Continuity of care for children with anorexia nervosa in the Netherlands: a modular perspective.

Care provision for children with anorexia nervosa is provided by outpatient care teams in hospitals, but the way these teams are organized differs per hospital and hampers the continuity of care. The aim of this study is to explore the organization and continuity of care for children with anorexia nervosa in the Netherlands by using a modular perspective.We conducted a qualitative, exploratory case study and took the healthcare provision for children with anorexia nervosa, provided by outpatient care teams, as our case. We conducted nine interviews with healthcare professionals involved in outpatient care teams from six hospitals. A thematic analysis was used to analyze the data.The modular perspective offered insights into the work practices and working methods of outpatient care teams. We were able to identify modules (i.e. the separate consultations with the various professionals), and components (i.e. elements of these consultations). In addition, communication mechanisms (interfaces) were identified to facilitate information flow and coordination among healthcare professionals. Our modular perspective revealed gaps and overlap in outpatient care provision, consequently providing opportunities to deal with unnecessary duplications and blind spots.   Conclusion: A modular perspective can be applied to explore the organization of outpatient care provision for children with anorexia nervosa. We specifically highlight gaps and overlap in healthcare provision, which in turn leads to recommendations on how to support the three essential parts of continuity of care: informational continuity, relational continuity, and management continuity. What is Known: • Care provision for children with anorexia nervosa requires a network of health care professionals from different organizations, as a result the organization and provision of care faces challenges. What is New: • Modular care provision sheds light on the complexity and organization of outpatient care provision and supports the three dimensions of continuity of care as experienced by children with anorexia nervosa and their parents/caregivers.

How service modularity can provide the flexibility to support person-centered care and shared decision-making.

BACKGROUND: Today's healthcare provision is facing several challenges, that cause the level of complexity to increase at a greater rate than the managerial capacity to effectively deal with it. One of these challenges is the demand for person-centered care in an approach that is tuned towards shared decision-making. Flexibility is needed to adequately respond to individual needs. METHODS: We elaborate on the potential of service modularity as a foundation for person-centered care delivered in a shared decision-making context, and examine to what extent this can improve healthcare. We primarily focused on theory building. To support our effort and gain insight into how service modularity is currently discussed and applied in healthcare, we conducted a scoping review. RESULTS: Descriptions of actual implementations of modularity in healthcare are rare. Nevertheless, applying a modular perspective can be beneficial to healthcare service improvement since those service modularity principles that are still missing can often be fulfilled relatively easily to improve healthcare practice. Service modularity offers a way towards flexible configuration of services, facilitating the composition of tailored service packages. Moreover, it can help to provide insight into the possibilities of care for both healthcare professionals and patients. CONCLUSIONS: We argue that applying a modular frame to healthcare services can contribute to individualized, holistic care provision and can benefit person-centered care. Furthermore, insight into the possibilities of care can help patients express their preferences, increasing their ability to actively participate in a shared decision-making process. Nevertheless, it remains essential that the healthcare professional actively collaborates with the patient in composing the care package, for which we propose a model. Altogether, we posit this can improve healthcare practice, especially for the people receiving care.

Modular service provision for heterogeneous patient groups: a single case study in chronic Down syndrome care.

BACKGROUND: Service modularity could be promising for organizing healthcare delivery to heterogeneous patient groups because it enables cost reductions while also being responsive towards individual patients' needs. However, no research on the applicability of modularity in this context exists. To this end, we conducted a qualitative single-case study on chronic healthcare provision for Down syndrome patients, delivered by multidisciplinary pediatric Downteams in the Netherlands, from a modular perspective. METHODS: We conducted six semi-structured interviews with coordinators of multidisciplinary Downteams in six hospitals. In addition, we gathered data by means of observations and analysis of relevant documentation. We transcribed, coded, and analyzed the interviews utilizing the Miles and Huberman approach. The consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ) were applied in this study. RESULTS: In all six Downteams studied, the modular package for Down syndrome patients (i.e. the visit to the Downteams) could clearly be divided into modules (i.e. the separate consultations with the various professionals), and into different components (i.e. sub-elements of these consultations). These modules and components were linked by different types of customer-flow and information-flow interfaces. These interfaces allowed patients to flow smoothly through the system and allowed for information transfer, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our study shows a modular perspective is applicable to analyzing chronic healthcare for a heterogeneous patient group like children with Down syndrome. The decomposition of the various Downteams into modules and components led to mutual insight into each other's professional practices, both within and across the various Downteams studied. It could be used to increase transparency of delivered care for patients and family. Moreover, it could be used to customize care provision by mixing-and-matching components. More detailed research on chronic modular care provision for patients with DS is needed to explore this.