Patterns of Usage of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Among Adults Visiting Health Care Centers in Mysuru, India: A Questionnaire-Based Survey.

The study intended to assess extent of complementary and alternative medicine use among patients visiting health care facilities in Mysuru, India, and factors influencing its choice. Prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine use was 33% and was not influenced by sociodemographic factors and individual health perceptions and habits.

Trust in the referring physician reduces anxiety in an integrated community-to-hospital care system.

BACKGROUND: Continuity of care between the community and hospital is considered of prime importance for quality of care and patient satisfaction, and for trust in the medical system. In a unique model of continuity of care, cardiologists at our hospital serve as primary, community-based cardiologists one day a week. They refer patients from the community to our hospital for interventional procedures such as coronary angiography and angioplasty. We examined the hypotheses that patient anxiety during hospital-based coronary angiography is lower when a patient trusts the referring cardiologist and when the performing cardiologist also treated him/her in the community. METHODS: We administered questionnaires to 64 patients in our cardiology department within 90 min of completion of coronary angiography. The questions assessed anxiety, trust in the medical system and trust in the referring physician. Data were also collected regarding patients' demographic variables, the number of visits to the referring physician, and whether the physician who performed the coronary angiography was the physician who referred the patient to the hospital. RESULTS: Mean levels (on 7-point Likert scales) were 2.1, 5.6 and 6.7 for patient anxiety, trust in the medical system and trust in the referring physician, respectively. Multivariate regression analysis showed that trust in the referring physician was significantly and negatively correlated with anxiety level. The number of visits to referring physicians, patients' demographic characteristics and whether the physician who performed the angiography was the same physician who referred the patient from the community were not found to be associated with patient anxiety. CONCLUSION: In this study, trusting the referring physician was associated with lower anxiety among patients who underwent coronary angiography. This trust seemed to have more positive impact than did previous contact with the physician who performed the procedure.

From Alma-Ata to Astana: the path of Primary Health Care in Portugal, 1978-2018 and the genesis of Family Medicine. / De Alma-Ata a Astana: o percurso dos Cuidados de Saúde Primários em Portugal,1978-2018 e a génese da Medicina Familiar.

Throughout the twentieth century, the profound changes that have taken place in Medicine can only be wholly explained if observed from a historical perspective, for they have always occurred in response to external influences, some scientific and technological, others of a social nature. Modern Family Medicine is one of the many new disciplines that have developed during medical history, and we critically discuss the last 40 years of primary health care in Portugal, which started in 1971, long before the Alma-Ata Declaration (1978). Along the way, in 2005, the Primary Health Care Reform emerges in Portugal, along with the new family health facilities, which until September 2019, attended about 94 % of Portuguese citizens, i.e., 9,5 million people. At the end of this course, in solidarity and voluntarily, this Reform inspired another one in Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro, in 2009. Finally, we present the challenges pointed out in the 2018 Astana Declaration, among them, the issue of the workforce in primary health care as an essential factor for the performance and sustainability of health systems.

Ao longo século XX, as profundas alterações que ocorreram na Medicina apenas podem ser completamente esclarecidas se forem observadas numa perspectiva histórica, pois elas sempre ocorreram em resposta a influências externas, umas científicas e tecnológicas, outras de ordem social. A moderna Medicina Familiar é uma das muitas disciplinas novas que se desenvolveram durante o curso da história da Medicina e aqui debatemos de forma crítica, os últimos 40 anos dos cuidados primários em saúde em Portugal, começando em 1971, mesmo antes da Declaração de Alma-Ata (1978). Ao longo do percurso, em 2005, surge a Reforma dos Cuidados Primários em Saúde em Portugal e as novas unidades de saúde familiar, que até setembro de 2019 atendiam cerca de 94% dos cidadãos portugueses, ou seja, mais de nove milhões e meio de pessoas. No final dessa trajetória, de forma solidária e voluntária, esta Reforma serviu de inspiração para outra, no Brasil, na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, em 2009. Por fim, apresentamos os desafios apontados na Declaração de Astana de 2018, dentre elas, a questão da força de trabalho nos cuidados de saúde primários, como fator essencial para o desempenho e a sustentabilidade dos sistemas de saúde.

