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ABSTRACT: Background
Despite far reaching support for integrated care, conceptualizing and measuring integrated care remains challenging. This knowledge synthesis aimed to identify indicator domains and tools to measure progress towards integrated care.Methods
We used an established framework and a Delphi survey with integration experts to identify relevant measurement domains. For each domain, we searched and reviewed the literature for relevant tools.Findings
From 7,133 abstracts, we retrieved 114 unique tools. We found many quality tools to measure care coordination, patient engagement and team effectiveness/performance. In contrast, there were few tools in the domains of performance measurement and information systems, alignment of organizational goals and resource allocation. The search yielded 12 tools that measure overall integration or three or more indicator domains.Discussion
Our findings highlight a continued gap in tools to measure foundational components that support integrated care. In the absence of such targeted tools, "overall integration" tools may be useful for a broad assessment of the overall state of a system.Conclusions
Continued progress towards integrated care depends on our ability to evaluate the success of strategies across different levels and context. This study has identified 114 tools that measure integrated care across 16 domains, supporting efforts towards a unified measurement framework.
SUBMITTER: Suter E
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5854167 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Suter Esther E Oelke Nelly D ND da Silva Lima Maria Alice Dias MAD Stiphout Michelle M Janke Robert R Witt Regina Rigatto RR Van Vliet-Brown Cheryl C Schill Kaela K Rostami Mahnoush M Hepp Shelanne S Birney Arden A Al-Roubaiai Fatima F Marques Giselda Quintana GQ
International journal of integrated care 20171113 6
<h4>Background</h4>Despite far reaching support for integrated care, conceptualizing and measuring integrated care remains challenging. This knowledge synthesis aimed to identify indicator domains and tools to measure progress towards integrated care.<h4>Methods</h4>We used an established framework and a Delphi survey with integration experts to identify relevant measurement domains. For each domain, we searched and reviewed the literature for relevant tools.<h4>Findings</h4>From 7,133 abstracts ...[more]