Do Work Condition Interventions Affect Quality and Errors in Primary Care? Results from the Healthy Work Place Study.

BACKGROUND: While primary care work conditions are associated with adverse clinician outcomes, little is known about the effect of work condition interventions on quality or safety. DESIGN: A cluster randomized controlled trial of 34 clinics in the upper Midwest and New York City. PARTICIPANTS: Primary care clinicians and their diabetic and hypertensive patients. INTERVENTIONS: Quality improvement projects to improve communication between providers, workflow design, and chronic disease management. Intervention clinics received brief summaries of their clinician and patient outcome data at baseline. MAIN MEASURES: We measured work conditions and clinician and patient outcomes both at baseline and 6-12 months post-intervention. Multilevel regression analyses assessed the impact of work condition changes on outcomes. Subgroup analyses assessed impact by intervention category. KEY RESULTS: There were no significant differences in error reduction (19 % vs. 11 %, OR of improvement 1.84, 95 % CI 0.70, 4.82, p = 0.21) or quality of care improvement (19 % improved vs. 44 %, OR 0.62, 95 % CI 0.58, 1.21, p = 0.42) between intervention and control clinics. The conceptual model linking work conditions, provider outcomes, and error reduction showed significant relationships between work conditions and provider outcomes (p ≤ 0.001) and a trend toward a reduced error rate in providers with lower burnout (OR 1.44, 95 % CI 0.94, 2.23, p = 0.09). LIMITATIONS: Few quality metrics, short time span, fewer clinicians recruited than anticipated. CONCLUSIONS: Work-life interventions improving clinician satisfaction and well-being do not necessarily reduce errors or improve quality. Longer, more focused interventions may be needed to produce meaningful improvements in patient care. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ClinicalTrials.gov # NCT02542995.

A Cluster Randomized Trial of Interventions to Improve Work Conditions and Clinician Burnout in Primary Care: Results from the Healthy Work Place (HWP) Study.

BACKGROUND: Work conditions in primary care are associated with physician burnout and lower quality of care. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess if improvements in work conditions improve clinician stress and burnout. SUBJECTS: Primary care clinicians at 34 clinics in the upper Midwest and New York City participated in the study. STUDY DESIGN: This was a cluster randomized controlled trial. MEASURES: Work conditions, such as time pressure, workplace chaos, and work control, as well as clinician outcomes, were measured at baseline and at 12-18 months. A brief worklife and work conditions summary measure was provided to staff and clinicians at intervention sites. INTERVENTIONS: Diverse interventions were grouped into three categories: 1) improved communication; 2) changes in workflow, and 3) targeted quality improvement (QI) projects. ANALYSIS: Multilevel regressions assessed impact of worklife data and interventions on clinician outcomes. A multilevel analysis then looked at clinicians whose outcome scores improved and determined types of interventions associated with improvement. RESULTS: Of 166 clinicians, 135 (81.3%) completed the study. While there was no group treatment effect of baseline data on clinician outcomes, more intervention clinicians showed improvements in burnout (21.8% vs 7.1% less burned out, p = 0.01) and satisfaction (23.1% vs 10.0% more satisfied, p = 0.04). Burnout was more likely to improve with workflow interventions [Odds Ratio (OR) of improvement in burnout 5.9, p = 0.02], and with targeted QI projects than in controls (OR 4.8, p = 0.02). Interventions in communication or workflow led to greater improvements in clinician satisfaction (OR 3.1, p = 0.04), and showed a trend toward greater improvement in intention to leave (OR 4.2, p = 0.06). LIMITATIONS: We used heterogeneous intervention types, and were uncertain how well interventions were instituted. CONCLUSIONS: Organizations may be able to improve burnout, dissatisfaction and retention by addressing communication and workflow, and initiating QI projects targeting clinician concerns.