De Alma-Ata a Astana: o percurso dos Cuidados de Saúde Primários em Portugal, 1978-2018 e a génese da Medicina Familiar / From Alma-Ata to Astana: the path of Primary Health Care in Portugal, 1978-2018 and the genesis of Family Medicine

Resumo Ao longo século XX, as profundas alterações que ocorreram na Medicina apenas podem ser completamente esclarecidas se forem observadas numa perspectiva histórica, pois elas sempre ocorreram em resposta a influências externas, umas científicas e tecnológicas, outras de ordem social. A moderna Medicina Familiar é uma das muitas disciplinas novas que se desenvolveram durante o curso da história da Medicina e aqui debatemos de forma crítica, os últimos 40 anos dos cuidados primários em saúde em Portugal, começando em 1971, mesmo antes da Declaração de Alma-Ata (1978). Ao longo do percurso, em 2005, surge a Reforma dos Cuidados Primários em Saúde em Portugal e as novas unidades de saúde familiar, que até setembro de 2019 atendiam cerca de 94% dos cidadãos portugueses, ou seja, mais de nove milhões e meio de pessoas. No final dessa trajetória, de forma solidária e voluntária, esta Reforma serviu de inspiração para outra, no Brasil, na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, em 2009. Por fim, apresentamos os desafios apontados na Declaração de Astana de 2018, dentre elas, a questão da força de trabalho nos cuidados de saúde primários, como fator essencial para o desempenho e a sustentabilidade dos sistemas de saúde.

Abstract Throughout the twentieth century, the profound changes that have taken place in Medicine can only be wholly explained if observed from a historical perspective, for they have always occurred in response to external influences, some scientific and technological, others of a social nature. Modern Family Medicine is one of the many new disciplines that have developed during medical history, and we critically discuss the last 40 years of primary health care in Portugal, which started in 1971, long before the Alma-Ata Declaration (1978). Along the way, in 2005, the Primary Health Care Reform emerges in Portugal, along with the new family health facilities, which until September 2019, attended about 94 % of Portuguese citizens, i.e., 9,5 million people. At the end of this course, in solidarity and voluntarily, this Reform inspired another one in Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro, in 2009. Finally, we present the challenges pointed out in the 2018 Astana Declaration, among them, the issue of the workforce in primary health care as an essential factor for the performance and sustainability of health systems.

Community Health Centers: A Model for Integrating Eye Care Services with the Practice of Primary Care Medicine.

SIGNIFICANCE: Optometry is desperately needed to combat the increasing rate of avoidable visual impairment that goes undiagnosed largely owing to the lack of integration of eye care services with primary care medicine. Government leaders are actively discussing substantive changes to health care legislation that will impact optometrists and their patients. The importance of a regular eye examination for disease prevention has long been undervalued in the setting of primary care. Consequently, many serious and potentially treatable ocular and systemic diseases go undiagnosed. Despite clear indicators that vision impairment increases the risk of morbidity and mortality from chronic systemic disease and decreases quality of life, vision health remains among the greatest unmet health care needs in the United States. To improve vision care services for all Americans, we must focus our attention on two central themes. First, we must educate the public, health care professionals, and policymakers on the importance of routine eye care as a preventive measure in the setting of primary care. Next, we need to recognize that optometrists, through their geographic distribution and advanced training, are in a strategic position to deliver integrated, comprehensive, cost-effective eye care services for individuals most in need. In this perspective, we discuss a model for integrating optometric services with the practice of primary care medicine to facilitate early detection of both eye and systemic disease while reducing serious and preventable health-related consequences.

