Quality improvement initiative for pain management practices in primary care.

In the context of both chronic pain and opioid crises, this large-system quality improvement project sought to increase use of evidence-based multimodal pain management strategies. Primary care providers (PCPs) in internal medicine and family medicine identified as above-median prescribers of 30-day opioid supplies were selected for intervention. PCPs received individualized email letters showing their opioid prescribing patterns relative to peers and urging them to view an internal pain/opioid educational video and related system guidelines. The median number of patients receiving 30-day opioid supplies from our target PCPs decreased over a 24-month period. For cohort patients identified at baseline and remaining in treatment over time, those receiving opioid prescriptions decreased, and those receiving nonopioid prescriptions increased. Percentages of PCPs prescribing nonopioids for cohort patients increased over the first year and nonpharmacologic referrals increased in range. Our evidence suggests that PCPs who are higher opioid prescribers will change their practices voluntarily when given feedback about their opioid prescribing patterns relative to their peers, as well as education regarding evidence-based pain management and opioid prescribing.

Improving diabetes self-care with a PDA in ambulatory care.

Use of information technology in diabetes management has been shown to improve self-care. We determined whether enhancing type 2 diabetes (T2DM) self-care with a personal digital assistant (PDA) by patients in the ambulatory setting would improve glycemic control. A pretest/posttest intervention study was conducted in four family practice clinics in a large multispecialty group practice associated with an 186,000-member Health Maintenance Organization. Adults with T2DM and last measured glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) of > or = 8.00% received one-on-one training on the use of a loaned PDA pre-installed with "Diabetes Pilot." Changes in HbA1c and other outcomes were assessed at 6 months from baseline for all participants and by participant-reported PDA use patterns, dichotomized into high PDA users (> or =3 days in past 7) and low PDA users (< 3 days). Of 43 subjects enrolled, 18 (41.90%) completed the 6-month intervention. Their mean HbA1c decreased 17.50% from 9.70% at baseline to 8.00%, a significant mean HbA1c change of -1.7% (95% CI = -2.60 to -0.90). The mean HbA1c change was higher among reported high PDA users (n = 9, mean difference = -1.90, 95% CI = -3.20 to -0.50) than among reported low PDA users (n = 9, mean difference = -1.50, 95% CI = -2.80 to -0.30). Significant increases were reported for the foot care and general diet subscales of the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities from 3 to 6 months. Enhancing T2DM self-care by adults with a PDA was associated with significant reductions in HbA1c; the reductions were greater among reported high PDA users.

A Multi-Level, Mobile-Enabled Intervention to Promote Physical Activity in Older Adults in the Primary Care Setting (iCanFit 2.0): Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Most older adults do not adhere to the US Centers for Disease Control physical activity guidelines; their physical inactivity contributes to overweight and multiple chronic conditions. An urgent need exists for effective physical activity-promotion programs for the large number of older adults in the United States. OBJECTIVE: This study presents the development of the intervention and trial protocol of iCanFit 2.0, a multi-level, mobile-enabled, physical activity-promotion program developed for overweight older adults in primary care settings. METHODS: The iCanFit 2.0 program was developed based on our prior mHealth intervention programs, qualitative interviews with older patients in a primary care clinic, and iterative discussions with key stakeholders. We will test the efficacy of iCanFit 2.0 through a cluster randomized controlled trial in six pairs of primary care clinics. RESULTS: The proposed protocol received a high score in a National Institutes of Health review, but was not funded due to limited funding sources. We are seeking other funding sources to conduct the project. CONCLUSIONS: The iCanFit 2.0 program is one of the first multi-level, mobile-enabled, physical activity-promotion programs for older adults in a primary care setting. The development process has actively involved older patients and other key stakeholders. The patients, primary care providers, health coaches, and family and friends were engaged in the program using a low-cost, off-the-shelf mobile tool. Such low-cost, multi-level programs can potentially address the high prevalence of physical inactivity in older adults.

Review of behavioral health integration in primary care at Baylor Scott and White Healthcare, Central Region.

