Repercusiones del programa brasileño de evaluación de la calidad en la atención primaria en salud / Repercussions of the Brazilian Program for the Assessment of Quality of Primary Care

RESUMEN Introducción: El Sistema Único de Salud brasileño, después de 25 años de su creación enfrenta el desafío de la evaluación, a través del Programa Nacional de Mejora del Acceso y de la Calidad de la Atención Básica. Objetivo: Analizar las repercusiones de la evaluación en el proceso de trabajo de los equipos de salud de la familia evaluados. Métodos: Investigación cualitativa, en forma de estudio de caso, realizada en región de salud del interior del estado de São Paulo, Brasil, constituida por 18 municipios, en el periodo de agosto de 2016 a enero de 2017. Participaron diez profesionales de equipos de salud de la familia, uno de cada municipio. Las entrevistas fueron semiestructuradas y siguieron el análisis de contenido temático de Bardin. Resultados: El programa se presentó como una herramienta esencial para identificar lagunas, inducir reflexiones críticas y organizar el proceso de trabajo. Los desafíos encontrados fueron la dificultad de implantación de las Prácticas Integrativas y Complementarias y la rotación de los profesionales. Se constatarton algunas fragilidades: la fuerte relación entre el instrumento y el traspaso de recursos financieros, y la posibilidad de enmascaramiento de las acciones en los equipos en el momento presencial del evaluador en el servicio de salud. Conclusiones: El Programa Nacional de Mejora del Acceso y de la Calidad de la Atención Básica se presentó capaz de inducir modificaciones relacionadas al medio y a las tecnologías duras y blandas duras. Se identificó el fortalecimiento del trabajo vivo y tecnologías ligeras en el trabajo del equipo(AU)

ABSTRACT Introduction: The Brazilian Unified Health System, after 25 years of creation, is facing the challenge of assessment by means of the National Program for Improving Access and Quality of Primary Care. Objective: To analyze the repercussions of assessment in the working process of the evaluated family health teams. Methods: Qualitative research, as a case study, carried out in a health region of the interior of São Paulo State, Brazil, made up by 18 municipalities, in the period from August 2016 to January 2017. Ten professional from family health team members participated, one from each municipality. The interviews were semi-structured and followed Bardin's thematic content analysis. Results: The program was presented as an essential tool for identifying gaps, inducing critical reflections, and organizing the work process. The challenges that came up we the difficulty for implementing Integrative and Complementary Practices and the rotation of professionals. Some weaknesses were noted: the strong relationship between the tool and the transfer of financial resources, and the possibility of masking the actions in the teams at the face of the evaluator in the health service. Conclusions: The National Program for Improving Access and Quality of Primary Care was presented as capable of inducing modifications related to the setting and to hard and soft-to-hard technologies. The strengthening of live work and light technologies in team work was identified(AU)

Trends in Avoidable Hospitalizations for Diabetes: Experience of a Large Clinically Integrated Health Care System.

Prevention quality indicators (PQIs) are used in hospital discharge data sets to identify quality of care for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions, such as diabetes. We examined the impact of clinical integration efforts on diabetes-related PQIs in a large community-based health care organization. Inpatient and observation hospitalizations from nine acute care hospitals were trended over 5 years (2012-2016). Using established technical specifications, annual hospitalizations rates were calculated for four diabetes-related PQIs: uncontrolled diabetes, short-term complications, long-term complications, and lower extremity amputations. The mean (±standard error of the mean) annual hospitalization rate for uncontrolled diabetes and short-term complications gradually increased from 1.3 ± 1.1 and 3.2 ± 2.5 per 1,000 discharges to 2.4 ± 1.7 (p < .001) and 7.1 ± 3.2 (p < .001) per 1,000 discharges, respectively. Conversely, the annual hospitalization rate for long-term complications and lower extremity amputations gradually decreased from 12.6 ± 1.1 and 88.6 ± 1.0 per 1,000 discharges to 6.5 ± 1.0 (p = .004) and 82.2 ± 1.0 per 1,000 discharges (p < .001). Trends generally persisted across payers, age, sex, and race. There was an inverse correlation between county income-per-capita and hospitalization rate for short-term complications (p = .04), long-term complications (p = .03), and lower extremity amputations (p < .001). Study limitations included use of administrative data, evolving coding practices, and ecological fallacy. Ambulatory-based efforts to optimize diabetes care can prevent long-term complications and reduce avoidable hospitalizations.

Developing a Quality of Cancer Survivorship Care Framework: Implications for Clinical Care, Research, and Policy.

There are now close to 17 million cancer survivors in the United States, and this number is expected to continue to grow. One decade ago the Institute of Medicine report, From Cancer Patient to Cancer Survivor: Lost in Transition, outlined 10 recommendations aiming to provide coordinated, comprehensive care for cancer survivors. Although there has been noteworthy progress made since the release of the report, gaps remain in research, clinical practice, and policy. Specifically, the recommendation calling for the development of quality measures in cancer survivorship care has yet to be fulfilled. In this commentary, we describe the development of a comprehensive, evidence-based cancer survivorship care quality framework and propose the next steps to systematically apply it in clinical settings, research, and policy.

