Primary Care Physician Experiences with Integrated Population-Scale Genetic Testing: A Mixed-Methods Assessment.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Lemke AA
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7720124 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Primary Care Physician Experiences with Integrated Population-Scale Genetic Testing: A Mixed-Methods Assessment.
Lemke Amy A AA Amendola Laura M LM Kuchta Kristine K Dunnenberger Henry M HM Thompson Jennifer J Johnson Christian C Ilbawi Nadim N Oshman Lauren L Hulick Peter J PJ
Journal of personalized medicine 20201013 4
The scalable delivery of genomic medicine requires collaboration between genetics and non-genetics providers. Thus, it is essential to investigate and address the perceived value of and barriers to incorporating genetic testing into the clinical practice of primary care providers (PCPs). We used a mixed-methods approach of qualitative interviews and surveys to explore the experience of PCPs involved in the pilot DNA-10K population genetic testing program. Similar to previous research, PCPs repor ...[more]
Similar Datasets
Project description:BackgroundWith the increasing adoption of electronic health record (EHR) systems, documentation-related burdens have been increasing for health care providers. Recent estimates indicate that primary care providers spend about one-half of their workdays interacting with the EHR, of which about half is focused on clerical tasks. To reduce documentation burdens associated with the EHR, health care systems and physician practices are increasingly implementing medical scribes to assist providers with real-time documentation. Scribes are typically unlicensed paraprofessionals who assist health care providers by documenting notes electronically under the direction of a licensed practitioner or physician in real time. Despite the promise of scribes, few studies have investigated their effect on clinical encounters, particularly with regard to patient-provider communication.ObjectiveThe purpose of this quasi-experimental pilot study was to understand how scribes affect patient-physician communication in primary care clinical encounters.MethodsWe employed a convergent mixed methods design and included a sample of three physician-scribe pairs and 34 patients. Patients' clinical encounters were randomly assigned to a scribe or nonscribe group. We conducted patient surveys focused on perceptions of patient-provider communication and satisfaction with encounters, video recorded clinical encounters, and conducted physician interviews about their experiences with scribes.ResultsOverall, the survey results revealed that patients across both arms reported very high satisfaction of communication with their physician, their physician's use of the EHR, and their care, with very little variability. Video recording analysis supported patient survey data by demonstrating high measures of communication among physicians in both scribed and nonscribed encounters. Furthermore, video recordings revealed that the presence of scribes had very little effect on the clinical encounter.ConclusionsFrom the patient's perspective, scribes are an acceptable addition to clinical encounters. Although they do not have much impact on patients' perceptions of satisfaction and their impact on the clinical encounter itself was minimal, their potential to reduce documentation-related burden on physicians is valuable. Physicians noted important issues related to scribes, including important considerations for implementing scribe programs, the role of scribes in patient interactions, how physicians work with scribes, characteristics of good scribes, and the role of scribes in physician workflow.
| S-EPMC6657447 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Family health history (FHH) screening plays a key role in disease risk identification and tailored disease prevention strategies. Primary care physicians (PCPs) are in a frontline position to provide personalized medicine recommendations identified through FHH screening; however, adoption of FHH screening tools has been slow and inconsistent in practice. Information is also lacking on PCP facilitators and barriers of utilizing family history tools with clinical decision support (CDS) embedded in the electronic health record (EHR). This study reports on PCPs' initial experiences with the Genetic and Wellness Assessment (GWA), a patient-administered FHH screening tool utilizing the EHR and CDS. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 PCPs who use the GWA in a network of community-based practices. Four main themes regarding GWA implementation emerged: benefits to clinical care, challenges in practice, CDS-specific issues, and physician-recommended improvements. Sub-themes included value in improving patient access to genetic services, inadequate time to discuss GWA recommendations, lack of patient follow-through with recommendations, and alert fatigue. While PCPs valued the GWA's clinical utility, a number of challenges were identified in the administration and use of the GWA in practice. Based on participants' recommendations, iterative changes have been made to the GWA and workflow to increase efficiency, upgrade the CDS process, and provide additional education to PCPs and patients. Future studies are needed to assess a diverse sample of physicians' and patients' perspectives on the utility of FHH screening utilizing EHR-based genomics recommendations.