Effectiveness of integrative medicine group visits in chronic pain and depressive symptoms: A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Current treatment options for chronic pain and depression are largely medication-based, which may cause adverse side effects. Integrative Medical Group Visits (IMGV) combines mindfulness techniques, evidence based integrative medicine, and medical group visits, and is a promising adjunct to medications, especially for diverse underserved patients who have limited access to non-pharmacological therapies. OBJECTIVE: Determine the effectiveness of IMGV compared to a Primary Care Provider (PCP) visit in patients with chronic pain and depression. DESIGN: 9-week single-blind randomized control trial with a 12-week maintenance phase (intervention-medical groups; control-primary care provider visit). SETTING: Academic tertiary safety-net hospital and 2 affiliated federally-qualified community health centers. PARTICIPANTS: 159 predominantly low income racially diverse adults with nonspecific chronic pain and depressive symptoms. INTERVENTIONS: IMGV intervention- 9 weekly 2.5 hour in person IMGV sessions, 12 weeks on-line platform access followed by a final IMGV at 21 weeks. MEASUREMENTS: Data collected at baseline, 9, and 21 weeks included primary outcomes depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire 9), pain (Brief Pain Inventory). Secondary outcomes included pain medication use and utilization. RESULTS: There were no differences in pain or depression at any time point. At 9 weeks, the IMGV group had fewer emergency department visits (RR 0.32, 95% CI: 0.12, 0.83) compared to controls. At 21 weeks, the IMGV group reported reduction in pain medication use (Odds Ratio: 0.42, CI: 0.18-0.98) compared to controls. LIMITATIONS: Absence of treatment assignment concealment for patients and disproportionate group attendance in IMGV. CONCLUSION: Results demonstrate that low-income racially diverse patients will attend medical group visits that focus on non-pharmacological techniques, however, in the attention to treat analysis there was no difference in average pain levels between the intervention and the control group. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov NCT02262377.

[Health Regions in Brazil based on hospital admissions: a method to support health regionalization]. / As Regiões de Saúde no Brasil segundo internações: método para apoio na regionalização de saúde.

This study addressed health regionalization on various spatial scales based on patient flow. The article analyzed data through data linkage on the origin and destination of admissions at the municipal level in Brazil in 2016. The analysis is based on graph theory and uses a modularity algorithm that seeks to group municipalities in communities with a large number of interlinks. The algorithm optimizes the number of hospital admissions and discharges, taking patient flow into account. The results are shown, considering different political and administrative spatial structures. Considering patient flow without spatial restrictions, 29 communities were created in the country, compared to 64 communities when the boundaries of the major geographic regions were respected, and 164 when considering only patient flows within the respective states. The results show the importance of historically constituted regions, ignoring formal administrative boundaries, in order to implement access to health services. They also reveal adherence to administrative boundaries in many states of Brazil, demonstrating this spatial scale's importance in the context of access to hospital admissions. The methodology makes relevant contributions to regional health planning.

Este estudo aborda as regionalizações da saúde em várias escalas espaciais com base no fluxo de pacientes. Para isso, foram analisados dados por meio do relacionamento das informações de origem e destino das interações realizadas em nível municipal no Brasil em 2016. A análise tem como base a teoria dos grafos e utiliza um algoritmo de modularidade que busca agrupar municípios em comunidades que detêm grande número de conexões entre si. O algoritmo otimiza o número de entradas e saídas, levando em consideração o fluxo de pacientes. Os resultados são apresentados considerando diferentes estruturas espaciais político-administrativas. Levando-se em conta o fluxo de pacientes sem restrições espaciais foram constituídas 29 comunidades no país, 64 comunidades quando respeitados os limites das grandes regiões e 164 considerando os deslocamentos apenas dentro dos estados. Os resultados demonstram a importância de regiões historicamente constituídas, desconsiderando limites administrativos, para a efetivação do acesso a serviços de saúde. Também revelam a aderência aos limites administrativos em muitas Unidades da Federação, demonstrando a importância dessa escala espacial no contexto do acesso às internações. A metodologia usada traz contribuições relevantes para o planejamento regional em saúde.

Este estudio aborda las regionalizaciones en salud dentro de varias escalas espaciales, basadas en el flujo de pacientes. Para tal fin, se analizaron datos a través de la relación existente entre la información de origen y destino, procedente de interacciones realizadas a nivel municipal en Brasil durante 2016. El análisis está basado en la teoría de los grafos y utiliza un algoritmo de modularidad que busca agrupar municipios en comunidades que cuentan con un gran número de conexiones entre sí. El algoritmo optimiza el número de entradas y salidas, teniendo en consideración el flujo de pacientes. Los resultados se presentan considerando las diferentes estructuras espaciales político-administrativas. Considerando el flujo de pacientes sin restricciones espaciales, se constituyeron 29 comunidades en el país, 64 comunidades respetando los límites de las grandes regiones, y 164 considerando desplazamientos sólo dentro de los estados. Los resultados demuestran la importancia de las regiones históricamente constituidas, desconsiderando límites administrativos, para hacer efectivo el acceso a servicios de salud. También revelan la adherencia a los límites administrativos en muchas Unidades Federales, demostrando la importancia de esta escala espacial en el contexto del acceso a los internamientos. La metodología utilizada aporta contribuciones relevantes para la planificación regional en salud.