The integration of behavioral health services in primary care has been referred to in many ways, but ultimately refers to common structures and processes. Behavioral health is integrated into primary care because it increases the effectiveness and efficiency of providing care and reduces costs in the care of primary care patients. Reimbursement is one factor, if not the main factor, that determines the level of integration that can be achieved. The federal health reform agenda supports changes that will eventually permit behavioral health to be fully integrated and will allow the health of the population to be the primary target of intervention. In an effort to develop more integrated services at Baylor Scott and White Healthcare, models of integration are reviewed and the advantages and disadvantages of each model are discussed. Recommendations to increase integration include adopting a disease management model with care management, planned guideline-based stepped care, follow-up, and treatment monitoring. Population-based interventions can be completed at the pace of the development of alternative reimbursement methods. The program should be based upon patient-centered medical home standards, and research is needed throughout the program development process.

Physician response to written feedback on a medication discrepancy found with their elderly ambulatory patients.

OBJECTIVES: To assess physicians' responses to written feedback on medication discrepancies found with their elderly ambulatory patients. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Four clinics of a large university-affiliated, multispecialty group practice associated with a 186,000-member health maintenance organization. PARTICIPANTS: Patients aged 65 and older (n=202) and their family physicians (n=32). MEASUREMENTS: Medication discrepancies and physicians' responses to written feedback on letters and adhesive labels containing a list of patients' actual medications. RESULTS: A medication discrepancy was identified with 171 of 202 patients (84.7%). They resulted from patients not taking charted medications (52.9%), patients taking medications that were not charted (34.3%), or difference in dosage and/or schedule (12.8%). The medications involved were mostly complementary/alternative (28.3%), respiratory/allergy (15.1%), and analgesics (14.1%). The majority of physicians reported that the letters (93.8%) and accompanying labels (90.6%) were helpful to them. Half of the physicians reported filing the letters in patients' charts, whereas the other half discarded them. The majority (93.8%) also perceived the labels as an additional benefit to their practice and placed them in patients' charts to be used to correct patients' medications. Receptivity to the feedback was unrelated to physician age group, sex, years in practice, or clinic of practice. CONCLUSION: Although medication discrepancies are common in elderly ambulatory patients, their family physicians appreciate assistance in correcting these discrepancies, although potential problems, such as cultural or organizational resistance to the open disclosure of medication discrepancies in medical records due to associated legal ramifications, may need to be resolved.

E-mail communications in primary care: what are patients' expectations for specific test results?

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to assess patients' willingness to use e-mail to obtain specific test results, assess their expectations regarding response times, and identify any demographic trends. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of primary care patients was conducted in 19 clinics of a large multi-specialty group practice associated with an 186,000-member Health Maintenance Organization. The outcome measures were proportion of patients with current e-mail access, their willingness to use it for selected general clinical services and to obtain specific test results, and their expectations of timeliness of response. RESULTS: The majority of patients (58.3%) reported having current e-mail access and indicated strong willingness to use it for communication. However, only 5.8% reported having ever used it to communicate with their physician. Patients were most willing to use e-mail to obtain cholesterol and blood sugar test results, but less willing to use it to obtain brain CT scan results. Patients' expectations of timeliness were generally very high, particularly for high-stakes tests such as brain CT scan. Significant differences of willingness and expectations were found by age group, education, and income. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that most patients are willing to use e-mail to communicate with their primary care providers even for specific test results and that patients will hold providers to high standards of timeliness regarding response. The implication is that integration of e-mail communications into primary care ought to assure prompt and accurate patient access to a plethora of specific clinical services.

Types and origins of diagnostic errors in primary care settings.

IMPORTANCE: Diagnostic errors are an understudied aspect of ambulatory patient safety. OBJECTIVES: To determine the types of diseases missed and the diagnostic processes involved in cases of confirmed diagnostic errors in primary care settings and to determine whether record reviews could shed light on potential contributory factors to inform future interventions. DESIGN: We reviewed medical records of diagnostic errors detected at 2 sites through electronic health record-based triggers. Triggers were based on patterns of patients' unexpected return visits after an initial primary care index visit. SETTING: A large urban Veterans Affairs facility and a large integrated private health care system. PARTICIPANTS: Our study focused on 190 unique instances of diagnostic errors detected in primary care visits between October 1, 2006, and September 30, 2007. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Through medical record reviews, we collected data on presenting symptoms at the index visit, types of diagnoses missed, process breakdowns, potential contributory factors, and potential for harm from errors. RESULTS: In 190 cases, a total of 68 unique diagnoses were missed. Most missed diagnoses were common conditions in primary care, with pneumonia (6.7%), decompensated congestive heart failure (5.7%), acute renal failure (5.3%), cancer (primary) (5.3%), and urinary tract infection or pyelonephritis (4.8%) being most common. Process breakdowns most frequently involved the patient-practitioner clinical encounter (78.9%) but were also related to referrals (19.5%), patient-related factors (16.3%), follow-up and tracking of diagnostic information (14.7%), and performance and interpretation of diagnostic tests (13.7%). A total of 43.7% of cases involved more than one of these processes. Patient-practitioner encounter breakdowns were primarily related to problems with history-taking (56.3%), examination (47.4%), and/or ordering diagnostic tests for further workup (57.4%). Most errors were associated with potential for moderate to severe harm. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Diagnostic errors identified in our study involved a large variety of common diseases and had significant potential for harm. Most errors were related to process breakdowns in the patient-practitioner clinical encounter. Preventive interventions should target common contributory factors across diagnoses, especially those that involve data gathering and synthesis in the patient-practitioner encounter.