| S-EPMC7295926 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND: Visit continuity is important to patients and valued by physicians. However, it is virtually impossible for primary care physicians (PCPs) to provide care during every paneled patient visit. It remains unclear whether PCP visit discontinuity can be planned in a way that is least disruptive to patients' experiences with care. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to clarify whether visit continuity affects patients' experiences with primary care equally for all patients. DESIGN: From January 2004 through March 2005, a large multispecialty practice in Massachusetts administered the Ambulatory Care Experience Survey (ACES) monthly to a random sample of patients visiting each of 145 PCPs. The analytic sample includes 14,835 patients with 2 or more primary care visits over the 6 months before being surveyed. Usual Provider Continuity (UPC), an administratively based measure of PCP visit continuity, was calculated for all respondents. Multilevel regression models that accounted for the clustering of patients within physicians modeled the relationship between UPC and each ACES measure. Interaction effects between UPC and gender, education, self-rated health, and PCP-patient relationship duration were tested. RESULTS: Physician-patient interaction quality, including physician communication, knowledge of the patient, health promotion support, and organizational access were more strongly influenced by visit continuity among respondents in early stages of a PCP-patient relationship (P < 0.01) and with worse self-rated health (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Improvements in physician-patient relationship quality can be achieved by targeting visit continuity improvement efforts to patients who benefit most, particularly those in early stages of a PCP-patient relationship and/or perceive their health as poor.
| S-EPMC2219884 | biostudies-other
Project description:BACKGROUND:Successful implementation of new care models within a health system is likely dependent on contextual factors at the individual sites of care. OBJECTIVE:To identify practice setting components contributing to uptake of new team-based care models. DESIGN:Convergent mixed-methods design. PARTICIPANTS:Employees and patients of primary care practices implementing two team-based models in a large, integrated health system. MAIN MEASURES:Field observations of 9 practices and 75 interviews, provider and staff surveys to assess adaptive reserve and burnout, analysis of quality metrics, and patient panel comorbidity scores. The data were collected simultaneously, then merged, thematically analyzed, and interpreted by a multidisciplinary team. KEY RESULTS:Based on analysis of observations and interviews, the 9 practices were categorized into 3 groups-high, partial, and low uptake of new team-based models. Uptake was related to (1) practices' responsiveness to change and (2) flexible workflow as related to team roles. Strength of local leadership and stable staffing mediated practices' ability to achieve high performance in these two domains. Higher performance on several quality metrics was associated with high uptake practices compared to the lower uptake groups. Mean Adaptive Reserve Measure and Maslach Burnout Inventory scores did not differ significantly between higher and lower uptake practices. CONCLUSION:Uptake of new team-based care delivery models is related to practices' ability to respond to change and to adapt team roles in workflow, influenced by both local leadership and stable staffing. Better performance on quality metrics may identify high uptake practices. Our findings can inform expectations for operational and policy leaders seeking to implement change in primary care practices.
| S-EPMC6206362 | biostudies-other
Project description:BackgroundDutch standard diabetes care is generally protocol-driven. However, considering that general practices wish to tailor diabetes care to individual patients and encourage self-management, particularly in light of current COVID-19 related constraints, protocols and other barriers may hinder implementation. The impact of dispensing with protocol and implementation of self-management interventions on patient monitoring and experiences are not known. This study aims to evaluate tailoring of care by understanding experiences of well-organised practices 1) when dispensing with protocol; 2) determining the key conditions for successful implementation of self-management interventions; and furthermore exploring patients' experiences regarding dispensing with protocol and self-management interventions.Methodsin this mixed-methods prospective study, practices (n = 49) were invited to participate if they met protocol-related quality targets, and their adult patients with well-controlled type 2 diabetes were invited if they had received protocol-based diabetes care for a minimum of 1 year. For practices, study participation consisted of the opportunity to deliver protocol-free diabetes care, with selection and implementation of self-management interventions. For patients, study participation provided exposure to protocol-free diabetes care and self-management interventions. Qualitative outcomes (practices: 5 focus groups, 2 individual interviews) included experiences of dispensing with protocol and the implementation process of self-management interventions, operationalised as implementation fidelity. Quantitative outcomes (patients: routine registry data, surveys) consisted of diabetes monitoring completeness, satisfaction, wellbeing and health status at baseline and follow-up (24 months).ResultsQualitative: In participating practices (n = 4), dispensing with protocol encouraged reflection on tailored care and selection of various self-management interventions A focus on patient preferences, team collaboration and intervention feasibility was associated with high implementation fidelity Quantitative: In patients (n = 126), likelihood of complete monitoring decreased significantly after two years (OR 0.2 (95% CI 0.1-0.5), p < 0.001) Satisfaction decreased slightly (- 1.6 (95% CI -2.6;-0.6), p = 0.001) Non-significant declines were found in wellbeing (- 1.3 (95% CI -5.4; 2.9), p = 0.55) and health status (- 3.0 (95% CI -7.1; 1.2), p = 0.16).ConclusionsTo tailor diabetes care to individual patients within well-organised practices, we recommend dispensing with protocol while maintaining one structural annual monitoring consultation, combined with the well-supported implementation of feasible self-management interventions. Interventions should be selected and delivered with the involvement of patients and should involve population preferences and solid team collaborations.