Making health a shared value: Lessons from nurse-designed models of care.

BACKGROUND: Nurse-designed models of community-based care reflect a broad definition of health; family- and community-centricity; relationships; and group and public health approaches. PURPOSE: To examine how nurse-designed models of care have addressed "making health a shared value" based on the framework of the Culture of Health. METHOD: A mixed-methods design included an online survey completed by 37 of 41 of "Edge Runners" (American Academy of Nursing-designated nurse innovators) and telephone interviews with 13 of the 37. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and standard content analysis. FINDINGS: Two main areas of "making health a shared value" were increasing the perceptions that individual health is interdependent with the health of the community and community health promotion. Themes were the value of social support (interventions that engage an individual's inner circle and a group environment to reveal shared experiences); messaging (a holistic definition of health, the value of both culturally- and medically-accurate information, and the business case); and building trust (expertise sits locally and trust takes time). DISCUSSION: Refinement of the COH framework may be warranted and can provide strategies for making health a shared value within a community. Shifting the orientation of healthcare organizations must be a long-term, deliberate goal.

As Regiões de Saúde no Brasil segundo internações: método para apoio na regionalização de saúde / Health Regions in Brazil based on hospital admissions: a method to support health regionalization / Las Regiones de Salud en Brasil según internamientos: método para el apoyo de la regionalización en salud

Este estudo aborda as regionalizações da saúde em várias escalas espaciais com base no fluxo de pacientes. Para isso, foram analisados dados por meio do relacionamento das informações de origem e destino das interações realizadas em nível municipal no Brasil em 2016. A análise tem como base a teoria dos grafos e utiliza um algoritmo de modularidade que busca agrupar municípios em comunidades que detêm grande número de conexões entre si. O algoritmo otimiza o número de entradas e saídas, levando em consideração o fluxo de pacientes. Os resultados são apresentados considerando diferentes estruturas espaciais político-administrativas. Levando-se em conta o fluxo de pacientes sem restrições espaciais foram constituídas 29 comunidades no país, 64 comunidades quando respeitados os limites das grandes regiões e 164 considerando os deslocamentos apenas dentro dos estados. Os resultados demonstram a importância de regiões historicamente constituídas, desconsiderando limites administrativos, para a efetivação do acesso a serviços de saúde. Também revelam a aderência aos limites administrativos em muitas Unidades da Federação, demonstrando a importância dessa escala espacial no contexto do acesso às internações. A metodologia usada traz contribuições relevantes para o planejamento regional em saúde.

This study addressed health regionalization on various spatial scales based on patient flow. The article analyzed data through data linkage on the origin and destination of admissions at the municipal level in Brazil in 2016. The analysis is based on graph theory and uses a modularity algorithm that seeks to group municipalities in communities with a large number of interlinks. The algorithm optimizes the number of hospital admissions and discharges, taking patient flow into account. The results are shown, considering different political and administrative spatial structures. Considering patient flow without spatial restrictions, 29 communities were created in the country, compared to 64 communities when the boundaries of the major geographic regions were respected, and 164 when considering only patient flows within the respective states. The results show the importance of historically constituted regions, ignoring formal administrative boundaries, in order to implement access to health services. They also reveal adherence to administrative boundaries in many states of Brazil, demonstrating this spatial scale's importance in the context of access to hospital admissions. The methodology makes relevant contributions to regional health planning.

Este estudio aborda las regionalizaciones en salud dentro de varias escalas espaciales, basadas en el flujo de pacientes. Para tal fin, se analizaron datos a través de la relación existente entre la información de origen y destino, procedente de interacciones realizadas a nivel municipal en Brasil durante 2016. El análisis está basado en la teoría de los grafos y utiliza un algoritmo de modularidad que busca agrupar municipios en comunidades que cuentan con un gran número de conexiones entre sí. El algoritmo optimiza el número de entradas y salidas, teniendo en consideración el flujo de pacientes. Los resultados se presentan considerando las diferentes estructuras espaciales político-administrativas. Considerando el flujo de pacientes sin restricciones espaciales, se constituyeron 29 comunidades en el país, 64 comunidades respetando los límites de las grandes regiones, y 164 considerando desplazamientos sólo dentro de los estados. Los resultados demuestran la importancia de las regiones históricamente constituidas, desconsiderando límites administrativos, para hacer efectivo el acceso a servicios de salud. También revelan la adherencia a los límites administrativos en muchas Unidades Federales, demostrando la importancia de esta escala espacial en el contexto del acceso a los internamientos. La metodología utilizada aporta contribuciones relevantes para la planificación regional en salud.