Electronic health record-based surveillance of diagnostic errors in primary care.

BACKGROUND: Diagnostic errors in primary care are harmful but difficult to detect. The authors tested an electronic health record (EHR)-based method to detect diagnostic errors in routine primary care practice. METHODS: The authors conducted a retrospective study of primary care visit records 'triggered' through electronic queries for possible evidence of diagnostic errors: Trigger 1: A primary care index visit followed by unplanned hospitalisation within 14 days and Trigger 2: A primary care index visit followed by ≥1 unscheduled visit(s) within 14 days. Control visits met neither criterion. Electronic trigger queries were applied to EHR repositories at two large healthcare systems between 1 October 2006 and 30 September 2007. Blinded physician-reviewers independently determined presence or absence of diagnostic errors in selected triggered and control visits. An error was defined as a missed opportunity to make or pursue the correct diagnosis when adequate data were available at the index visit. Disagreements were resolved by an independent third reviewer. RESULTS: Queries were applied to 212 165 visits. On record review, the authors found diagnostic errors in 141 of 674 Trigger 1-positive records (positive predictive value (PPV)=20.9%, 95% CI 17.9% to 24.0%) and 36 of 669 Trigger 2-positive records (PPV=5.4%, 95% CI 3.7% to 7.1%). The control PPV of 2.1% (95% CI 0.1% to 3.3%) was significantly lower than that of both triggers (p≤0.002). Inter-reviewer reliability was modest, though higher than in comparable previous studies (к=0.37 (95% CI 0.31 to 0.44)). CONCLUSIONS: While physician agreement on diagnostic error remains low, an EHR-facilitated surveillance methodology could be useful for gaining insight into the origin of these errors.

SERPINE 1 Links Obesity and Diabetes: A Pilot Study.

In the past decade there has been a dramatic increase in the number of Americans considered obese. Over this same period, the number of individuals diagnosed with diabetes has increased by over 40%. Interestingly, in a great number of cases individuals considered obese develop diabetes later on. Although a link between obesity and diabetes has been suggested, conclusive scientific evidence is thus far just beginning to emerge. The present pilot study is designed to identify a possible link between obesity and diabetes. The plasma proteome is a desirable biological sample due to their accessibility and representative complexity due, in part, to the wide dynamic range of protein concentrations, which lead to the discovery of new protein markers. Here we present the results for the specific depletion of 14 high-abundant proteins from the plasma samples of obese and diabetic patients. Comparative proteomic profiling of plasma from individuals with either diabetes or obesity and individuals with both obesity and diabetes revealed SERPINE 1 as a possible candidate protein of interest, which might be a link between obesity and diabetes.

Patient preferences and physician practices for laboratory test results notification.

INTRODUCTION: This study assessed patient preferences and physician practices for laboratory test results notification in ambulatory care. METHODS: Patients aged 18 years or older (n=728) who were scheduled to see their primary care physician at 5 clinics were offered the opportunity to participate in an anonymous survey during their clinic visit. Their primary care physicians were also invited to participate in a separate online survey. Questions on both surveys included the current method of laboratory test results notification and satisfaction with the method. RESULTS: The majority of patients reported satisfaction with the current method of notification of normal results-the US mail-which was also the preferred method for notification of normal test results by both patients and physicians. Direct phone contact by the physician was the preferred method for notification of abnormal results by both patients (64%) and physicians (41%). Patients' preferred method of notification of normal results significantly agreed with the current method (P<.0001), whereas that of abnormal results did not (P=.52). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that patients and physicians both prefer the US mail for notification of normal laboratory test results and a direct phone call by the physician for notification of abnormal results.

