A 25-Year Retrospective of Health IT Infrastructure Building: The Example of the Catalonia Region

Over the past decades, health care systems have significantly evolved due to aging populations, chronic diseases, and higher-quality care expectations. Concurrently with the added health care needs, information and communications technology advancements have transformed health care delivery. Technologies such as telemedicine, electronic health records, and mobile health apps promise enhanced accessibility, efficiency, and patient outcomes, leading to more personalized, data-driven care. However, organizational, political, and cultural barriers and the fragmented approach to health information management are challenging the integration of these technologies to effectively support health care delivery. This fragmentation collides with the need for integrated care pathways that focus on holistic health and wellness. Catalonia (northeast Spain), a region of 8 million people with universal health care coverage and a single public health insurer but highly heterogeneous health care service providers, has experienced outstanding digitalization and integration of health information over the past 25 years, when the first transition from paper to digital support occurred. This Viewpoint describes the implementation of health ITs at a system level, discusses the hits and misses encountered in this journey, and frames this regional implementation within the global context. We present the architectures and use trends of the health information platforms over time. This provides insightful information that can be used by other systems worldwide in the never-ending transformation of health care structure and services.

Characteristics of Future Models of Integrated Outpatient Care

Replacement of fee-for-service with capitation arrangements, forces physicians and institutions to minimize health care costs, while maintaining high-quality care. In this report we described how patients and their families (or caregivers) can work with members of the medical care team to achieve these twin goals of maintaining-and perhaps improving-high-quality care and minimizing costs. We described how increased self-management enables patients and their families/caregivers to provide electronic patient-reported outcomes (i.e., symptoms, events) (ePROs), as frequently as the patient or the medical care team consider appropriate. These capabilities also allow ongoing assessments of physiological measurements/phenomena (mHealth). Remote surveillance of these communications allows longer intervals between (fewer) patient visits to the medical-care team, when this is appropriate, or earlier interventions, when it is appropriate. Systems are now available that alert medical care providers to situations when interventions might be needed.

Nutrition Counseling for Hypertension Within a Grocery Store: An Example of the Patient-Centered Medical Neighborhood Model

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the effectiveness of nutrition counseling for patients with hypertension, provided in a grocery store setting.

DESIGN

Single-arm pretest-posttest design implementing a 12-week dietary intervention.

SETTING

Grocery store.

PARTICIPANTS

Thirty adults with hypertension recruited from a primary care practice.

INTERVENTION

Registered dietitian nutritionists provided counseling based on the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Dietary intake patterns and Healthy Eating Index-2010 (HEI-2010) scores measured via food-frequency questionnaire. Change in systolic blood pressure (SBP) was a secondary outcome.

ANALYSIS

Paired t tests were used to test for differences between HEI-2010 scores, intake of key food pattern components, and SBP at baseline compared with follow-up. Statistical significance was established at P ≤ .05.

RESULTS

Eight HEI-2010 component scores increased significantly from baseline to follow-up (a change toward a more desirable eating pattern): total fruit, whole fruit, greens and beans, whole grains, fatty acids, refined grains, and empty calories. Sodium (P < .001), saturated fat (P < .001), discretionary solid fat (P < .001), added sugars (P = .01), and total fat (P < .001) all decreased significantly. The change in SBP was not significant.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

Grocery store-based counseling for patients with hypertension may be an effective strategy to provide lifestyle counseling that is not typically available within primary care.

Community pharmacist collaboration with a patient-centered medical home: Establishment of a patient-centered medical neighborhood and payment model

OBJECTIVES

To determine the feasibility of a partnership between a community pharmacy and a patient-centered medical home (PCMH) by measuring the impact on office- and patient-level clinical outcomes.

SETTING

Kroger Pharmacy and a PCMH practice in Cincinnati, OH.

PRACTICE DESCRIPTION

The Kroger Co. is a large grocery store chain that operates 102 pharmacies in the Cincinnati-Dayton marketing area. The PCMH practice is an accredited PCMH office serving more than 9000 patients in the Cincinnati area.

PRACTICE INNOVATION

In a medical neighborhood, a PCMH coordinates care with other local specialty practices or partners. A partnership between the community pharmacy chain and the PCMH was established to create a medical neighborhood. The pharmacist spent 2 half-days per week at the PCMH. The pharmacist provided initial medication therapy management appointments in the PCMH and offered follow-up services in the office, the pharmacy, or both, depending on patient preference. The pharmacy received a capitated payment per patient per month for a predetermined number of 1000 high-risk patients.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Office-level changes in clinical outcomes such as A1C, blood pressure, and lipid measures were collected and compared with those of a similar control office. In addition, patient-level outcomes such as change in A1C, blood pressure, lipids, and weight were measured.

