Meaningful patient and public involvement in digital health innovation, implementation and evaluation: A systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: The importance of meaningfully involving patients and the public in digital health innovation is widely acknowledged, but often poorly understood. This review, therefore, sought to explore how patients and the public are involved in digital health innovation and to identify factors that support and inhibit meaningful patient and public involvement (PPI) in digital health innovation, implementation and evaluation. METHODS: Searches were undertaken from 2010 to July 2020 in the electronic databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Scopus and ACM Digital Library. Grey literature searches were also undertaken using the Patient Experience Library database and Google Scholar. RESULTS: Of the 10,540 articles identified, 433 were included. The majority of included articles were published in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, with representation from 42 countries highlighting the international relevance of PPI in digital health. 112 topic areas where PPI had reportedly taken place were identified. Areas most often described included cancer (n = 50), mental health (n = 43), diabetes (n = 26) and long-term conditions (n = 19). Interestingly, over 133 terms were used to describe PPI; few were explicitly defined. Patients were often most involved in the final, passive stages of an innovation journey, for example, usability testing, where the ability to proactively influence change was severely limited. Common barriers to achieving meaningful PPI included data privacy and security concerns, not involving patients early enough and lack of trust. Suggested enablers were often designed to counteract such challenges. CONCLUSIONS: PPI is largely viewed as valuable and essential in digital health innovation, but rarely practised. Several barriers exist for both innovators and patients, which currently limits the quality, frequency and duration of PPI in digital health innovation, although improvements have been made in the past decade. Some reported barriers and enablers such as the importance of data privacy and security appear to be unique to PPI in digital innovation. Greater efforts should be made to support innovators and patients to become meaningfully involved in digital health innovations from the outset, given its reported benefits and impacts. Stakeholder consensus on the principles that underpin meaningful PPI in digital health innovation would be helpful in providing evidence-based guidance on how to achieve this. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: This review has received extensive patient and public contributions with a representative from the Patient Experience Library involved throughout the review's conception, from design (including suggested revisions to the search strategy) through to article production and dissemination. Other areas of patient and public contributor involvement include contributing to the inductive thematic analysis process, refining the thematic framework and finalizing theme wording, helping to ensure relevance, value and meaning from a patient perspective. Findings from this review have also been presented to a variety of stakeholders including patients, patient advocates and clinicians through a series of focus groups and webinars. Given their extensive involvement, the representative from the Patient Experience Library is rightly included as an author of this review.

Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Telemedicine Preoperative Evaluation Initiative at a Major Academic Medical Center.

BACKGROUND: With health care practice consolidation, the increasing geographic scope of health care systems, and the advancement of mobile telecommunications, there is increasing interest in telemedicine-based health care consultations. Anesthesiology has had experience with telemedicine consultation for preoperative evaluation since 2004, but the majority of studies have been conducted in rural settings. There is a paucity of literature of use in metropolitan areas. In this article, we describe the implementation of a telemedicine-based anesthesia preoperative evaluation and report the program's patient satisfaction, clinical case cancellation rate outcomes, and cost savings in a large metropolitan area (Los Angeles, CA). METHODS: This is a descriptive study of a telemedicine-based preoperative anesthesia evaluation process in an academic medical center within a large metropolitan area. In a 2-year period, we evaluated 419 patients scheduled for surgery by telemedicine and 1785 patients who were evaluated in-person. RESULTS: Day-of-surgery case cancellations were 2.95% and 3.23% in the telemedicine and the in-person cohort, respectively. Telemedicine patients avoided a median round trip driving distance of 63 miles (Q1 24; Q3 119) and a median time saved of 137 (Q1 95; Q3 195) and 130 (Q1 91; Q3 237) minutes during morning and afternoon traffic conditions, respectively. Patients experienced time-based savings, particularly from traveling across a metropolitan area, which amounted to $67 of direct and opportunity cost savings. From patient satisfaction surveys, 98% (129 patients out of 131 completed surveys) of patients who were consulted via telemedicine were satisfied with their experience. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the implementation of a telemedicine-based preoperative anesthesia evaluation from an academic medical center in a metropolitan area with high patient satisfaction, cost savings, and without increase in day-of-procedure case cancellations.