Batas Nómadas en Madrid Salud: el arte y los artistas en equipos profesionales de salud comunitaria / Batas Nómadas in Madrid Salud: art and artists in professional community health teams

Objetivo: Este artículo describe la estrategia de incorporación de artistas en los equipos de profesionales de salud comunitaria en la ciudad de Madrid, en concreto en los Centros Madrid Salud. Método: El colectivo artístico Batas Nómadas, formado por tres artistas expertos en artes plásticas y visuales, ha utilizado la performance y dinámicas participativas para explicar la incorporación del arte y los artistas en estos equipos de profesionales de Madrid Salud. Resultados: El colectivo Batas Nómadas ha intervenido en 14 equipos de trabajo de los Centros Madrid Salud (CMS) y recogido datos de forma creativa, de los y las 179 profesionales participantes. Conclusiones: Se han visualizado necesidades de intervención en salud comunitaria, y reflexionado acerca de la utilidad del arte para favorecer el trabajo participativo de los equipos Madrid Salud

Objetive: This article describes the strategy of incorporating artists into the teams of community health in the city of Madrid, specifically in the Madrid Salud Centers. Method: The artistic colletive, Batas Nómadas, formed by three artists expertized in visual arts, has developed performances and participatory aproach to explain the incorporation of art and artists in these teams of professionals of Madrid Salud. Results: Batas Nómadas has carried out sessions in 14 work teams of the Madrid Salud Centers and has collected data in a creative way from the 179 professionals that have participated in these sessions. Conclusions: These actions have shown some needs in community health, and have noticed a meaningful reflection on the usefulness of the art to develop participative strategies into the Madrid Salud teams

Group Medical Visits as Participatory Care in Community Health Centers.

In this article, I examine group medical visits, a clinic-based intervention that aims to improve patient health by combining clinical care, health education and peer support. Research shows that health care inequalities are reproduced through the interplay of interpersonal, institutional, and structural factors. I examine changing social relations made possible by group visits, including peer support and an expanded role for patient knowledge. The qualitative data presented here are part of a mixed-methods study of how group medical visits and integrative medicine are combined and implemented for low-income people with chronic conditions. I find that patients take active roles in each other's care, supporting, challenging, and advocating in ways that shift patient-provider relationships. Such shifts demand reflection about what kinds of knowledge matter for health. Health care encounters can reproduce inequality for marginalized patients; this study suggests group visits can restructure patient-provider encounters to interrupt healthcare inequalities.

Improving the utilization of health services among high-risk pregnant women through community health nurse assistance

Objective: The objective of this study was to identify the impact of implementing community health nurse assistance for high-risk pregnant women on utilization of health services. Method: The study was quasi experimental with a control group design. The sample included high-risk pregnant women in 10 community health centers in Indonesia who were selected by consecutive sampling. The total sample included 66 women in both the intervention and the control groups. The high-risk pregnant women in the intervention group received nurses' assistance during the third trimester and until giving birth. Before and after the intervention, the knowledge, attitudes, and behavior of the women were measured. Results: The average scores for the knowledge, attitudes, and behavior of women in the intervention group increased. Differences were found in health care utilization between the two groups. All women in the intervention group received antenatal care during the third trimester more than once and were assisted by skilled health personnel during childbirth, while in the control group 10.6% of respondents were assisted by a paraji shaman (traditional birth attendant). All women in the intervention group accepted family planning, and the contraceptive choice varied. Conclusions: The assistance of community health nurses improves the knowledge, attitudes, and behavior of high-risk pregnant women and positively impacts the rate of health care utilization

No disponible

Reducing Patient No-Shows: An Initiative at an Integrated Care Teaching Health Center.