RESULTS

One hundred five patients were seen by the pharmacist during the study period, with 1.5% of the total managed at the office. There was a statistically significant increase in influenza vaccinations received. On a patient level, A1C and systolic blood pressure significantly improved.

CONCLUSION

This project represents an exciting opportunity for community pharmacists to expand their scope of services through direct partnership with PCMHs and maintain a sustainable reimbursement structure.

Pilot of integrated, colocated neurology in a primary care medical home

RATIONALE, AIMS, AND OBJECTIVES

Novel health care delivery models are needed to reduce health care use while delivering effective and safe care. We developed a model of a neurologist integrated and colocated in primary care leveraging "curbside," electronic, and traditional consultations. Our objective was to examine the impact on health care resource use of diagnostic testing and referrals for face-to-face neurological consultation and adverse outcomes associated with electronic and curbside consultations.

METHODS

Consecutive patients from December 1, 2014, to March 13, 2015, were included in the analysis about whom contact was made between a primary care clinician and a colocated neurologist.

RESULTS

Over 3.5 months of the pilot, 359 unique patients generated 429 consultations (179 curbsides, 68 electronic consultations, and 182 face-to-face visits). The integrated model resulted in avoidance of 78 face-to-face tertiary neurology consultations, 39 brain magnetic resonance imaging, 50 electromyograms, and 53 other advanced imaging studies. Earlier curbside consultation may have prevented unnecessary testing or face-to-face tertiary neurology consultations in 40 (22%) patients. Earlier face-to-face consultation may have avoided expensive testing in 31 (17%) patients. No cases met criteria for an adverse outcome. The number of referrals to tertiary neurology declined by 64%, and the total number of face-to-face visits per month declined by 25%.

CONCLUSION

Colocated neurology in a primary care medical home offers a promising intervention to deliver high-value care.

Unique Educational Opportunities for PCPs and Specialists Arising From Electronic Consultation Services

Health care reform should be driven by the goals of better patient experience, improved population health, lower per capita costs, and improved provider satisfaction. Electronic consultation (eConsult) services have been adopted by several jurisdictions in the United States, Canada, and Europe to improve access to specialists by primary care providers (PCPs) and are being heralded as a key component for delivery of coordinated care. The primary intent of an eConsult service is to provide PCPs with efficient, timely, direct access to specialist expertise to help guide the management of their patients, reduce the need for unnecessary face-to-face specialty consultations, and improve the quality of the initial face-to-face consultation when needed, through the preconsultative communication.In addition to improving access to care, eConsult services have been praised by PCPs and specialists for their educational value, in particular their ability to enrich practice-based learning. Less recognized, but equally important from the educational perspective, include the abilities of eConsult programs to promote reflection by PCPs and specialists, improve collegiality and professionalism between primary and specialist care, inform continuing professional development activities and maintenance of certification, and enhance training programs' teaching of effective communication and care coordination.As eConsult services become increasingly available, the medical community must leverage the educational opportunities inherent in eConsult programs to further improve the delivery of coordinated specialty care. The educational role of eConsults should be considered as a priority outcome in their evaluation and must be highlighted and optimized in next iterations of eConsult systems design.

Delivering Coordinated Cancer Care by Building Transactive Memory in a Team of Teams

Cancer care delivery is highly complex. Treatment involves coordination within oncology health-care teams and across other teams of referring primary and specialty providers (a team of teams). Each team interfaces with patients and caregivers to offer component parts of comprehensive care. Because patients frequently obtain specialty care from divergent health-care systems resulting in cross-system health-care use, oncology teams need mechanisms to coordinate and collaborate within and across health-care systems to optimize clinical outcomes for all cancer patients. Transactive memory is one potential strategy that can help improve comprehensive patient care delivery. Transactive memory is a process by which two or more team professionals develop a shared system for encoding, storing, and retrieving information. Each professional is responsible for retaining only part of the total information. Applying this concept to a team of teams results in system benefits wherein all teams share an understanding of specialized knowledge held by each component team. The patient's role as the unifying member of the team of teams is central to successful treatment delivery. This clinical case presents a patient who is receiving oral treatment for advanced prostate cancer within two health systems. The case emphasizes the potential for error when multiple teams function without a point team (the team coordinating efforts of all other primary and specialty teams) and when the specialty knowledge of providers and patients is not well integrated into all phases of the care delivery process.

