Team functioning across different tumour types: Insights from a Swiss cancer center using qualitative and quantitative methods.

BACKGROUND: Multidisciplinary care is pivotal in cancer centres and the interaction of all cancer disease specialists in decision making processes is state-of-the-art. AIM: To describe differences of MDTMs by tumour type. METHODS: Twelve multidisciplinary team meetings (MDTMs) with participation of different cancer disease specialists at a tertiary hospital were assessed by an exploratory sequential mixed method approach with interviews, observations and a survey to address the following five topics: organisational structure and supporting technology; leadership; teamwork; decision-making, perceived value and motivation. Thirteen persons with different tumour specialities and levels of seniority were interviewed. The 12 MDTMs were observed twice by uninvolved persons and evaluated by the participating physicians with a survey. RESULTS: There were no systematic differences between MDTMs for different tumour types with the exception of the non-disease specific type MDTM, which was the only one for which the organisational structure was not driven by an electronic tool. However, several factors could be identified that generally influenced the functioning of the MDTMs. In particular, the quality of decision-making was highly dependent on the availability of case-based information and the presence of relevant cancer disease specialists. Leadership and teamwork were rated as important and were comparable across the MDTM. Team participants' motivation and perceived value of MDTMs was high across all meetings. CONCLUSION: MDTM at a single institution did not demonstrate disease specific characteristics. An effective MDTM, irrespective of the tumour type, can be successfully structured by technical means and a chairperson coordinating the interaction of cancer disease specialists to improve the decision-making process.

Integrated Care in Switzerland: Strengths and Weaknesses of a Federal System.

INTRODUCTION: Switzerland's fragmented healthcare system mirrors its federal structure and mix of cultures and languages. Although the Swiss have a higher life expectancy than most of their neighbours, their healthcare system faces similar challenges that call for more integrated care (IC). AIM/METHOD: This article aims to provide insight into the specificities of and latest developments in Switzerland's healthcare system and how they may have influenced the development and implementation of IC there. DESCRIPTION/DISCUSSION: The number of local IC initiatives has been growing steadily for 20 years. With a certain lag, various policies supporting IC have been established. Among them, a recent democratic debate on the federal mandatory health insurance law could either induce a radical move towards centralised support for IC or continue to support scattered local IC initiatives. CONCLUSION: In the future, Switzerland's healthcare system will probably navigate between local IC initiatives and centralised, federal support for IC initiatives. This will be the reflection of a very Swiss way forward in a world without clear evidence on whether centralised or decentralised initiatives are more successful at developing IC.

Healthcare system maturity for integrated care: results of a Swiss nationwide survey using the SCIROCCO tool.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the maturity of the Swiss healthcare system for integrated care and to explore whether this maturity varied according to several variables. DESIGN: A Swiss nationwide individual electronic survey in November 2019. SETTING AND POPULATION: Stakeholders identified via lists of the Swiss Forum for Integrated Care and of the integrated care unit of the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health, and representatives of 26 cantonal public health departments, were invited to participate. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE: The outcome was the maturity of the Swiss healthcare system for integrated care, measured with the Scaling Integrated Care in Context maturity model tool (SCIROCCO tool), which comprises 12 dimensions and questions rated on a 6-point scale. ANALYSIS: Univariate analyses were first performed, followed by bivariate analyses, to find out whether maturity varied according to working linguistic region, healthcare profession, main domain of professional activity, implication in integrated care, attitude towards integrated care and attitude towards the Swiss healthcare system. RESULTS: The 642 respondents were 53.7 years on average, 42.5% were women, 60.0% and 20.7% worked in the German and French-speaking parts of Switzerland, respectively. Overall, the maturity of the Swiss healthcare system for integrated care was evaluated as low, with dimension means ranging from 1.0 (±1.0) for the 'Funding' dimension to a maximum of 2.7 (±1.1) for 'eHealth Services'. Results only varied according to the working linguistic region. CONCLUSIONS: Results highlight a limited maturity of the Swiss healthcare system for integrated care, as assessed at a national level by a large and varied number of healthcare stakeholders. They represent important information for the further development of integrated care in Switzerland, and should help identify areas requiring attention for a successful transformation of the Swiss healthcare system towards more integrated care.