BACKGROUND: Patient no-shows impede the effectiveness and efficiency of health care services delivery. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a 2-phase intervention to reduce no-show rates at an integrated care community health center that incorporates a teaching program for osteopathic family medicine residents. METHODS: The Elmont Teaching Health Center (ETHC) is 1 of 5 community-based health centers comprising the Long Island Federally Qualified Health Centers. In August 2015, the ETHC implemented a centerwide No-Show Rates Reduction Initiative divided into an assessment phase and implementation phase. The assessment phase identified reasons most frequently cited by patients for no-shows at the ETHC. The implementation phase, initiated in mid-September, addressed these reasons by focusing on reminder call verification, patient education, personal responses to patient calls, institutional awareness, and integration with multiple departments. To assess the initiative, monthly no-show rates were compared by quarter for 2015 and against rates for the previous year. RESULTS: We recorded 27,826 appointments with 6147 no-shows in 2014 and 31,696 appointments with 5690 no-shows in 2015. No-show rates in the first 3 quarters of 2015 (range, 18.2%-20.0%) were slightly lower than the rates in 2014 (20.1%-23.4%) and then changed by an increasingly wide margin in the last quarter of 2015 (15.3%), leading to a significant year (2014, 2015) by quarter (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) interaction (P=.004). Also, the change observed in Q4 in 2015 differed significantly from Q1 (P=.017), Q2 (P=.004), and Q3 (P=.027) in 2015, while Q1, Q2, and Q3 in 2015 did not significantly differ from one another. CONCLUSION: No-show rates were successfully reduced after a 2-phase intervention was implemented at 1 health center within a larger health care organization. Future directions include dismantling the individual components of the intervention, evaluating the role of patient volumes in no-show rates, assessing patient outcomes (eg, costs, health) in integrative care settings that treat underserved populations, and evaluating family medicine residents' training on continuity of care and no-show rates.

Management of Back Pain-related Disorders in a Community With Limited Access to Health Care Services: A Description of Integration of Chiropractors as Service Providers.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate a chiropractic service for back pain patients integrated within a publicly funded, multidisciplinary, primary care community health center in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. METHODS: Patients consulting for back pain of any duration were referred by their medical doctor or nurse practitioner for chiropractic treatment at the community health center. Patients completed questionnaires at baseline and at discharge from the service. Data were collected prospectively on consecutive patients between January 2014 and January 2016. RESULTS: Questionnaire data were obtained from 93 patients. The mean age of the sample was 49.0 ± 16.27 years, and 66% were unemployed. More than three-quarters (77%) had had their back pain for more than a month, and 68% described it as constant. According to the Bournemouth Questionnaire, Bothersomeness, and global improvement scales, a majority (63%, 74%, and 93%, respectively) reported improvement at discharge, and most (82%) reported a significant reduction in pain medication. More than three-quarters (77%) did not visit their primary care provider while under chiropractic care, and almost all (93%) were satisfied with the service. According to the EuroQol 5 Domain questionnaire, more than one-third of patients (39%) also reported improvement in their general health state at discharge. CONCLUSION: Implementation of an integrated chiropractic service was associated with high levels of improvement and patient satisfaction in a sample of patients of low socioeconomic status with subacute and chronic back pain.

Inefficiency, dignity and patient experience: is it time for separate outpatient diagnostics?

There is international and national variation in the location of diagnostic imaging centres relative to hospitals. Diagnostic cross-sectional imaging has traditionally been performed within a hospital, catering for both inpatient and outpatients. The resulting two-tiered system caters for emergent and complex inpatients, in addition to typically ambulatory outpatients. These outpatients are less complex, and often attend an acute hospital for the specific purpose of diagnostic imaging. In both the UK and the Republic of Ireland, outpatient radiology is often provided on-campus in state-funded hospitals, reflecting the allocation of resources nationally. In many other countries, hospitals provide acute and high-level care, with community centres addressing outpatients' clinical and diagnostic needs. Mixing inpatients and outpatients introduces variability into the scanning process, and many institutions struggle to provide for the very different needs of outpatients. Current strategies of mixing these two fundamentally different groups should be reassessed, and either in-hospital segregation or dedicated outpatient diagnostic imaging centres merit serious consideration in any future healthcare planning.

Mental health and addictions capacity building for community health centres in Ontario.