| S-EPMC8577855 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundInsufficient physical activity (PA) levels which increase the risk of chronic disease are reported by almost two-thirds of the population. More evidence is needed about how PA promotion can be effectively implemented in general practice (GP), particularly in socio-economically disadvantaged communities. One tool recommended for the assessment of PA in GP and supported by NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) is The General Practice Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPPAQ) but details of how it may be used and of its acceptability to practitioners and patients are limited. This study aims to examine aspects of GPPAQ administration in non-urgent patient contacts using different primary care electronic recording systems and to explore the views of health professionals regarding its use.MethodsFour general practices, selected because of their location within socio-economically disadvantaged areas, were invited to administer GPPAQs to patients, aged 35-75 years, attending non-urgent consultations, over two-week periods. They used different methods of administration and different electronic medical record systems (EMIS, Premiere, Vision). Participants' (general practitioners (GPs), nurses and receptionists) views regarding GPPAQ use were explored via questionnaires and focus groups.ResultsOf 2,154 eligible consultations, 192 (8.9%) completed GPPAQs; of these 83 (43%) were categorised as inactive. All practices were located within areas ranked as being in the tertile of greatest socio-economic deprivation in Northern Ireland. GPs/nurses in two practices invited completion of the GPPAQ, receptionists did so in two. One practice used an electronic template; three used paper copies of the questionnaires.End-of-study questionnaires, completed by 11 GPs, 3 nurses and 2 receptionists and two focus groups, with GPs (n = 8) and nurses (n = 4) indicated that practitioners considered the GPPAQ easy to use but not in every consultation. Its use extended consultation time, particularly for patients with complex problems who could potentially benefit from PA promotion.ConclusionsGPs and nurses reported that the GPPAQ itself was an easy tool with which to assess PA levels in general practice and feasible to use in a range of electronic record systems but integration within routine practice is constrained by time and complex consultations. Further exploration of ways to facilitate PA promotion into practice is needed.
| S-EPMC3897938 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The Kimberley Mum's Mood Scale (KMMS) was co-designed with Aboriginal women and healthcare professionals to improve culturally appropriate screening practices for perinatal depression and anxiety. This paper describes the implementation of the KMMS across the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia from January 2018 to December 2021. We used the Dynamic Sustainability Framework to progress the implementation and assess at the intervention, practice setting and ecological system level using a mixed methods approach to analyse implementation. Rates of administration and results of screening were described using a retrospective audit of electronic medical records. Analyses of KMMS training registry, stakeholder engagement and sustainability initiatives were descriptive. KMMS acceptability was assessed using qualitative descriptive approaches to analyse patient feedback forms (n = 39), healthcare professional surveys (n = 15) and qualitative interviews with healthcare professionals (n = 6). We found a significant increase in overall recorded perinatal screening (pre-implementation: 30.4% v Year 3: 46.5%, P < 0.001) and use of the KMMS (pre-implementation: 16.4% v Year 3: 46.4%, P < 0.001). There was improved fidelity in completing the KMMS (from 2.3% to 61.8%, P < 0.001), with 23.6% of women screened recorded as being at increased risk of depression and anxiety. Most healthcare professionals noted the high levels of perinatal mental health concerns, stress, and trauma that their patients experienced, and identified the KMMS as the most appropriate perinatal screening tool. Aboriginal women reported that it was important for clinics to ask about mood and feelings during the perinatal period, and that the KMMS was appropriate. Aboriginal women consistently reported that it was good to have someone to talk to. This study demonstrates that innovation in perinatal depression and anxiety screening for Aboriginal women is possible and can be implemented into routine clinical care with the support of a sustained multi-year investment and strong partnerships.
| S-EPMC9439224 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveTo explore the experiences of patients at risk for cardiovascular disease in primary care with the Activate intervention in relation to their success in increasing their physical activity.MethodsA convergent mixed methods study was conducted, parallel to a cluster-randomised controlled trial in primary care, using a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. Questionnaires from 67 patients were analysed, and semi-structured interviews of 22 patients were thematically analysed. Experiences of patients who had objectively increased their physical activity (responders) were compared to those who had not (non-responders). Objective success was analysed in relation to self-perceived success.ResultsThe questionnaire and interview data corresponded, and no substantial differences among responders and non-responders emerged. Participating in the intervention increased patients' awareness of their physical activity and their physical activity level. Key components of the intervention were the subsequent support of nurses with whom patients' have a trustful relationship and the use of self-monitoring tools. Patients highly valued jointly setting goals, planning actions, receiving feedback and review on their goal attainment and jointly solving problems. Nurses' support, the use of self-monitoring tools, and involving others incentivised patients to increase their physical activity. Internal circumstances and external circumstances challenged patients' engagement in increasing and maintaining their physical activity.ConclusionPatients experienced the Activate intervention as valuable to increase and maintain their physical activity, irrespective of their objective change in physical activity. The findings enable the understanding of the effectiveness of the intervention and implementation in primary care.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT02725203.