Electronic consultation systems: worldwide prevalence and their impact on patient care-a systematic review

BACKGROUND

Many health organizations are exploring the potential of electronic consultation (eConsult) services to address excessive wait times for specialist care.

OBJECTIVE

To understand the effectiveness, population impact and costs associated with implementation of eConsult services.

METHODS

We conducted a systematic review using a narrative synthesis approach. We searched Medline and Embase from inception to August 2014 (English/French). Included studies focused on communication between primary care providers and specialist physicians through an asynchronous, directed communication over a secure electronic medium. We assessed study quality with a modified version of the Effective Public Health Practice Project Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies. We synthesized the results using the Triple Aim framework.

RESULTS

A total of 36 studies were included. Most were set in the USA and focused on single-specialty services (most commonly dermatology). Population health outcomes included patient populations, adoption/utilization and provider attitudes. Providers cited timely advice from specialists, good medical care, confirmation of diagnoses and educational benefits. No clinical outcomes were reported. Patient experience of care was generally positive, with quick specialist response times (4.6 hours to 3.9 days), avoided referrals (12-84%) and satisfaction ranging from 78% to 93%. System costs were reported in only seven studies using different outcome measures and settings, limiting comparability.

CONCLUSION

Though eConsult systems are highly acceptable for patients and providers and deliver improved access to specialist advice, gaps remain regarding eConsult's impact on population health and system costs. To achieve optimized health system performance, eConsult services must include specialty services as determined by community needs and further explore cost-effectiveness.

Impact of the Rochester Medical Home Initiative on Primary Care Practices, Quality, Utilization, and Costs

BACKGROUND

Patient-centered medical homes (PCMH) may improve the quality of primary care while reducing costs and utilization. Early evidence on the effectiveness of PCMH has been mixed.

OBJECTIVES

We analyze the impact of a PCMH intervention in Rochester NY on costs, utilization, and quality of care.

RESEARCH DESIGN

A propensity score-matched difference-in-differences analysis of the effect of the PCMH intervention relative to a comparison group of practices. Qualitative interviews with PCMH practice managers on their experiences and challenges with PCMH practice transformation.

SUBJECTS

Seven pilot practices and 61 comparison practices (average of 36,531 and 30,192 attributed member months per practice, respectively). Interviews with practice leaders at all pilot sites.

MEASURES

Individual HEDIS quality measures of preventive care, diabetes care, and care for coronary artery disease. Utilization measures of hospital use, office visits, imaging and laboratory tests, and prescription drug use. Cost measures are inpatient, prescription drug, and total spending.

RESULTS

After 3 years, PCMH practices reported decreased ambulatory care sensitive emergency room visits and use of imaging tests, and increased primary care visits and laboratory tests. Utilization of prescription drugs increased but drug spending decreased. PCMH practices reported increased rates of breast cancer screening and low-density lipid screening for diabetes patients, and decreased rates of any prevention quality indicator.

CONCLUSIONS

The PCMH model leads to significant changes in patient care, with reductions in some services and increases in others. This study joins a growing body of work that finds no effect of PCMH transformation on total health care spending.

Value and process of curbside consultations in clinical practice: a grounded theory study

OBJECTIVES

To clarify the value and process of the curbside consultation and identify ways to optimize this activity.

PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS

We conducted 13 focus groups at an academic medical center and outlying community sites (September 2011 to January 2013), involving a purposive sample of 54 primary care and subspecialist internal medicine and family medicine physicians. Focus group discussions were transcribed and then analyzed using a constant comparative approach to identify benefits, liabilities, mechanisms, and potential improvements related to curbside consultations.

RESULTS

We developed a model describing the role and process of the curbside consultation. Focus group participants perceived that curbside consultations add particular value in offering immediate, individualized answers with bidirectional information exchange, and this in turn expedites patient care and elevates patient confidence. Despite the uncompensated interruption and potential risks, experts provide curbside consultations because they appreciate the honor of being asked and the opportunity to help colleagues, expedite patient care, and teach. Key decisions for the initiator (each reflecting a potential barrier) include whom to contact, how to contact that expert, and how to determine availability. Experts decide to accept a request on the basis of personal expertise, physical location, and capacity to commit time and attention. Participants suggested systems-level improvements to facilitate expert selection, clarify expert availability, enhance access to clinical information, and acknowledge the expert's effort.

CONCLUSIONS

Curbside consultations play an important role in enhancing communication and care coordination in clinical medicine, but the process can be further improved. Information technology solutions may play a key role.