PROBLEM ADDRESSED: In recent years, there has been increased recognition in Canada of the need to strengthen mental health services in primary health care (PHC). Collaborative models, including partnerships between PHC and specialized mental health care providers, have emerged as effective ways for improving access to mental health care and strengthening clinical capacity. Primary health care physicians and other health professionals are well positioned to facilitate the early detection of mental disorders and provide appropriate treatment and follow-up care, helping to tackle stigma toward mental health problems in the process. OBJECTIVE OF PROGRAM: This 4-year mental health and addiction capacity-building initiative for PHC addressed competency needs at the individual, interprofessional, and organizational levels. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: The program included 5 key components: a needs assessment; interprofessional education; mentoring; development of organizational mental health and addiction action plans for each participating community health centre; and creation of an advanced resource manual to support holistic and culturally competent collaborative mental health care. A comprehensive evaluation framework using a mixed-methods approach was applied from the initiation of the program. A total of 184 health workers in 10 community health centres in Ontario participated in the program, including physicians, nurses, social workers, and administrative staff. CONCLUSION: Evaluation findings demonstrated high satisfaction with the training, improved competencies, and individual behavioural and organizational changes. By building capacity to integrate holistic and culturally appropriate care, this competency-based program is a promising model with strong potential to be adapted and scaled up for PHC organizations nationally and internationally.

Integrated care reform in urban China: a qualitative study on design, supporting environment and implementation.

BACKGROUND: Initiatives on integrated care between hospitals and community health centers (CHCs) have been introduced to transform the current fragmented health care delivery system into an integrated system in China. Up to date no research has analyzed in-depth the experiences of these initiatives based on perspectives from various stakeholders. This study analyzed the integrated care pilot in Hangzhou City by investigating stakeholders' perspectives on its design features and supporting environment, their acceptability of this pilot, and further identifying the enabling and constraining factors that may influence the implementation of the integrated care reform. METHODS: The qualitative study was carried out based on in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with 50 key informants who were involved in the policy-making process and implementation. Relevant policy documents were also collected for analysis. RESULTS: The pilot in Hangzhou was established as a CHC-led delivery system based on cooperation agreement between CHCs and hospitals to deliver primary and specialty care together for patients with chronic diseases. An innovative learning-from-practice mentorship system between specialists and general practitioners was also introduced to solve the poor capacity of general practitioners. The design of the pilot, its governance and organizational structure and human resources were enabling factors, which facilitated the integrated care reform. However, the main constraining factors were a lack of an integrated payment mechanism from health insurance and a lack of tailored information system to ensure its sustainability. CONCLUSIONS: The integrated care pilot in Hangzhou enabled CHCs to play as gate-keeper and care coordinator for the full continuum of services across the health care providers. The government put integrated care a priority, and constructed an efficient design, governance and organizational structure to enable its implementation. Health insurance should play a proactive role, and adopt a shared financial incentive system to support integrated care across providers in the future.

Behavioral Health Integration into Primary Care: a Microsimulation of Financial Implications for Practices.

BACKGROUND: New payments from Medicare encourage behavioral health services to be integrated into primary care practice activities. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the financial impact for primary care practices of integrating behavioral health services. DESIGN: Microsimulation model. PARTICIPANTS: We simulated patients and providers at federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), non-FQHCs in urban and rural high-poverty areas, and practices outside of high-poverty areas surveyed by the National Association of Community Health Centers, National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and National Health Interview Survey. INTERVENTIONS: A collaborative care model (CoCM), involving telephone-based follow-up from a behaviorist care manager, or a primary care behaviorist model (PCBM), involving an in-clinic behaviorist. MAIN MEASURES: Net revenue change per full-time physician. KEY RESULTS: When behavioral health integration services were offered only to Medicare patients, net revenue was higher under CoCM (averaging $25,026 per MD in year 1 and $28,548/year in subsequent years) than PCBM (-$7052 in year 1 and -$3706/year in subsequent years). When behavioral health integration services were offered to all patients and were reimbursed by Medicare and private payers, only practices adopting the CoCM approach consistently gained net revenues. The outcomes of the model were sensitive to rates of patient referral acceptance, presentation, and therapy completion, but the CoCM approach remained consistently financially viable whereas PCBM would not be in the long-run across practice types. CONCLUSIONS: New Medicare payments may offer financial viability for primary care practices to integrate behavioral health services, but this viability depends on the approach toward care integration.