Challenges to Implementing Total Joint Replacement Programs in Developing Countries.

In this review article, the authors present the many challenges that orthopedic surgeons in developing countries face when implementing arthroplasty programs. The issues of cost, sterility, and patient demographics are specifically addressed. Despite the many challenges, developing countries are beginning to offer hip and knee reconstructive surgery to respond to the increasing demand for such elective operations as the prevalence of osteoarthritis continues to increase. The authors shed light on these nascent arthroplasty programs.

Developing a National Center of Excellence for Prostate Imaging.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The purpose of this review is to summarize the most current literature regarding the most important aspects to consider when developing a center of excellence for prostate imaging and biopsy. RECENT FINDINGS: Multiparametric MRI (mp-MRI) has changed the way we diagnose and treat prostate cancer. This imaging modality allows for more precise identification of areas suspicious in terms of harboring prostate cancer, enabling performance of targeted mp-MRI-guided biopsies that have been demonstrated to yield superior cancer detection rates. Centers worldwide are increasingly adopting this technology. However, obtaining results comparable with those findings published in the literature can be challenging. The imaging and biopsy process entails the need for a multidisciplinary team including a dedicated radiologist, urologist, and pathologist. Adequate mp-MRI interpretation for accurate lesion identification, acquaintance with the biopsy technique selected, and precise characterization of Gleason Score/Grade Groupings are equal determinants of accurate biopsy results. Furthermore, all specialists are required to attain appropriate learning curves to ensure optimal results. In this review, we characterize crucial aspects to consider when developing a center of excellence for prostate imaging and biopsy as well as insights regarding how to implement them.

Benefits of Medicaid Expansion on CV Mortality and Cancer Screening Rates.

Two studies explore outcomes for low-income, middle-aged adults.

Improved Patient Flow and Provider Efficiency After the Implementation of an Electronic Health Record.

Electronic health records are used widely across the nation in many different types of healthcare facilities. Electronic health record systems can provide more accurate and complete information about a patient's health, improve patient safety, and improve patient care. The purpose of this project is to evaluate a provider efficiency and workflow program at a hospital-owned, freestanding urgent care system after implementation of an electronic health record. A retrospective, longitudinal approach was used to evaluate the implementation of an electronic health record system among six freestanding urgent care clinics. The logic model was used as a guiding framework to determine whether provider efficiency and patient flow were improved. Data were collected from participants via an online survey, electronic health record data review, paper chart review, and direct observation of providers. An evaluation of a provider efficiency program using door-to-triage, door-to-provider, door-to-discharge, and average length of stay at each urgent care clinic was collected. The results indicate improvement in all areas after implementation of the electronic health record in all six urgent care settings. The average length of stay decreased from 109 minutes in 2014 to 73 minutes in 2016.

Development of a Professional Certification in Cancer Patient Education.

Patient educators come into the field from diverse professional backgrounds and often lack training in how to teach and develop patient education resources since no formal patient education professional certification program exists. A professional certification program for patient educators would further define the professional scope of practice and reduce variability in performance. The purpose of this study was to (1) determine the level of interest among Canadian cancer patient educators in a patient education professional certification program and (2) determine the competencies to be included in the professional certification program. A 12-item survey was designed by executive members of the Canadian Chapter of the Cancer Patient Education Network. The survey included a list of competencies associated with patient education, and a 4-point Likert scale ranging from "slightly important" to "very important" was used to determine the rank of each competency. The survey was sent to 53 patient educators across Canada. Ninety-two percent of the patient educators are interested in a professional certification program. Patient educators indicated that competencies related to developing patient resources, collaboration, plain language expertise, and health literacy were of most importance. Patient educators support the development of a patient education professional certification program and endorsed the competencies proposed. This information provides the foundation for the creation of a professional certification program for cancer patient educators.