Evaluation of quality of the family health strategy in the Federal District.

AIM: To evaluate quality of the Family Health Strategy (FHS) in the National Program for Improving Access and Quality of Primary Care in the Federal District (FD) from the perspective of users. METHODS: Evaluative research carried out in 25 basic health units of the Federal District through a validated questionnaire assessing the following dimensions: access, gateway, bond, service range, coordination, family focus, community orientation, and health professionals. RESULTS: Service provision, qualification of professionals, quality of professional-user relationship, and continuity of care were the best evaluated dimensions, while family approach, community approach, and access were the worst. Access to the FHS was found to be compromised, besides failing to establish itself as gateway to the FD health system. CONCLUSION: When they can access the local system, FD users do enjoy several services, but access is still a barrier, mainly because the very system is not prepared to meet users' needs/preferences. The dimensions regarding family focus and community orientation are precarious, which reveals the need for reflection on the care model adopted in the Federal District.

Evaluation of quality of the family health strategy in the Federal District / La evaluación de la calidad de la Estrategia Salud de la Familia en Distrito Federal, Brasil / Avaliação da qualidade da estratégia saúde da família no Distrito Federal

ABSTRACT Aim: To evaluate quality of the Family Health Strategy (FHS) in the National Program for Improving Access and Quality of Primary Care in the Federal District (FD) from the perspective of users. Methods: Evaluative research carried out in 25 basic health units of the Federal District through a validated questionnaire assessing the following dimensions: access, gateway, bond, service range, coordination, family focus, community orientation, and health professionals. Results: Service provision, qualification of professionals, quality of professional-user relationship, and continuity of care were the best evaluated dimensions, while family approach, community approach, and access were the worst. Access to the FHS was found to be compromised, besides failing to establish itself as gateway to the FD health system. Conclusion: When they can access the local system, FD users do enjoy several services, but access is still a barrier, mainly because the very system is not prepared to meet users' needs/preferences. The dimensions regarding family focus and community orientation are precarious, which reveals the need for reflection on the care model adopted in the Federal District.

RESUMEN Objetivo: Evaluar la calidad de la Estrategia Salud de la Familia (ESF) de participantes en el Programa Nacional de Mejora del Acceso y la Calidad de la Atención Primaria del Distrito Federal (DF), desde la perspectiva de los usuarios. Métodos: Estudio de evaluación del cual participaron 25 unidades básicas del Distrito Federal mediante un cuestionario validado, que evaluó las siguientes dimensiones: acceso, vía de acceso, vínculo, equipo de servicio, coordinación, enfoque familiar, orientación comunitaria y profesionales de salud. Resultados: Las dimensiones mejor evaluadas fueron las sobre la oferta de servicios, la calificación de los profesionales, la calidad de la relación profesional y el usuario y la continuidad de la asistencia, mientras que el enfoque familiar, el enfoque comunitario y el acceso fueron las peores evaluadas. Se observó que el acceso a la ESF está comprometido, además de tener dificultades para configurarse como vía de acceso principal al sistema de salud del DF. Conclusión: Los usuarios en el DF, cuando logran acceder al sistema local, pueden obtener diversos servicios, sin embargo, el acceso sigue siendo una barrera, sobre todo porque el propio sistema no está preparado para atender a sus necesidades/preferencias. Las dimensiones con respeto al enfoque familiar y la orientación hacia la comunidad son precarias, lo que revela la necesidad de reflexionar sobre el modelo de la asistencia ofertada en el Distrito Federal.

RESUMO Objetivo: Avaliar a qualidade da Estratégia Saúde da Família (ESF) participantes do no Programa Nacional de Melhoria do Acesso e da Qualidade da Atenção Básica do Distrito Federal (DF) na perspectiva dos usuários. Métodos: Pesquisa avaliativa realizada em 25 unidades básicas do Distrito Federal por meio do questionário validado que avalia as dimensões: acesso, porta de entrada, vínculo, elenco de serviço, coordenação, enfoque familiar, orientação comunitária e profissionais de saúde. Resultados: Foram melhores avaliadas as dimensões sobre oferta de serviços, qualificação dos profissionais, qualidade da relação profissional e usuário e a continuidade do atendimento, enquanto as piores foram o enfoque familiar, enfoque comunitário e o acesso. Observou-se que o acesso à ESF está comprometido, além de ter dificuldade de se configurar como porta de entrada principal para o sistema de saúde do DF. Conclusão: Os usuários do DF, quando conseguem acessar o sistema local, conseguem usufruir de diversos serviços, entretanto, o acesso ainda é uma barreira, sobretudo porque o próprio sistema não está preparado para atender as necessidades/preferências dos usuários. As dimensões concernentes ao enfoque familiar e à orientação para a comunidade são precárias, o que revela a necessidade de reflexão sobre o modelo de cuidado adotado no Distrito Federal.