Financial Barriers Decrease Benefits of Interprofessional Collaboration within Integrated Care Programs: Results of a Nationwide Survey.

INTRODUCTION: Interprofessional collaboration (IPC) is a key ingredient of integrated care. Nevertheless, IPC benefits remain unclear and its implementation within integrated care initiatives is not straightforward. In this study, we first explored whether IPC was associated with organisational and patient care improvements in Swiss integrated care initiatives; we then investigated the effect of various barriers faced by these initiatives, on these associations. METHODS: Self-reported data from 153 integrated care initiatives included in the Swiss Integrated Care Survey was used. We conducted moderated mediation analyses in which patient care improvements were the outcome, the degree of IPC implementation was the predictor, organisational improvements were the mediator, and professional, patient and financial barriers to integrated care, the moderators. RESULTS: IPC implementation within integrated care was associated with organisational improvements, which in turn were associated with patient care improvements; this path no longer existed when financial barriers to integrated care were considered. CONCLUSION: Organisational improvements should be considered a priority when implementing IPC within integrated care initiatives since patient care improvements due to IPC can be expected mainly when organisational aspects are improved. More importantly, the role of financial barriers should be acknowledged, and actions taken to reduce their impact on integrated care.

Integrated care in Switzerland: Results from the first nationwide survey.

INTRODUCTION: Due to fragmentation of care delivery, health systems are under pressure and integrated care is advocated for. Compared to the numerous existing integrated care initiatives in Europe and elsewhere, Switzerland seems to lag behind. METHODS: The objective of the survey was to produce a comprehensive overview of integrated care initiatives in Switzerland. To be included, initiatives needed to meet four criteria: present some type of formalization, consider >2 different groups of healthcare professionals, integrate >2 healthcare levels, be ongoing. We systematically contacted major health system organizations at federal, cantonal and local level. Between 2015 and 2016, we identified 172 integrated care initiatives and sent them a questionnaire. We performed descriptive analyses. RESULTS: Integrated care initiatives in Switzerland are frequent and increasing. The implementation of initiatives over time, their distribution between linguistic areas, the number of healthcare levels integrated, and the number of professionals involved vary according to the type of initiatives. DISCUSSION: Despite Switzerland's federalist structure and organization of healthcare, and only recent incentives to develop integrated care, initiatives are frequent and diverse. Stakeholders should support existing initiatives and facilitate their development. They should also promote innovative avenues, experiment alternative payment models for integrated care, foster people-centeredness and incentivize interprofessional models. This will require systems thinking and contributions from all actors of the healthcare system.

Challenges in interprofessionalism in Swiss health care: the practice of successful interprofessional collaboration as experienced by professionals.

The topic of interprofessional collaboration (IPC) between healthcare professionals has been widely discussed in recent years. Whereas the growing calls for more and better IPC can scarcely be ignored and a broad range of definitions and normative concepts have been proposed, it remains unclear what IPC actually means for practising professionals. This exploratory survey investigated the various ways in which successful IPC is understood in practice. As a main finding of the study, we were able to identify three distinct modes of collaboration between different professions in health care. Moreover, we provide evidence that whether and how IPC occurs strongly depends on the care contexts or settings in which these health professionals work. Explicit acknowledgement of and attention to these findings could improve the impact of initiatives to foster IPC.

Integrated care programmes for adults with chronic conditions: a meta-review.

