A method to determine the impact of patient-centered care interventions in primary care

Objective

The implementation of patient-centered care (PCC) innovations continues to be poorly understood. We used the implementation effectiveness framework to pilot a method for measuring the impact of a PCC innovation in primary care practices.

Methods

We analyzed data from a prior study that assessed the implementation of an electronic geriatric quality-of-life (QOL) module in 3 primary care practices in central North Carolina in 2011–2012. Patients responded to the items and the subsequent patient–provider encounter was coded using the Roter Interaction Analysis System (RIAS) system. We developed an implementation effectiveness measure specific to the QOL module (i.e., frequency of usage during the encounter) using RIAS and then tested if there were differences with RIAS codes using analysis of variance.

Results

A total of 60 patient–provider encounters examined differences in the uptake of the QOL module (i.e., implementation-effectiveness measure) with the frequency of RIAS codes during the encounter (i.e., patient-centeredness measure). There was a significant association between the effectiveness measure and patient-centered RIAS codes.

Conclusion

The concept of implementation effectiveness provided a useful framework determine the impact of a PCC innovation.

Practice implications

A method that captures real-time interactions between patients and care staff over time can meaningfully evaluate PCC innovations.