Practitioners' opinions on traumatic brain injury care pathways in Finland and France: different organizations, common issues.

OBJECTIVE: In traumatic brain injury (TBI), differences in health-care contexts have profound effects on care pathways. Objectives were to compare TBI pathways of care and practitioners' views on quality of care issues in two large European areas: Varsinais-Suomi, Finland and Ile-de-France, France. METHODS: Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews was conducted with TBI practitioners (n = 10) from all stages of TBI care. Interviews addressed organization and financing of care, decision-making on care transitions, and perceived issues. The structure-process-outcome model of Donabedian was used to classify findings related to quality of care issues. RESULTS: Main differences in organization of care pathways for people with TBI were related to financing modalities, number of pathway alternatives, inpatient versus outpatient rehabilitation, and indirect versus direct referrals to rehabilitation. Similar categories of issues were raised in the two settings. Issues in structures involved availability of services, financial access, and heterogeneity of expertise. Issues in processes involved diagnosis and follow-up, training regarding cognitive impairments, decision-making for referrals, transition delays, and care pathways of very severely affected patients. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide clues to address care pathways in further comparative studies. Determinants of care pathway quality could be classified as direct or indirect, binding or adaptive organizational factors.