Efficiency as a determinant of loyalty among users of a community of clinical practice: a comparative study between the implementation and consolidation phases

A community of clinical practice called the Online Communication Tool between Primary and Hospital Care (ECOPIH) was created to enable primary care and specialist care professionals to communicate with each other in order to resolve real clinical cases, thereby improving communication and coordination between care levels. The present work seeks to analyse whether ECOPIH makes it possible to reduce the number of referrals. To that end, the objectives are: (1) To find out the degree of loyalty among ECOPIH users, by comparing the medical professionals' profiles in the tool's implementation phase to those in its consolidation phase. (2) To evaluate the degree of fulfilment of users' expectations, by establishing the determining factors that had an influence on the physicians' intention to use ECOPIH in the implementation phase and observing whether its use had an effective, direct impact on the number of patient referrals that primary care physicians made to specialist care professionals. Two studies were conducted. Based on a survey of all the physicians in a Primary Care area, Study 1 was a descriptive study in ECOPIH's implementation phase. Study 2 was a randomised intervention study of ECOPIH users in the tool's consolidation phase. The results from both studies were compared. Various bivariate and multivariate statistical techniques (exploratory factor analysis, cluster analysis, logistic regression analysis and ANOVA) were used in both studies, which were conducted on a sample of 111 and 178 physicians, respectively. We confirmed the existence of an ECOPIH user profile stable across both phases: under-50-year-old women. Regarding the second objective, there were two particular findings. First, the discriminant factors that had an influence on greater ECOPIH use were habitual Social media website and app use and Perceived usefulness for reducing costs. Second, PC professionals who were ECOPIH members made fewer referrals to SC professionals in Cardiology, Endocrinology and Gastroenterology than older PC professionals who were not ECOPIH members. The use of a community of clinical practice by primary care and specialist care professionals helps to reduce the number of referrals among medical professionals

Attitudes and perceptions of medical students about family medicine in Spain: protocol for a cross-sectional survey

Background: Despite the fact that family medicine (FM) has become established as a specialty in the past 25 years, this has not been reflected in the inclusion of the specialty in the majority of medical schools in Spain. Almost 40% of the students will work in primary care but, in spite of this, most universities do not have an assessed placement as such. There are only specific practice periods in health centres or some student-selected components with little weight in the overall curricula. Objectives: To evaluate the attitudes and perceptions of medical students about FM in the health system and their perception about the need for specific training in FM at the undergraduate level. To explore change over time of these attitudes and perceptions and to examine potential predictive factors for change. Finally, we will review what teaching activity in FM is offered across the Spanish schools of medicine. Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional survey. Each one of the different analyses will consist of two surveys: one for all the students in the first, third and fifth year of medical school in all the Spanish schools of medicine asking about their knowledge, perceptions and attitudes in relation to primary care and FM. There will be an additional survey for the coordinating faculty of the study in each university about the educational activities related to FM that are carried out in their centres. The repetition of the study every 2 years will allow for an analysis of the evolution of the cohort of students until they receive their degree and the potential predictive factors. Discussion: This study will provide useful information for strategic planning decisions, content and educational methodology in medical schools in Spain and elsewhere. It will also help to evaluate the influence of the ongoing changes in FM, locally and at the European level, on the attitudes and perceptions of the students towards FM in SpainThis project is funded with a grant from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministerio de Sanidad, Spain (PI070975). PA-C is funded by a Miguel Servet contract by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CP09/00137)

Prevalence of chronic kidney disease in patients with type 2 diabetes in Spain: PERCEDIME2 study

Estudi transversal; Malaltia renal crònica; Diabetis mellitus tipus 2Estudio transversal; Enfermedad renal crónica; Diabetes mellitus tipo 2Cross-sectional study; Chronic kidney disease; Type 2 diabetes mellitusBackground: The objective of this study was to determinate the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and the different stages of CKD in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) treated in primary care consults in Spain.Methods: A national cross-sectional study was performed in primary care consults. The following data were collected: demographic and anthropometric information; list of present cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF); previous macrovascular and microvascular disease history; physical examination and analytical data from the previous 12 months, including the urine albumin-creatinine ratio (UACR) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) to evaluate renal function.Results: With regard to the patients, 27.9% presented some degree of CKD as follows: 3.5% with stage 1; 6.4% with stage 2; 16.8% with stage 3 (11.6% with stage 3A and 5.2% with stage 3B); and 1.2% with stages 4 and 5. The prevalence of patients with UACR ≥ 30 mg/g was 15.4% (13% microalbuminuria and 2.4% macroalbuminuria). Renal impairment (RI) was found in 206 patients (18%) of whom 133 patients (64.6%) was stage 3A, 60 patients (29.1%) was stage 3B and 13 patients (6.3%) stages 4 and 5. Among patients with RI, 143 patients (69.4%) had normoalbuminuria. The following variables were significantly associated with CKD: age; sex (women); systolic arterial blood pressure (SABP) ≥ 150 mmHg; and a previous history of cardiovascular disease.Conclusions: The results showed that the prevalence for any type of CKD was 27.9%. A systematic determination of UACR and eGFR may contribute to an early diagnosis, thus allowing intervention during the initial stages of the disease when treatment is more efficient