OBJECTIVE: To review systematic reviews and meta-analyses of integrated care programmes in chronically ill patients, with a focus on methodological quality, elements of integration assessed and effects reported. DESIGN: Meta-review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses identified in Medline (1946-March 2012), Embase (1980-March 2012), CINHAL (1981-March 2012) and the Cochrane Library of Systematic Reviews (issue 1, 2012). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Methodological quality assessed by the 11-item Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) checklist; elements of integration assessed using a published list of 10 key principles of integration; effects on patient-centred outcomes, process quality, use of healthcare and costs. RESULTS: Twenty-seven systematic reviews were identified; conditions included chronic heart failure (CHF; 12 reviews), diabetes mellitus (DM; seven reviews), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD; seven reviews) and asthma (five reviews). The median number of AMSTAR checklist items met was five: few reviewers searched for unpublished literature or described the primary studies and interventions in detail. Most reviews covered comprehensive services across the care continuum or standardization of care through inter-professional teams, but organizational culture, governance structure or financial management were rarely assessed. A majority of reviews found beneficial effects of integration, including reduced hospital admissions and re-admissions (in CHF and DM), improved adherence to treatment guidelines (DM, COPD and asthma) or quality of life (DM). Few reviews showed reductions in costs. CONCLUSIONS: Systematic reviews of integrated care programmes were of mixed quality, assessed only some components of integration of care, and showed consistent benefits for some outcomes but not others.

Integrated care organizations in Switzerland.

INTRODUCTION: The Swiss health care system is characterized by its decentralized structure and high degree of local autonomy. Ambulatory care is provided by physicians working mainly independently in individual private practices. However, a growing part of primary care is provided by networks of physicians and health maintenance organizations (HMOs) acting on the principles of gatekeeping. TOWARDS INTEGRATED CARE IN SWITZERLAND: The share of insured choosing an alternative (managed care) type of basic health insurance and therefore restrict their choice of doctors in return for lower premiums increased continuously since 1990. To date, an average of one out of eight insured person in Switzerland, and one out of three in the regions in north-eastern Switzerland, opted for the provision of care by general practitioners in one of the 86 physician networks or HMOs. About 50% of all general practitioners and more than 400 other specialists have joined a physician networks. Seventy-three of the 86 networks (84%) have contracts with the healthcare insurance companies in which they agree to assume budgetary co-responsibility, i.e., to adhere to set cost targets for particular groups of patients. Within and outside the physician networks, at regional and/or cantonal levels, several initiatives targeting chronic diseases have been developed, such as clinical pathways for heart failure and breast cancer patients or chronic disease management programs for patients with diabetes. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Swiss physician networks and HMOs were all established solely by initiatives of physicians and health insurance companies on the sole basis of a healthcare legislation (Swiss Health Insurance Law, KVG) which allows for such initiatives and developments. The relevance of these developments towards more integration of healthcare as well as their implications for the future are discussed.

Differences of the quality of care experience: the perception of patients with either network or conventional health plans.

BACKGROUND: Various studies have been performed on differences in quality measures between different models of primary care with inconclusive results. In Switzerland, up to a third of the population chooses network health plans including gatekeeping to profit from lower premiums and almost half of GPs work in primary care networks. OBJECTIVE: To determine differences in the quality of interpersonal care and practice management between patients consulting a physician organized in a GP network or in independent practice. METHODS: We analysed data of the European Project on Patient Evaluation of General Practice Care (EUROPEP) questionnaire measuring the quality of the patient-physician interaction and practice management of 473 primary care physicians. From the 25178 patients who completed the questionnaire, 72.2% (18174) consulted a physician participating in a network and 27.8% (7004) a physician working in independent practice. RESULTS: The overall answer pattern of EUROPEP questions shows that patients were generally more satisfied with physicians in independent practice. Particularly, questions within the domains 'relation and communication' and 'information and support' and to a lesser degree within 'Medical care' were significantly answered more favourable by patients of independent physicians. Stratification for chronic diseases showed that significant differences favouring independent physicians were less evident in patients with chronic diseases than in the non-chronic group. CONCLUSIONS: The results show differences in the quality of interpersonal care and practice management experienced by patients consulting network-or independent physicians. Therefore, we suggest that efforts to reduce health care spending by promoting more integrated care must also focus on monitoring and improving patient perceived qualities.