| S-EPMC6372184 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionIn sub-Saharan Africa, there is a need to better understand and guide the practice of primary care physicians (PCPs), especially in a crisis context like the COVID-19 pandemic. This study analyses the experiences of PCPs facing COVID-19 in Benin and draws policy lessons.MethodsThe study followed a fully mixed sequential dominant status design. Data were collected between April and August 2020 from a sample of PCPs in Benin. We performed descriptive analyses on the quantitative data. We also performed bivariate analyses for testing associations between various outcomes and the public/private status of the PCPs, their localization within or outside the cordon sanitaire put in place at the beginning of COVID-19, and their practice' category. A thematic content analysis was done on qualitative data. Results from both analyses were triangulated.ResultsNinety PCPs participated in the quantitative strand, and 14 in the qualitative. The median percentage of the COVID-19 control measures implemented in the health facilities, as reported by the PCPs, was 77.8% (interquartile range = 16.7%), with no difference between the various groups. While 29.4% of the PCPs reported being poorly/not capable of helping the communities to deal with COVID-19, 45.3% felt poorly/not confident in dealing with an actual case. These percentages were bigger in the private sector. The PCP's experiences were marked by anxiety and fear, with 80.2% reporting stress. Many PCPs (74.1%) reported not receiving support from local health authorities, and 75.3% felt their concerns were not adequately addressed. Both percentages were higher in the private sector. The PCPs especially complained of insufficient training, insufficient coordination, and less support to private providers than the public ones. For 72.4 and 79.3% of the PCPs, respectively, the pandemic impacted services utilization and daily work. There were negative impacts (like a decrease in the services utilization or the quality of care), but also positive ones (like improved compliance to hygiene measures and new opportunities).ConclusionOur study highlighted the need for more structured support to PCPs for optimizing their contribution to epidemics control and good primary healthcare in Benin. Efforts in this direction can build on several good practices and opportunities.
| S-EPMC10012796 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND:Late diagnosis of HIV fosters HIV transmission and may lead to hidden HIV epidemics. In Belgium, mathematical modeling indicates a high prevalence of undiagnosed HIV infections among men who have sex with men of non-Belgian origin and among sub-Saharan African migrants. Promotion of HIV testing facilitates early diagnosis, but diagnostic opportunities are missed in primary care. OBJECTIVE:The intervention study aims to enhance provider-initiated HIV testing by GPs. This protocol presents the conceptual development, implementation, and evaluation of an HIV-testing intervention for Flemish general practitioners (GPs). METHODS:A mixed methods evaluation design is used. Guided by a simplified intervention mapping approach, an evidence-based intervention was developed in collaboration, guided by an interdisciplinary advisory board. The intervention consisted of an evidence-based tool (ie, "HIV-testing advice for primary care") to support GPs in provider-initiated HIV testing. A modified stepped-wedge design compare two different intervention levels: (1) online dissemination of the HIV-testing advice and (2) dissemination with additional group-level training. Both conditions were compared against a control condition with no intervention. The effect of the intervention was measured using Poisson regression for national surveillance data. The primary outcome was the number of HIV diagnoses made by GPs. Secondary outcomes were HIV diagnoses among groups at risk for undiagnosed HIV, distribution of new diagnoses by CD4 cell count, number of HIV tests prescribed by GPs, and rate of new diagnoses by tests. To evaluate the intervention's implementation, the GPs' fidelity to the intervention and the intervention's feasibility and acceptability by GPs were assessed through (web-based) surveys and in-depth telephone interviews. RESULTS:The study was funded in 2016 and ethically approved in January 2017. The implementation of the intervention started in January 2017 and ended in December 2018. Data was completed in October 2019 and was the starting point for the ongoing data analysis. The results are expected to be published in the second half of 2020. CONCLUSIONS:Results of the intervention study will provide useful information on the intervention's effectiveness among Flemish GPs and can inform further development of official testing guidelines. Limitations of this real-life intervention approach are potential spill-over effects, delay in access to surveillance data, and little detailed information on HIV-testing practices among GPs. TRIAL REGISTRATION:ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04056156; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04056156. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID):DERR1-10.2196/16486.
| S-EPMC7459432 | biostudies-literature