The systematic development of a complex intervention: HealthMap, an online self-management support program for people with HIV.

BACKGROUND: Despite persistent calls for HIV care to adopt a chronic care approach, few HIV treatment services have been able to establish service arrangements that prioritise self-management. To prevent cardiovascular and other chronic disease outcomes, the HealthMap program aims to enhance routine HIV care with opportunities for self-management support. This paper outlines the systematic process that was used to design and develop the HealthMap program, prior to its evaluation in a cluster-randomised trial. METHODS: Program development, planning and evaluation was informed by the PRECEDE-PROCOEDE Model and an Intervention Mapping approach and involved four steps: (1) a multifaceted needs assessment; (2) the identification of intervention priorities; (3) exploration and identification of the antecedents and reinforcing factors required to initiate and sustain desired change of risk behaviours; and finally (4) the development of intervention goals, strategies and methods and integrating them into a comprehensive description of the intervention components. RESULTS: The logic model incorporated the program's guiding principles, program elements, hypothesised causal processes, and intended program outcomes. Grounding the development of HealthMap on a clear conceptual base, informed by the research literature and stakeholder's perspectives, has ensured that the HealthMap program is targeted, relevant, provides transparency, and enables effective program evaluation. CONCLUSIONS: The use of a systematic process for intervention development facilitated the development of an intervention that is patient centred, accessible, and focuses on the key determinants of health-related outcomes for people with HIV in Australia. The techniques used here may offer a useful methodology for those involved in the development and implementation of complex interventions.

ValuedCare program: a population health model for the delivery of evidence-based care across care continuum for hip fracture patients in Eastern Singapore.

BACKGROUND: To test a population health program which could, through the application of process redesign, implement multiple evidence-based practices across the continuum of care in a functionally integrated health delivery system and deliver highly reliable and consistent evidence-based surgical care for patients with fragility hip fractures in an acute tertiary general hospital. METHODS: The ValuedCare (VC) program was developed in three distinct phases as an ongoing collaboration between the Geisinger Health System (GHS), USA, and Changi General Hospital (CGH), Singapore, modelled after the GHS ProvenCare® Fragile Hip Fracture Program. Clinical outcome data on consecutive hip fracture patients seen in 12 months pre-intervention were then compared with the post-intervention group. Both pre- and post-intervention groups were followed up across the continuum of care for a period of 12 months. RESULTS: VC patients showed significant improvement in median time to surgery (97 to 50.5 h), as well as proportion of patients operated within 48 h from hospital admission (48% from 18.8%) as compared to baseline pre-intervention data. These patients also had significant reduction (p value < 0.001) of acute inpatient complications such as delirium, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, and pressure sores. VC program has shown significant reduction in median length of stay for acute hospital (13 to 9 days) as well as median combined length of stay for acute and sub-acute rehabilitation hospital (46 to 39 days), thus reducing the total duration of hospitalization and saving total hospital bed days. Operative and inpatient mortality, together with readmission rates, remained low and comparable to international Geriatric Fracture Centers (GFCs). CONCLUSION: The implementation of VC methodology has enabled consistent delivery of high-quality, reliable and comprehensive evidence-based care for hip fracture patients at Changi General Hospital. This has also reflected successful change management and interdisciplinary collaboration within the organization through the program. There is potential for testing this methodology as a quality improvement framework replicable to other disease groups in a functionally integrated healthcare system.

Can surgical site infections be reduced with the adoption of a bundle of simultaneous initiatives? The use of NSQIP incidence data to follow multiple quality improvement interventions.

SUMMARY: Surgical site infections (SSI) are a common complication after surgical procedures. To reduce the incidence of SSIs, Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital decided to institute a bundle of initiatives to change multiple factors simultaneously based on best available evidence and the understanding of infection pathophysiology. We used National Surgical Quality Improvement Program data on the incidence of SSIs in our targeted and essentials, general surgery and orthopedic surgery cases before and after the implementation of an SSI reduction bundle. This article discusses whether the use of intervention bundles may assist in the reduction of a variety of postoperative surgical complications.

