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Horton A, Loban K, Nugus P, Fortin MC, Gunaratnam L, Knoll G, Mucsi I, Chaudhury P, Landsberg D, Paquet M, Cantarovich M, Sandal S. Health System-Level Barriers to Living Donor Kidney Transplantation: Protocol for a Comparative Case Study Analysis. JMIR Res Protoc 2023; 12:e44172. [PMID: 36881454 PMCID: PMC10031444 DOI: 10.2196/44172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2022] [Revised: 01/24/2023] [Accepted: 01/25/2023] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Living donor kidney transplantation (LDKT) is the best treatment option for patients with kidney failure and offers significant medical and economic advantages for both patients and health systems. Despite this, rates of LDKT in Canada have stagnated and vary significantly across Canadian provinces, the reasons for which are not well understood. Our prior work has suggested that system-level factors may be contributing to these differences. Identifying these factors can help inform system-level interventions to increase LDKT. OBJECTIVE Our objective is to generate a systemic interpretation of LDKT delivery across provincial health systems with variable performance. We aim to identify the attributes and processes that facilitate the delivery of LDKT to patients, and those that create barriers and compare these across systems with variable performance. These objectives are contextualized within our broader goal of increasing rates of LDKT in Canada, particularly in lower-performing provinces. METHODS This research takes the form of a qualitative comparative case study analysis of 3 provincial health systems in Canada that have high, moderate, and low rates of LDKT performance (the percentage of LDKT to all kidney transplantations performed). Our approach is underpinned by an understanding of health systems as complex adaptive systems that are multilevel and interconnected, and involve nonlinear interactions between people and organizations, operating within a loosely bounded network. Data collection will comprise semistructured interviews, document reviews, and focus groups. Individual case studies will be conducted and analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Following this, our comparative analysis will operationalize resource-based theory to compare case study data and generate explanations for our research question. RESULTS This project was funded from 2020 to 2023. Individual case studies were carried out between November 2020 and August 2022. The comparative case analysis will begin in December 2022 and is expected to conclude in April 2023. Submission of the publication is projected for June 2023. CONCLUSIONS By investigating health systems as complex adaptive systems and making comparisons across provinces, this study will identify how health systems can improve the delivery of LDKT to patients with kidney failure. Our resource-based theory framework will provide a granular analysis of the attributes and processes that facilitate or create barriers to LDKT delivery across multiple organizations and levels of practice. Our findings will have practice and policy implications and help inform transferrable competencies and system-level interventions conducive to increasing LDKT. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/44172.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Horton
- Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Katya Loban
- Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Peter Nugus
- Department of Family Medicine and the Institute of Health Sciences Education, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Marie-Chantal Fortin
- Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Lakshman Gunaratnam
- Matthew Mailing Centre for Translational Transplant Studies, Lawson Health Research Institute, London Health Sciences Centre, London, ON, Canada
- Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON, Canada
| | - Greg Knoll
- Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
- Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Istvan Mucsi
- Ajmera Transplant Center and Division of Nephrology, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Division of Nephrology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Prosanto Chaudhury
- Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Department of Surgery, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - David Landsberg
- Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Michel Paquet
- Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Marcelo Cantarovich
- Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Shaifali Sandal
- Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Division of Experimental Medicine, Department of Medicine, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada
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