Health Information Technology in the United States, 2008

Provides updated survey data on health information technology (HIT) and electronic health records adoption, with a focus on providers serving vulnerable populations. Examines assessments of HIT's effect on the cost and quality of care and emerging issues

Behavior change techniques to promote healthcare professionals' eHealth competency : A systematic review of interventions

Introduction: The use of eHealth is rapidly ->increasing; however, many healthcare professionals have insufficient eHealth competency. Consequently, interventions addressing eHealth competency might be useful in fostering the effective use of eHealth. Objective: Our systematic review aimed to identify and evaluate the behavior change techniques applied in interventions to promote healthcare professionals' eHealth competency. Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review following the Joanna Briggs Institute's Manual for Evidence Synthesis. Published quantitative studies were identified through screening PubMed, Embase, and CINAHL. Two reviewers independently performed full-text and quality assessment. Eligible interventions were targeted to any healthcare professional and aimed at promoting eHealth capability or motivation. We synthesized the interventions narratively using the Behavior Change Technique Taxonomy v1 and the COM-B model. Results: This review included 32 studies reporting 34 heterogeneous interventions that incorporated 29 different behavior change techniques. The interventions were most likely to improve the capability to use eHealth and less likely to enhance motivation toward using eHealth. The promising techniques to promote both capability and motivation were action planning and participatory approach. Information about colleagues' approval, emotional social support, monitoring emotions, restructuring or adding objects to the environment, and credible source are techniques worth further investigation. Conclusions: We found that interventions tended to focus on promoting capability, although motivation would be as crucial for competent eHealth performance. Our findings indicated that empathy, encouragement, and usercentered changes in the work environment could improve eHealth competency as a whole. Evidence-based techniques should be favored in the development of interventions, and further intervention research should focus on nurses and multifaceted competency required for using different eHealth systems and devices.Peer reviewe

Integrated care: What can be done at the micro level to influence integration in primary health care?

Consumers require health services that meet their needs, are connected and well-integrated. They want to experience ‘one health system’ regardless of service structure, funding or governance. The provider-patient interface is the critical environment in which the needs and expectations of both providers and patients are considered

Composite measures of quality of health care:Evidence mapping of methodology and reporting

BACKGROUND: Quality indicators are used to quantify the quality of care. A large number of quality indicators makes assessment of overall quality difficult, time consuming and impractical. There is consequently an increasing interest for composite measures based on a combination of multiple indicators. OBJECTIVE: To examine the use of different approaches to construct composite measures of quality of care and to assess the use of methodological considerations and justifications. METHODS: We conducted a literature search on PubMed and EMBASE databases (latest update 1 December 2020). For each publication, we extracted information on the weighting and aggregation methodology that had been used to construct composite indicator(s). RESULTS: A total of 2711 publications were identified of which 145 were included after a screening process. Opportunity scoring with equal weights was the most used approach (86/145, 59%) followed by all-or-none scoring (48/145, 33%). Other approaches regarding aggregation or weighting of individual indicators were used in 32 publications (22%). The rationale for selecting a specific type of composite measure was reported in 36 publications (25%), whereas 22 papers (15%) addressed limitations regarding the composite measure. CONCLUSION: Opportunity scoring and all-or-none scoring are the most frequently used approaches when constructing composite measures of quality of care. The attention towards the rationale and limitations of the composite measures appears low. DISCUSSION: Considering the widespread use and the potential implications for decision-making of composite measures, a high level of transparency regarding the construction process of the composite and the functionality of the measures is crucial

Strengthening Primary and Chronic Care: State Innovations to Transform and Link Small Practices

Presents case studies of state policies for reorganizing and improving primary and chronic care delivery among small practices, including leadership and convening, payment incentives, infrastructure support, feedback and monitoring, and certification

Committed to Safety: Ten Case Studies on Reducing Harm to Patients

Presents case studies of healthcare organizations, clinical teams, and learning collaborations to illustrate successful innovations for improving patient safety nationwide. Includes actions taken, results achieved, lessons learned, and recommendations

The impact of educational interventions on influenza and pneumococcal vaccination rates in primary care

