Relationship Quality and Patient-Assessed Quality of Care in VA Primary Care Clinics: Development and Validation of the Work Relationships Scale

PURPOSE

Efforts to better understand the impact of clinic member relationships on care quality in primary care clinics have been limited by the absence of a validated instrument to assess these relationships. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a scale assessing relationships within primary care clinics.

METHODS

The Work Relationships Scale (WRS) was developed and administered as part of a survey of learning and relationships among 17 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) primary care clinics. A Rasch partial-credit model and principal components analysis were used to evaluate item performance, select the final items for inclusion, and establish unidimensionality for the WRS. The WRS was then validated against semistructured clinic member interviews and VA Survey of Healthcare Experiences of Patients (SHEP) data.

RESULTS

Four hundred fifty-seven clinicians and staff completed the clinic survey, and 247 participated in semistructured interviews. WRS scores were significantly associated with clinic-level reporting for 2 SHEP variables: overall rating of personal doctor/nurse (r² =0.43, P <.01) and overall rating of health care (r²= 0.25, P <.05). Interview data describing relationship characteristics were consistent with variability in WRS scores across low-scoring and high-scoring clinics.

CONCLUSIONS

The WRS shows promising validity as a measure assessing the quality of relationships in primary care settings; moreover, primary care clinics with lower WRS scores received poorer patient quality ratings for both individual clinicians and overall health care. Relationships play an important role in shaping care delivery and should be assessed as part of efforts to improve patient care within primary care settings.     

Improving Physician Coverage of Pneumococcal Vaccine: A Randomized Trial of a Telephone Intervention

Improved pneumococcal vaccine (PPV) immunization for seniors is a national goal of the Medicare program. This study examined whether adding a simple telephone follow-up to an existing mailed physician performance feedback under the Medicare program would increase the impact on billed pneumococcal immunizations. Medicare fee-for-service claims data were used to select New York primary care physicians with high volume (n = 732) or African-American serving (n = 329) practices. All practices received mailed feedback on their 1999 Medicare practice specific PPV coverage rates, along with educational materials and offers of assistance. Practices were also randomized to receive telephone calls directing attention to the mailing and further promoting improvements in PPV coverage or no active follow-up. Physicians randomized to telephone follow-up showed significantly higher rates of practice specific PPV coverage in 2000 than those receiving the routine mailing only, and 27% vs. 17% (p = 0.01) of high volume physicians and 34% vs. 22% (p = .052) of African American serving physicians achieved at least a 5% increase in their cumulative PPV claims coverage. This study concludes that telephone follow-up is an effective and straightforward method to enhance the impact of practice specific feedback to promote improvements in Medicare PPV immunization. However, improved methods may be needed to induce a large percentage of physicians to change.     

Practice Facilitation to Improve Diabetes Care in Primary Care: A Report From the EPIC Randomized Clinical Trial

PURPOSE

We investigated 3 approaches for implementing the Chronic Care Model to improve diabetes care: (1) practice facilitation over 6 months using a reflective adaptive process (RAP) approach; (2) practice facilitation for up to 18 months using a continuous quality improvement (CQI) approach; and (3) providing self-directed (SD) practices with model information and resources, without facilitation.

METHODS

We conducted a cluster-randomized trial, called Enhancing Practice, Improving Care (EPIC), that compared these approaches among 40 small to midsized primary care practices. At baseline and 9 months and 18 months after enrollment, we assessed practice diabetes quality measures from chart audits and Practice Culture Assessment scores from clinician and staff surveys.

RESULTS

Although measures of the quality of diabetes care improved in all 3 groups (all P <.05), improvement was greater in CQI practices compared with both SD practices (P <.0001) and RAP practices (P <.0001); additionally, improvement was greater in SD practices compared with RAP practices (P <.05). In RAP practices, Change Culture scores showed a trend toward improvement at 9 months (P = .07) but decreased below baseline at 18 months (P <.05), while Work Culture scores decreased from 9 to 18 months (P <.05). Both scores were stable over time in SD and CQI practices.

CONCLUSIONS

Traditional CQI interventions are effective at improving measures of the quality of diabetes care, but may not improve practice change and work culture. Short-term practice facilitation based on RAP principles produced less improvement in quality measures than CQI or SD interventions and also did not produce sustained improvements in practice culture.     

Incubation Period of Ebola Hemorrhagic Virus Subtype Zaire

Objectives

Ebola hemorrhagic fever has killed over 1300 people, mostly in equatorial Africa. There is still uncertainty about the natural reservoir of the virus and about some of the factors involved in disease transmission. Until now, a maximum incubation period of 21 days has been assumed.

Methods

We analyzed data collected during the Ebola outbreak (subtype Zaire) in Kikwit, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in 1995 using maximum likelihood inference and assuming a log-normally distributed incubation period.