Early Effects of Medicare's Bundled Payment for Care Improvement Program for Lumbar Fusion.

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of Medicare claims linked to hospital participation in the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation's episode-based Bundled Payment for Care Improvement (BPCI) program for lumbar fusion. OBJECTIVE: To describe the early effects of BPCI participation for lumbar fusion on 90-day reimbursement, procedure volume, reoperation, and readmission. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Initiated on January 1, 2013, BPCI's voluntary bundle payment program provides a predetermined payment for services related to a Diagnosis-Related Group-defined "triggering event" over a defined time period. As an alternative to fee-for-service, these reforms shift the financial risk of care on to hospitals. METHODS: We identified fee-for-service beneficiaries over age 65 undergoing a lumbar fusion in 2012 or 2013, corresponding to the years before and after BPCI initiation. Hospitals were grouped based on program participation status as nonparticipants, preparatory, or risk-bearing. Generalized estimating equation models adjusting for patient age, sex, race, comorbidity, and hospital size were used to compare changes in episode costs, procedure volume, and safety indicators based on hospital BPCI participation. RESULTS: We included 89,605 beneficiaries undergoing lumbar fusion, including 36% seen by a preparatory hospital and 7% from a risk-bearing hospital. The mean age of the cohort was 73.4 years, with 59% women, 92% White, and 22% with a Charlson Comorbidity Index of 2 or more. Participant hospitals had greater procedure volume, bed size, and total discharges. Relative to nonparticipants, risk-bearing hospitals had a slightly increased fusion procedure volume from 2012 to 2013 (3.4% increase vs. 1.6% decrease, P = 0.119), did not reduce 90-day episode of care costs (0.4% decrease vs. 2.9% decrease, P = 0.044), increased 90-day readmission rate (+2.7% vs. -10.7%, P = 0.043), and increased repeat surgery rates (+30.6% vs. +7.1% points, P = 0.043). CONCLUSION: These early, unintended trends suggest an imperative for continued monitoring of BPCI in lumbar fusion. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3.

Non-technical skills assessment scale in nursing: construction, development and validation / Escala de avaliação de habilidades não técnicas em enfermagem: construção, desenvolvimento e validação / Escala de evaluación de habilidades no técnicas en enfermería: construcción, desarrollo y validación

ABSTRACT The introduction of non-technical skills during nursing education is crucial to prepare nurses for the clinical context and increase patient safety. We found no instrument developed for this purpose. Objectives: to construct, develop and validate a non-technical skills assessment scale in nursing. Method: methodological research. Based on the literature review and experience of researchers on non-technical skills in healthcare and the knowledge of the principles of crisis resource management, a list of 63 items with a five-point Likert scale was constructed. The scale was applied to 177 nursing undergraduate students. Descriptive statistics, correlations, internal consistency analysis and exploratory factor analysis were performed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the scale. Results: scale items presented similar values for mean and median. The maximum and the minimum values presented a good distribution amongst all response options. Most items presented a significant and positive relationship. Cronbach alpha presented a good value (0.94), and most correlations were significant and positive. Exploratory factor analysis using the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test showed a value of 0.849, and the Bartlett's test showed adequate sphericity values (χ2=6483.998; p=0.000). One-factor model explained 26% of the total variance. Conclusion: non-technical skills training and its measurement could be included in undergraduate or postgraduate courses in healthcare professions, or even be used to ascertain needs and improvements in healthcare contexts.