Background. Influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations are important therapies supported by national and international guidelines for preventing morbidity and mortality from respiratory illnesses in high-risk groups. The responsibility for delivering these vaccinations in the United Kingdom lies with primary care. Little is known about how rates of influenza and pneumococcal vaccination can be increased in high-risk groups in primary care. Aim. To research methods of improving rates of influenza and pneumococcal vaccination in high-risk groups in primary care. Objectives. To investigate the impact of educational interventions for primary care teams on influenza and pneumococcal vaccination rates in high-risk groups. Method. The research had the following components: a. Literature search examining current practice and policy in relation to influenza and pneumococcal vaccination and studies undertaken to improve performance, both in general and specifically in relation to improving adult vaccination rates. b. Pilot study of targeting influenza and pneumococcal vaccination to high-risk groups in a single general practice. c. Effect of audit and feedback with an information pack to primary care teams on influenza and pneumococcal vaccination in primary care: before-and-after multipractice study. d. Effect of audit and feedback with an information pack to primary care teams, as part of a clinical governance programme, on influenza and pneumococcal vaccination in a primary care trust: before-and-after multipractice study. e. Randomised controlled study of an educational outreach intervention partly nested within primary care trust study with audit, feedback and information (passive dissemination of guidelines and recommendations) directed at primary health care teams compared with audit feedback and information alone using multifaceted interventions to increase influenza and pneumococcal vaccine uptake in high-risk groups in primary care. Results. The studies demonstrated significant improvements in influenza and pneumococcal vaccination rate in high-risk groups in primary care, showed the levels of improvement that could be expected from these types of intervention and described how primary care teams responded to direct and indirect educational interventions supported by measurement of performance. Conclusions. Education to multiprofessional teams is an important method for diffusion of innovations in the highly professionalised organisations of primary care and general practice. Educators need to understand the complex nature of primary care organisations and teams, when and how education for teams is likely to be successful, the barriers to implementation of new ideas and how to address these. Education when applied appropriately can have important effects in improving health care. This is more likely to occur when careful assessments are made around the nature of the evidence, clear outcomes are sought and measured and the healthcare intervention is understood from the perspective of the patient, the healthcare team and other stakeholders

Children’s HEalthy Weight guideline Implementation in the dental setting : a multi-phase sequential mixed methods project : the CHEWI project

There has been an increasing prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity worldwide and locally, with a quarter of Australian children now considered overweight or obese. This is of concern as obesity in childhood is associated with obesity in adulthood and increased risk of chronic diseases. In response to this, in 2015 the New South Wales (NSW) government released a Premier’s Priority titled “Tackling Childhood Obesity”, which called for all public health services to identify children above a healthy weight and refer them to appropriate services. This priority encompassed public dental services, due to the shared risk factors between childhood obesity and oral health including consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, and the opportunities they have to recall and monitor child patients at regular intervals. In light of this, in 2018 the NSW Ministry of Health released guidelines titled ‘Growth Assessment and Dietary Advice in Public Oral Health Services’ for dental staff (DS) such as dental and/or oral health therapists and dental assistants across the state. However, to ensure these guidelines are incorporated into practice, it is anticipated that implementation strategies will be required to support dental practitioners. This study aimed to develop and pilot implementation strategies to facilitate the translation of the ‘Growth Assessment and Dietary Advice in Public Oral Health Services’ guidelines into dental staff’s practice. Specific objectives included: 1. Summarise the existing evidence on the most effective guideline implementation strategies for the dental setting. 2. Codesign implementation strategies with dental staff and parents to facilitate implementation of children’s healthy weight guidelines into the dental setting. 3. Design and psychometrically evaluate an instrument that measures dental staff behavioural intention. 4. Refine and pilot test the implementation strategies using the developed instrument and service data. This project has provided valuable insight into the systematic development of implementation strategies for the dental setting by drawing upon the principles of codesign as well as involving a range of stakeholders. It was clear that dental staff can play a key role in addressing overweight and obesity in childhood, although this can be a challenging role expansion. A systematic approach where dental staff and parents could codesign their own strategies, and in ensuring involvement of other stakeholders in the refinement of these strategies produced strategies that were acceptable, feasible, and sustainable for all involved parties. Initial findings from this project showed promising improvements to behavioural determinants and self-reported behaviours following the introduction of the strategies for one district

Improving Patient Care Delivery in a Small Alaska Native Health Care Organization

Chronic diseases impose heavy burdens on the United States health care system, particularly among some ethnic/racial groups such as American Indian and Alaska Natives who experience higher incidence of these diseases than non-Native population. In an effort to improve the health status of its patients, the Ukudigaunal Wellness Center (UWC) partnered with the Improving Patient Care (IPC) Collaborative to implement changes designed to improve chronic disease care for Native Alaskans through intensive monitoring of screening for chronic disease and selected chronic disease outcomes. For this program evaluation, the units of analysis were the changes in health service delivery and the resulting patient clinical outcomes. The data source was the Registration and Patient Management System (RPMS), repository for the data collected over the 14 months of the collaborative. The findings showed that the process measures that met IPC goals were due to improvements in service delivery by UWC. Goals for other services, such as diagnostic screenings, were not met because these clinical components had to be coordinated with facilities outside UWC. Outcome measures for BP and HgbA1c control were not met as these depended on the patients\u27 abilities to self-manage the required procedures. The implications for social change included: (a) Positive outcome in managing chronic diseases is possible by combining chronic care models with Deming\u27s model for improvement; (b) Increased patient awareness of chronic conditions and their long term consequences tended to support more responsible and successful patient self-management; (c) Use of external medical resources should be considered when patient privacy and confidentiality are concerns