Incorporating PDA use in diabetes self-care: a central Texas Primary Care Research Network (CenTexNet) study.

INTRODUCTION: We investigated the feasibility of incorporating the use of the personal digital assistant (PDA) in diabetes self-care in primary care. METHODS: Adults with type 2 diabetes whose last measured HbA1c value was 8.0% or greater were recruited from 4 family practice clinics. A trained research assistant provided one-on-one training on the use of a loaned PDA preinstalled with Diabetes Pilot software. RESULTS: Of 550 potential subjects invited for participation, only 98 (17.8%) called to schedule an orientation visit. However, 18 were never contacted when the recruitment goal was reached. Of the remaining 80 respondents, 43 (53.8%) met all study inclusion criteria. Participants' mean age was 55.2 years (SD = 10.1). The majority were female (62.8%) and white (62.8%), 83.7% had at least some college education, and most reported an income of $30,000 to $69,999. The mean baseline HbA1c was 10.0% (SD = 1.5). Major challenges of concern to the practicing family physician included few subjects agreeing to participate even though it was free, subjects who agreed to participate being generally different from those who decided not to participate, some PDAs not returned, and the relatively high cost of the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Attempts to incorporate PDA use in diabetes self-care may be significantly challenging, although feasible. We identified several challenges and suggest strategies to overcome them.

Primary care physicians' awareness and adherence to cervical cancer screening guidelines in Texas.

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer screening guidelines were created to help healthcare professionals in appropriate screening utilizing the PAP test. However, significant variation in cervical cancer screening among primary care physicians has been noted. Knowledge of the awareness of and adherence to cervical cancer screening guidelines by primary care physicians will help determine how best to disseminate and educate these physicians regarding the guidelines in hopes of reducing unnecessary screening and improving screening for under screened populations. METHODS: A cross-sectional, mailed survey involving Family Medicine (FP), Community Internal Medicine (CIM), and Obstetrics/Gynecology (OB) physicians practicing in a large University-affiliated, multi-specialty group practice associated with an 186,000-member HMO in Central Texas (n = 177) was conducted in 2001-2002. RESULTS: Most physicians performed PAP testing (50.4%). PAP screening was noted to vary significantly by specialty (P < 0.0001). All OBs were aware of at least one published guideline, compared to 96% of FPs and 91% of CIMs (P < 0.05). A wide variation was reported regarding adherence to published guidelines. In addition, there was significant intraspecialty variation regarding adherence to the physicians' own specialty's guidelines. CONCLUSIONS: While most physicians in the primary care setting perform PAP tests and are aware of published guidelines for PAP screening, adherence to the published guidelines varies considerably even in the same clinical setting.

Variation in MRI/CT utilization among FAMILY physicians and general internists in a multi-specialty group practice.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to examine variations in MRI/CT utilization between family physicians (FPs) and general internists (IMs) within a multi-specialty group practice. MATERIAL/METHODS: Using administrative data, we computed ordering rates of MRI/CT per 1,000 outpatient clinic visits and per 1,000 unique patients and rate ratios (RR) to compare rates between 34 FPs and 24 IMs practicing in 7 clinics located within 50 miles of the radiology facility. We also assessed intra-specialty variation. Sources and degree of variation were determined separately for FPs and IMs through multivariate linear regression modeling. RESULTS: The IMs ordered MRI/CTs at twice the rate of FPs (29.6 vs. 14.8 per 1,000). Although the absolute ranges by specialty were statistically similar, the variance was significantly higher for IMs (86.1 vs. 52.3; p<0.0001). FPs' ordering rates ranged from 2.8 to 35.2 (SD=7.23), while IMs' ranged from 16.0 to 47.9 (SD=9.27). Female physicians ordered the tests at a higher rate (RR=1.38; 95% CI=1.17-1.53). After controlling for physician gender, years of practice, and patient panel size, distances from their clinics to the radiology facility site and patient severity index were the only variables that were significantly associated with MRI/CT ordering among FPs, explaining 39% of the total variance. CONCLUSIONS: Although IMs ordered MRI/CTs at a higher rate, as were females from both specialties, there was a higher ratio between high and low FP utilizers. The variation in FPs can be partly explained by their clinic distance to the radiology facility site and their patient severity index.