RESUMO A introdução de habilidades não técnicas durante o ensino de enfermagem é fundamental para preparar os enfermeiros para o contexto clínico e aumentar a segurança do paciente. Não foram encontrados quaisquer instrumentos desenvolvidos para essa finalidade. Objetivos: construir, desenvolver e validar uma escala de avaliação de habilidades não técnicas em enfermagem. Método: pesquisa metodológica. Com base na revisão da literatura e na experiência dos pesquisadores em habilidades não técnicas em saúde, e no conhecimento dos princípios do gerenciamento de recursos em crises, foi construída uma lista de 63 itens e com uma escala Likert de cinco pontos. A escala foi aplicada em 177 estudantes de graduação em enfermagem. Estatística descritiva, correlações, análises de consistência interna e análise fatorial exploratória foram realizadas para avaliar as propriedades psicométricas da escala. Resultados: os itens da escala apresentaram valores semelhantes para média e mediana. Os valores máximo e mínimo mostraram uma boa distribuição em todas as opções de resposta. A maioria dos itens apresentou uma relação significativa e positiva. O alfa de Cronbach apresentou um bom valor (0,94) e a maioria das correlações foi significativa e positiva. A análise fatorial exploratória através do teste de Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin apresentou um valor de 0,849, e o teste de Bartlett apresentou valores de esfericidade adequados (χ2=6483.998; p=0.000). O modelo de um fator explicou 26% da variância total. Conclusão: a formação em habilidades não técnicas e sua mensuração poderiam ser incluídos nos programas de graduação ou pós-graduação de profissões da saúde, ou até mesmo serem utilizadas para avaliar as necessidades e melhorias nos contextos de cuidados de saúde.

RESUMEN La introducción de habilidades no técnicas durante la educación de enfermería es fundamental para preparar a los enfermeros para el contexto clínico y aumentar la seguridad del paciente. No se encontraron instrumentos desarrollados para este propósito. Objetivos: construir, desarrollar y validar una escala de evaluación de habilidades no técnicas en enfermería. Método: investigación metodológica. Con base en la revisión de la literatura y la experiencia de los investigadores en habilidades no técnicas en el cuidado de la salud y el conocimiento de los principios del manejo de recursos en crisis, se construyó una lista de 63 ítems y con una escala Likert de cinco puntos. Se aplicó la escala a 177 estudiantes de pregrado en enfermería. Se realizaron estadísticas descriptivas, correlaciones, análisis de consistencia interna y análisis factorial exploratorio para evaluar las propiedades psicométricas de la escala. Resultados: los ítems de la escala presentaron valores similares para la media y la mediana. Los valores máximo y mínimo mostraron una buena distribución en todas las opciones de respuesta. La mayoría de los ítems presentaron una relación significativa y positiva. El alfa de Cronbach presentó un buen valor (0,94), y la mayoría de las correlaciones fueron significativas y positivas. El análisis factorial exploratorio mediante la prueba Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin mostró un valor de 0,849, y la prueba de Bartlett mostró valores de esfericidad adecuados (χ2=6483.998; p=0,000). El modelo de un factor explicó el 26% de la varianza total. Conclusión: la capacitación en habilidades no técnicas y su medición podrían incluirse en programas de grado y posgrado en profesiones de la salud, o incluso utilizarse para evaluar las necesidades y mejoras en los contextos de atención médica.

Quality improvement in perioperative medicine: driving the revolution.

Perioperative medicine and quality improvement are both emerging fields with the potential to contribute to safer and more reliable care for surgical patients. One key component has been the evolution of the national audit project programme. This article describes the current state of quality improvement within perioperative medicine, the evolution of the national audit project programme and the effects it has produced on the quality of patient care. The article also highlights opportunities for health-care professionals to engage with this innovative area of medicine.

Characteristics of Emergency Medicine Residency Programs in Colombia.