Results

The mean incubation period was estimated to be 12.7 days (standard deviation 4.31 days), indicating that about 4.1% of patients may have incubation periods longer than 21 days.

Conclusion

If the risk of new cases is to be reduced to 1% then 25 days should be used when investigating the source of an outbreak, when determining the duration of surveillance for contacts, and when declaring the end of an outbreak.     

Reinvention of Depression Instruments by Primary Care Clinicians

PURPOSE Despite the sophisticated development of depression instruments during the past 4 decades, the critical topic of how primary care clinicians actually use those instruments in their day-to-day practice has not been investigated. We wanted to understand how primary care clinicians use depression instruments, for what purposes, and the conditions that influence their use.METHODS Grounded theory method was used to guide data collection and analysis. We conducted 70 individual interviews and 3 focus groups (n = 24) with a purposeful sample of 70 primary care clinicians (family physicians, general internists, and nurse practitioners) from 52 offices. Investigators’ field notes on office practice environments complemented individual interviews.RESULTS The clinicians described occasional use of depression instruments but reported they did not routinely use them to aid depression diagnosis or management; the clinicians reportedly used them primarily to enhance patients’ acceptance of the diagnosis when they anticipated or encountered resistance to the diagnosis. Three conditions promoted or reduced use of these instruments for different purposes: the extent of competing demands for the clinician’s time, the lack of objective evidence of depression, and the clinician’s familiarity with the patient. No differences among the 3 clinician groups were found for these 3 conditions.CONCLUSIONS Depression instruments are reinvented by primary care clinicians in their real-world primary care practice. Although depression instruments were originally conceptualized for screening, diagnosing, or facilitating the management of depression, our study suggests that the real-world practice context influences their use to aid shared decision making—primarily to suggest, tell, or convince patients to accept the diagnosis of depression.     

Disclosure of Sexual Orientation and Uptake of HIV Testing and Hepatitis Vaccination for Rural Men Who Have Sex With Men

PURPOSE

The decision and ability of primary care clinician to make recommendations for routine human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing and hepatitis A virus (HAV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccines are shaped by knowledge of their patient’s risk behaviors. For men who have sex with men, such knowledge requires disclosure of same-sex sexual behavior or sexual identity.

METHODS

Data were analyzed from a national survey of rural men who have sex with men (N = 319) to understand whether the disclosure of sexual identity to clinicians was associated with increased uptake of HIV testing and hepatitis vaccinations.

RESULTS

We found that disclosure of sexual identity to clinicians was significantly associated (OR = 1.26; 95% CI, 1.08–1.47) with uptake of routine HIV testing and HAV/HBV vaccination.

CONCLUSION

Our finding reinforces the need for safe, nonjudgmental settings for patients to discuss their sexual identities freely with their clinicians.     

Visceral leishmaniasis in Brazil: rationale and concerns related to reservoir control

The control of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis is a challenge, particularly in Brazil, where the disease has been gradually spreading across the country over the past 30 years. Strategies employed for decreasing the transmission risk are based on the control of vector populations and reservoirs; since humans are considered unnecessary for the maintenance of transmission. Among the adopted strategies in Brazil, the sacrifice of infected dogs is commonly performed and has been the most controversial measure. In the present study, we provide the rationale for the implementation of different control strategies targeted at reservoir populations and highlight the limitations and concerns associated with each of these strategies.     

Randomized Controlled Trial of a Computer Strategy to Increase General Practitioner Preventive Care

Background. Previous interventions targeting primary care practitioners with the aim of increasing preventive care delivery have demonstrated limited effectiveness. The primary aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a computerized continuing medical education program to increase rates of three screening behaviors (cholesterol, blood pressure, and cervical screening) and to identify three risk behaviors (smoking, alcohol consumption, benzodiazepine use) in general practice.Methods. Nineteen general practitioners were randomly allocated to intervention or control conditions. Those given the intervention received a computerized feedback system. The intervention was delivered using a touchscreen computer located in the surgery waiting area. The preventive behaviors of interest were patient smoking, alcohol use, benzodiazepine use, and blood pressure, cholesterol and cervical screening using the Papanicolou test. Differences in performance by group in each of the outcomes was measured at baseline and 3-month follow-up. Logistic regression analyses with generalized estimating equations were conducted as the main analyses.Result. At 3-month follow-up, statistically significant differences were evident in the following outcome measures: accurate classification of benzodiazepine users (z = 2.8540, P < 0.05); accurate classification of non-benzodiazepine users (z = 2.7339, P < 0.05); accurate classification of hazardous or harmful alcohol drinkers (z = 2.3079, P < 0.02); blood pressure screening (z = 3.4136, P < 0.001); and cholesterol screening (z = 6.6313, P < 0.001).Conclusion. A computerized system of performance-specific feedback was effective at increasing some preventive care services in general practice.     

