice changes and improvements in delivering primary care to persons living in poverty
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Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Jenny Woodman
2014-08-01
Full Text Available This study uses observations of team meetings and interviews with 17 primary care professionals in four GP practices in England to generate hypotheses about how “vulnerable family” team meetings might support responses by GPs to maltreatment-related concerns and joint working with other professionals. These meetings are also called “safeguarding meetings”. The study found that vulnerable family meetings were used as a way of monitoring children or young people and their families and supporting risk assessment by information gathering. Four factors facilitated the meetings: meaningful information flow into the meetings from other agencies, systematic ways of identifying cases for discussion, limiting attendance to core members of the primary care team and locating the meeting as part of routine clinical practice. Our results generate hypotheses about a model of care that can be tested for effectiveness in terms of service measures, child and family outcomes, and as a potential mechanism for other professionals to engage and support GPs in their everyday responses to vulnerable and maltreated children. The potential for adverse as well as beneficial effects should be considered from involving professionals outside the core primary care team (e.g., police, children’s social care, education and mental health services.
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de Jonge, Ank; Stuijt, Rosan; Eijke, Iva; Westerman, Marjan J
2014-03-17
Continuity of care during labour is important for women. Women with an intrapartum referral from primary to secondary care look back more negatively on their birh experience compared to those who are not referred. It is not clear which aspects of care contribute to this negative birth experience. This study aimed to explore in-depth the experiences of women who were referred during labour from primary to secondary care with regard to the different aspects of continuity of care. A qualitative interview study was conducted in the Netherlands among women who were in primary care at the onset of labour and were referred to secondary care before the baby was born. Through purposive sampling 27 women were selected. Of these, nine women planned their birth at home, two in an alongside midwifery unit and 16 in hospital. Thematic analysis was used. Continuity of care was a very important issue for women because it contributed to their feeling of safety during labour. Important details were sometimes not handed over between professionals within and between primary and secondary care, in particular about women's personal preferences. In case of referral of care from primary to secondary care, it was important for women that midwives handed over the care in person and stayed until they felt safe with the hospital team. Personal continuity of care, in which case the midwife stayed until the end of labour, was highly appreciated but not always expected.Fear of transportion during or after labour was a reason for women to choose hospital birth but also to opt for home birth. Choice of place of birth emerged as a fluid concept; most women planned their place of birth during pregnancy and were aware that they would spend some time at home and possibly some time in hospital. In case of referral from primary to secondary care during labour, midwives should hand over their care in person and preferrably stay with women throughout labour. Planned place of birth should be regarded as a