Systematic Review of Practice Facilitation and Evaluation of a Chronic Illness Care Management Tailored Outreach Facilitation Intervention for Rural Primary Care Physicians

Nearly two decades of research on translating evidence-based care guidelines into practice has resulted in a considerable body of primary and secondary evidence about guideline implementation strategies and the individual, organizational and environmental challenges associated with closing the evidence to practice gap in primary care. Interventions to improve professional performance are complex and a disentangling of the various independent, intervening and constraining variables is required in order to be able to design and implement interventions that can improve primary care practice performance. The PRECEDE-PROCEED planning model (Green & Kreuter, 1999) provides a step-wise theoretical framework for understanding the complexity of causal relationships among the variables that affect the adoption of evidence-based practice and may assist in the design and implementation of practice-based interventions. Knowledge of an evidence-based practice guideline is important, but a consensus has emerged that having knowledge is rarely sufficient to change practice behaviour. Didactic education or passive dissemination strategies are ineffective, whereas interactive education, reminder systems and multifaceted interventions tailored to the needs of the practice are effective. Outreach or practice facilitation is a proven effective multifaceted approach that involves skilled individuals who enable others, through a range of tailored interventions, to address the challenges in implementing evidence-based care guidelines within the primary care setting. The challenges to implementing evidence-based chronic illness care practice guidelines are thought to be similar to the other contextual, organizational and individual behavioural challenges associated with the uptake of research findings into practice. A multifaceted guideline implementation strategy such as practice facilitation may be well-suited to improving the adoption of these guidelines within rural primary care settings. However, research has not systematically reviewed, through meta-analysis, the published practice facilitation trials to determine overall effects and an implementation research study of practice facilitation that has considered fidelity of implementation within the rural Ontario setting for a complex practice guideline such as chronic illness management has not been done. The systematic review in the thesis incorporated an exploratory meta-analysis of randomized and non-randomized controlled trials of interventions targeted towards implementing evidence-based practice guidelines through practice facilitation, and was conducted to gain an understanding of the overall effect of practice facilitation and the factors that moderate implementation success. The results were the identification of an improvement overtime in the methodological rigour of practice facilitation implementation research based on a critical appraisal of methods, a significant moderate overall effect size of 0.54 (95% CI 0.43 – 0.65) for 19 good quality practice facilitation intervention studies and several significant effect size modifiers; notably, tailoring to the needs of the practice, using multiple intervention components, extending duration, and increasing the intensity of practice facilitation were associated with larger effect sizes. As more practices were assigned to the practice facilitator, the effect diminished. A significant positive association between the number of PRECEDE predisposing, enabling and reinforcing strategies employed by the facilitator and the effect size was detected. The implementation research study utilized mixed methods for data collection as part of an embedded case study of four rural primary care practices to determine the implementation fidelity of the practice facilitation of chronic illness care planning and the factors that impeded and contributed to implementation success. The feasibility of and potential cost savings of practice facilitation via videoconferencing was also implemented for two of the practices. For those practices that successfully implemented care planning, fidelity was achieved for the implementation of care plans. On the other hand, the dosage, duration, component delivery of the practice facilitation intervention was low in comparison to other published studies, and tailoring of the intervention to the practice was inconsistent. Based on the qualitative analysis of physician interviews, the moderating factors for successful implementation were categorized into the broad themes of pessimism and tempered optimism. Pessimistic physicians were unsuccessful at implementation, lacked a willingness to engage and were uncomfortable with the patient-centred approach to chronic illness care. Optimists were positive about the psychosocial, patient-centred assessment aspects of the chronic illness care protocol and provided anecdotes of success in resolving patient problems. However, this was tempered as both pessimists and optimists reflected on the time intensive aspect of the protocol and the unlikelihood of widespread implementation without additional supports. Participating physicians were satisfied with the facilitator and the videoconferencing experience, and the intervention cost analysis revealed opportunities for cost saving via the use of videoconferenced facilitation. Improvements to the intervention suggested by participants included integrating chronic illness management with medical information systems, involving other health disciplines, and forming networks of community health resources and support services for health providers and patients. This work has demonstrated that although practice facilitation can successfully result in moderate significant improvements in practice behaviour, it is not necessarily singularly effective in all contexts or for all targeted behaviours. A complex practice guideline such as the chronic illness care management model is unlikely to be adopted in the current context of primary care in rural Ontario and as a consequence to have any impact on the health of chronically ill patients without further intervention supports, adaptation, and implementation research undertaken to demonstrate successful execution of chronic illness care management. Alternative care delivery models are required to address barriers and improve the delivery of chronic illness care management