Primary Care Physician Insights Into a Typology of the Complex Patient in Primary Care

PURPOSE

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.

METHODS

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.

RESULTS

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.

CONCLUSION

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.     

Seroprevalence of rubella in Colombia: a birth-year cohort analysis

OBJECTIVE

To estimate the seroprevalence of rubella and associated factors.

METHODS

Population-based seroprevalence study in a random sample of 2,124 individuals, aged six to 64 years, representative by age, sex and area in Medellín, Colombia, 2009. Biological and socioeconomic variables were analyzed for their association with serum protection against rubella, according to birth-year cohort; those born before (1954-1990) and after (1991-2003) the introduction of universal immunization. Titer of IgG antibodies against the rubella virus was detected using a high sensitivity (AxSYM^®Rubella IgG – Abbott Laboratories) and a high specificity test (VIDAS RUB IgG II^®– BioMerieux Laboratories). Proportions and weighted averages derived from a complex sample, including a correction factor for differences in gender participation, were estimated. Association with protection for groups of biological and social variables according to birth cohort was analyzed using a logistic regression model.

RESULTS

Titers of IgG antibodies were higher in those born before (mean 110 UI/ml, 95%CI 100.5;120.2) compared to those born after (mean 64 UI/ml; 95%CI 54.4;72.8; p = 0.000) the introduction of mass immunization. The proportion of protection increased from 88.9% in those born 1990-1994, to 89.2% in those born 1995-1999 and to 92.1% in those born between 2000 and 2003, possibly due to boosters being administered from 1998 onwards. In those born before the introduction of the immunization, seroprotection was associated with previous contact with cases (OR 2.6; 95%CI 1.1;5.9), self- perceived health status (OR 2.5; 95%CI 1.05;6.0), educational level (OR 0.2; 95%CI 0.08;0.8) and years of residence in the neighborhood (RD 0,96; 95%CI 0.98;1.0) after adjusting for all variables. In those born after, serum protection was associated with effective sleep time (OR 1,4; 95%CI 1.09;1.8) and self-perceived health status (OR 5.5; 95%CI 1.2;23.8).

CONCLUSIONS

The seroprevalence profile changed with the mass immunization plan, with higher titers of IgG antibodies in those born before the start of the immunization. It is recommended that the level of long-term protection be monitored and concerted action taken to improve potentially associated socioeconomic conditions.     

Effects of Facilitated Team Meetings and Learning Collaboratives on Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates in Primary Care Practices: A Cluster Randomized Trial

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a primary care practice–based quality improvement (QI) intervention aimed at improving colorectal cancer screening rates.

METHODS

The Supporting Colorectal Cancer Outcomes through Participatory Enhancements (SCOPE) study was a cluster randomized trial of New Jersey primary care practices. On-site facilitation and learning collaboratives were used to engage multiple stakeholders throughout the change process to identify and implement strategies to enhance colorectal cancer screening. Practices were analyzed using quantitative (medical records, surveys) and qualitative data (observations, interviews, and audio recordings) at baseline and a 12-month follow-up.

RESULTS

Comparing intervention and control arms of the 23 participating practices did not yield statistically significant improvements in patients’ colorectal cancer screening rates. Qualitative analyses provide insights into practices’ QI implementation, including associations between how well leaders fostered team development and the extent to which team members felt psychologically safe. Successful QI implementation did not always translate into improved screening rates.

CONCLUSIONS

Although single-target, incremental QI interventions can be effective, practice transformation requires enhanced organizational learning and change capacities. The SCOPE model of QI may not be an optimal strategy if short-term guideline concordant numerical gains are the goal. Advancing the knowledge base of QI interventions requires future reports to address how and why QI interventions work rather than simply measuring whether they work.     

Including Socioeconomic Status in Coronary Heart Disease Risk Estimation

PURPOSE Socioeconomic status (SES) predicts coronary heart disease independently of the Framingham risk-scoring factors included in cholesterol treatment guidelines, possibly resulting in undertreatment of lower SES persons. We examined whether hybrid SES measures (based on area measures of income and individual education) address this bias and derived an approach to incorporating SES information into treatment guidelines.METHODS The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study data (initiated in 1987 with a 10-year follow-up of 15,495 adults aged 45 to 64 years in 4 southern and midwestern communities) were used to assess the calibration bias of 4 Cox models predicting 10-year coronary heart disease risk: Framingham risk score alone, and Framingham risk score plus SES using an individual-based measure (income less than 150% federal poverty level or less then 12 years of schooling), and 2 hybrid SES measures substituting area-based income measures (block group or zip code median incomes of less than 25th national percentiles) for the individual income component. Revised cholesterol treatment thresholds based on SES risk were also derived.RESULTS Use of either the block group hybrid or individual-based SES measures eliminated the significant SES bias observed using Framingham risk score alone. Cholesterol treatment guideline thresholds of 10% and 20% coronary heart disease risk (based on the Framingham risk score) were reduced to 6% and 13% for those with low SES.CONCLUSIONS Using patient income based on block group and individual education minimizes the SES bias in Framingham risk scoring and suggests more aggressive cholesterol treatment thresholds for low-SES persons.     