Fiabilidad de un cuestionario empleado para la aplicación en el seguimiento longitudinal de la opinión y percepciones de la medicina de familia de los estudiantes de medicina de la Universidad de Zaragoza

Objetivo La medicina de familia aborda determinados aspectos y perspectivas que suelen quedar relegados en la formación de otros niveles de atención por lo que cada vez cobra mayor importancia la necesidad de que los estudiantes tomen contacto con la atención primaria. El objetivo de este estudio es el de evaluar la fiabilidad del cuestionario del grupo Unimedifam (FIS PI070975) para conocer la evolución longitudinal de las expectativas y conocimientos sobre medicina de familia de los estudiantes de medicina. Diseño Estudio de fiabilidad de un cuestionario. Emplazamiento Alumnos de medicina de la Universidad de Zaragoza. Participantes Contamos con un total de 371 alumnos de los cursos 1.°, 3.°, 5.° y 6.°. Método La consistencia interna del cuestionario se determinó con el coeficiente alfa de Cronbach y su estabilidad en una prueba test-retest. Resultados En la escala A del cuestionario encontramos que 3 ítems de 19 son poco estables; en la escala B 8 de 26 y en la escala C, 3 ítems de 38. El valor de alfa de Cronbach de la escala A es de 0,722, de la escala B de 0,861 y el de la escala C, 0,663. Conclusiones Las 3 escalas están entre los valores adecuados, excepto la escala C que aun así se encuentra muy próxima. Las conclusiones de este proceso de validación pueden servir de referencia y extrapolarse al cuestionario UNIMEDFAM a nivel estatal. Aim Family medicine deals with certain aspects and perspectives that are often left behind in the training of other levels of care, thus the need for medical students to make contact with Primary Care is of increasing importance. The aim of this study is to evaluate the reliability of the questionnaire of the UNIMEDIFAM group (FIS PI070975) for the long-term outcome of expectations and knowledge about family medicine. Design Reliability of a questionnaire. Setting University of Zaragoza. Participants 371 students from the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 6th years. Method The internal consistency of the questionnaire was determined using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, and the stability using the test-retest. Results On scale A of the questionnaire we found that three of 19 items were unstable, in 8 of 26 on scale B, and 3 of 38 items on scale C. The Cronbach's alpha value of scale A was 0.722, 0.861 on scale B, and 0,663 on scale C. Conclusions The 3 scales are within the appropriate values, except scale C, which is very close. The findings of this validation process can serve as a reference that may be extrapolated to the UNIMEDIFAM national questionnaire

Keys to success of a community of clinical practice in primary care : a qualitative evaluation of the ECOPIH project

The current reality of primary care (PC) makes it essential to have telemedicine systems available to facilitate communication between care levels. Communities of practice have great potential in terms of care and education, and that is why the Online Communication Tool between Primary and Hospital Care was created. This tool enables PC and non-GP specialist care (SC) professionals to raise clinical cases for consultation and to share information. The objective of this article is to explore healthcare professionals' views on communities of clinical practice (CoCPs) and the changes that need to be made in an uncontrolled real-life setting after more than two years of use. A descriptive-interpretative qualitative study was conducted on a total of 29 healthcare professionals who were users and non-users of a CoCP using 2 focus groups, 3 triangular groups and 5 individual interviews. There were 18 women, 21 physicians and 8 nurses. Of the interviewees, 21 were PC professionals, 24 were users of a CoCP and 7 held managerial positions. For a system of communication between PC and SC to become a tool that is habitually used and very useful, the interviewees considered that it would have to be able to find quick, effective solutions to the queries raised, based on up-to-date information that is directly applicable to daily clinical practice. Contact should be virtual - and probably collaborative - via a platform integrated into their habitual workstations and led by PC professionals. Organisational changes should be implemented to enable users to have more time in their working day to spend on the tool, and professionals should have a proactive attitude in order to make the most if its potential. It is also important to make certain technological changes, basically aimed at improving the tool's accessibility, by integrating it into habitual clinical workstations. The collaborative tool that provides reliable, up-to-date information that is highly transferrable to clinical practice is valued for its effectiveness, efficiency and educational capacity. In order to make the most of its potential in terms of care and education, organisational changes and techniques are required to foster greater use. The online version of this article (10.1186/s12875-018-0739-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users