INTRODUCTION: Emergency medicine (EM) is in different stages of development around the world. Colombia has made significant strides in EM development in the last two decades and recognized it as a medical specialty in 2005. The country now has seven EM residency programs: three in the capital city of Bogotá, two in Medellin, one in Manizales, and one in Cali. The seven residency programs are in different stages of maturity, with the oldest founded 20 years ago and two founded in the last two years. The objective of this study was to characterize these seven residency programs. METHODS: We conducted semi-structured interviews with faculty and residents from all the existing programs in 2013-2016. Topics included program characteristics and curricula. RESULTS: Colombian EM residencies are three-year programs, with the exception of one four-year program. Programs accept 3-10 applicants yearly. Only one program has free tuition and the rest charge tuition. The number of EM faculty ranges from 2-15. EM rotation requirements range from 11-33% of total clinical time. One program does not have a pediatric rotation. The other programs require 1-2 months of pediatrics or pediatric EM. Critical care requirements range from 4-7 months. Other common rotations include anesthesia, general surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics, gynecology, orthopedics, ophthalmology, radiology, toxicology, psychiatry, neurology, cardiology, pulmonology, and trauma. All programs offer 4-6 hours of protected didactic time each week. Some programs require Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Pediatric Advanced Life Support and Advanced Trauma Life Support, with some programs providing these trainings in-house or subsidizing the cost. Most programs require one research project for graduation. Resident evaluations consist of written tests and oral exams several times per year. Point-of-care ultrasound training is provided in four of the seven programs. CONCLUSION: As emergency medicine continues to develop in Colombia, more residency programs are expected to emerge. Faculty development and sustainability of academic pursuits will be critically important. In the long term, the specialty will need to move toward certifying board exams and professional development through a national EM organization to promote standardization across programs.

A workplace modified duty program for employees in an oncology center.

BACKGROUND: Workplace modified duty programs may provide reasonable accommodations to employees who have partial temporary job disability and could work on duty accommodations until they fully recover. However, little is known about the implementation barriers and effectiveness of such programs. OBJECTIVE: This study is aimed at evaluating the implementation of a modified duty program for employees in an oncology center. METHODS: A modified duty program for employees working at the Bank of Cyprus Oncology Center, a non profit organization with 200 employees located in the Republic of Cyprus was evaluated based on the health records of the occupational medicine department. RESULTS: Employees' participation in the program was 3%. A total of 12 employees participated (6 each year). The participants were all women and the mean participation period was 21.6 days (range 10 - 65 days). The two most frequent reasons for a modified duty assignment were pregnancy and back pain. Employees were assigned either on limited duties or on a combination of limited duties and reduced work hours. Employees reported being very satisfied with their participation based on a follow-up narrative oral assessment. CONCLUSION: The small participation rate does not allow for advanced statistical analyses. Further studies from larger organizations are urgently needed to evaluate the effectiveness of modified duty programs. The development of a legal framework for such modified duty programs in Cyprus as well as internationally may promote their implementation in order to facilitate the effective management of temporary partial job disability for the benefit of both employees and businesses.

Factors Affecting Implementation of the California Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration (CA-CORD) Project, 2013.

INTRODUCTION: Ecological approaches to health behavior change require effective engagement from and coordination of activities among diverse community stakeholders. We identified facilitators of and barriers to implementation experienced by project leaders and key stakeholders involved in the Imperial County, California, Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration project, a multilevel, multisector intervention to prevent and control childhood obesity. METHODS: A total of 74 semistructured interviews were conducted with project leaders (n = 6) and key stakeholders (n = 68) representing multiple levels of influence in the health care, early care and education, and school sectors. Interviews, informed by the Multilevel Implementation Framework, were conducted in 2013, approximately 12 months after year-one project implementation, and were transcribed, coded, and summarized. RESULTS: Respondents emphasized the importance of engaging parents and of ensuring support from senior leaders of participating organizations. In schools, obtaining teacher buy-in was described as particularly important, given lower perceived compatibility of the intervention with organizational priorities. From a program planning perspective, key facilitators of implementation in all 3 sectors included taking a participatory approach to the development of program materials, gradually introducing intervention activities, and minimizing staff burden. Barriers to implementation were staff turnover, limited local control over food provided by external vendors or school district policies, and limited availability of supportive resources within the broader community. CONCLUSION: Project leaders and stakeholders in all sectors reported similar facilitators of and barriers to implementation, suggesting the possibility for synergy in intervention planning efforts.