Elaboration and validation of instrument to assess adherence to hypertension treatment

OBJECTIVE

To elaborate and validate an instrument of adherence to treatment for systemic arterial hypertension, based on Item Response Theory.

METHODS

The process of developing this instrument involved theoretical, empirical and analytical procedures. The theoretical procedures included defining the construct of adherence to systemic arterial hypertension treatment, identifying areas involved and preparing the instrument. The instrument underwent semantic and conceptual analysis by experts. The empirical procedure involved the application of the instrument to 1,000 users with systemic arterial hypertension treated at a referral center in Fortaleza, CE, Northeastern Brazil, in 2012.. The analytical phase validated the instrument through psychometric analysis and statistical procedures. The Item Response Theory model used in the analysis was the Samejima Gradual Response model.

RESULTS

Twelve of the 23 items of the original instrument were calibrated and remained in the final version. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (α) was 0.81. Items related to the use of medication when presenting symptoms and the use of fat showed good performance as they were more capable of discriminating individuals who adhered to treatment. To ever stop taking the medication and the consumption of white meat showed less power of discrimination. Items related to physical exercise and routinely following the non-pharmacological treatment had most difficulty to respond. The instrument was more suitable for measuring low adherence to hypertension treatment than high.

CONCLUSIONS

The instrument proved to be an adequate tool to assess adherence to treatment for systemic arterial hypertension since it manages to differentiate individuals with high from those with low adherence. Its use could facilitate the identification and verification of compliance to prescribed therapy, besides allowing the establishment of goals to be achieved.     

Primary Care,Economic Barriers to Health Care,and Use of Colorectal Cancer Screening Tests Among Medicare Enrollees Over Time

PURPOSE Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening remains underutilized. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of primary care and economic barriers to health care on CRC testing relative to the 2001 Medicare expansion of screening coverage.METHODS Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey data were use to study community-dwelling enrollees aged 65 to 80 years, free of renal disease and CRC, and who participated in the survey in 2000 (n = 8,330), 2003 (n = 7,889), or 2005 (n = 7,614). Three outcomes were examined: colonoscopy/sigmoidoscopy within 5 years (recent endoscopy), endoscopy more than 5 years previously, and fecal occult blood test (FOBT) within 2 years.RESULTS Endoscopy use increased and FOBT use decreased during the 6-year period, with no significant independent differences between those receiving care from primary care physicians and those receiving care from other physicians. Beneficiaries without a usual place of health care were the least likely to undergo CRC testing, and that gap widened with time: adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.27 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.19–0.39) for FOBT, and AOR = 0.35 (95% CI, 0.27–0.46) for endoscopy in 2000 compared with AOR = 0.18 (95% CI, 0.11–0.30) for FOBT and AOR = 0.22 (95% CI, 0.17–0.30) for endoscopy in 2005. Disparities in use of recent endoscopy by type of health insurance coverage in both 2000 and 2005 were greater for enrollees with a high school education or higher than they were for less-educated enrollees. There were no statistically significant differences by delayed care due to cost after adjustment for health insurance.CONCLUSION Despite expanding coverage for screening, complex CRC screening disparities persisted based on differences in the usual place and cost of health care, type of health insurance coverage, and level of education.     

初级卫生保健的内涵及其在我国的发展回顾

由世界卫生组织及其成员国于1978年《阿拉木图宣言》提出的“初级卫生保健”,是指最基本的、人人都能得到的、体现社会平等权利的、人民群众和政府都能负担得起的卫生保健服务。初级卫生保健所反映的核心价值观是社会公平,所信奉的理论是“健康乃人类的基本权利”,所追求的目标是“人人享有健康”,所采用的技术是适宜技术。中国初级卫生保健实践始于建国之初,20世纪50年代初确定的“面向工农兵、预防为主、团结中西医、卫生工作与群众运动相结合”四大方针,已包含了初级卫生保健的基本思想和内容。建国后的前30年取得的成就为国际上形成初级卫生保健策略奠定了实证基础,随后20年是我国初级卫生保健发展阶段,政府承诺实现2000年人人享有卫生保健的目标,但取得的健康效果有限。21世纪以来,政府仍然把初级卫生保健作为农村卫生的中心任务,但是可持续性问题还没有解决。