2018 Update on Medical Overuse.

Importance: Overuse of medical care is a well-recognized problem in health care, associated with patient harm and costs. We sought to identify and highlight original research articles published in 2017 that are most relevant to understanding medical overuse. Observations: A structured review of English-language articles published in 2017 was performed, coupled with examination of tables of contents of high-impact journals to identify articles related to medical overuse in adult care. Manuscripts were appraised for their quality, clinical relevance, and impact. A total of 1446 articles were identified, 910 of which addressed medical overuse. Of these, 111 articles were deemed to be the most relevant based on originality, methodologic quality, and scope. The 10 most influential articles were selected by author consensus. Findings included that unnecessary electrocardiograms are common (performed in 22% of patients at low risk) and can lead to a cascade of services, lipid monitoring rarely affects care, patients who were overdiagnosed with cancer experienced anxiety and criticism about not seeking treatment, calcium and vitamin D supplementation does not reduce hip fracture (relative risk, 1.09; 95% CI, 0.85-1.39), and pregabalin does not improve symptoms of sciatica but frequently has adverse effects (40% of patients experienced dizziness). Antipsychotic medications increased the severity of delirium in patients receiving hospice care and were associated with an increased risk of death (hazard ratio, 1.7; P = .003), and robotic-assisted radical nephrectomy was without benefits by being slower and more costly than laparoscopic surgery. High-sensitivity troponin testing often yielded false-positive results, as 16% of patients with positive troponin results in a US hospital had a myocardial infarction. One-third of patients who received a diagnosis of asthma had no evidence of asthma. Restructuring the electronic health record was able to reduce unnecessary testing (from 31.3 to 13.9 low-value tests performed per 100 patient visits). Conclusions and Relevance: Many current practices were found to represent overuse, with no benefit and potential harms. Other services were used inappropriately. Reviewing these findings and extrapolating to their patients will enable health care professionals to improve the care they provide.

Care coordination for complex cancer survivors in an integrated safety-net system: a study protocol.

BACKGROUND: The growing numbers of cancer survivors challenge delivery of high-quality survivorship care by healthcare systems. Innovative ways to improve care coordination for patients with cancer and multiple chronic conditions ("complex cancer survivors") are needed to achieve better care outcomes, improve patient experience of care, and lower cost. Our study, Project CONNECT, will adapt and implement three evidence-based care coordination strategies, shown to be effective for primary care conditions, among complex cancer survivors. Specifically, the purpose of this study is to: 1) Implement a system-level EHR-driven intervention for 500 complex cancer survivors at Parkland; 2) Test effectiveness of the strategies on system- and patient-level outcomes measured before and after implementation; and 3) Elucidate system and patient factors that facilitate or hinder implementation and result in differences in experiences of care coordination between complex patients with and without cancer. METHODS: Project CONNECT is a quasi-experimental implementation study among 500 breast and colorectal cancer survivors with at least one of the following chronic conditions: diabetes, hypertension, chronic lung disease, chronic kidney disease, or heart disease. We will implement three evidence-based care coordination strategies in a large, county integrated safety-net health system: 1) an EHR-driven registry to facilitate patient transitions between primary and oncology care; 2) co-locating a nurse practitioner trained in care coordination within a complex care team; 3) and enhancing teamwork through coaching. Segmented regression analysis will evaluate change in system-level (i.e. composite care quality score) and patient-level outcomes (i.e. self-reported care coordination). To evaluate implementation, we will merge quantitative findings with structured observations and physician and patient interviews. DISCUSSION: This study will result in an evaluation toolkit identifying key model elements, barriers, and facilitators that can be used to guide care coordination interventions in other safety-net settings. Because Parkland is a vanguard of safety-net healthcare nationally, findings will be widely applicable as other safety-nets move toward increased integration, enhanced EHR capability, and experience with growing patient diversity. Our proposal recognizes the complexity of interventions and scaffolds evidence-based strategies together to meet the needs of complex patients, systems of care, and service integration. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02943265 . Registered 24 October 2016.

Toward a National Conversation on Health: Disruptive Intervention and the Transformation from Health Care to Health.

Over a century ago, Abraham Flexner's landmark report on medical education resulted in the most extensive reforms of medical training in history. They led to major advances in the diagnosis and treatment of disease and the relief of suffering. His prediction that "the physician's function is fast becoming social and preventive, rather than individual and curative," however, was never realized.Instead, with the rise of biomedical science, the scientific method and the American Medical Association, the health care system became increasingly distanced from a holistic approach to life that recognizes the critical role social determinants play in people's health. These developments created the beginning of the regulatory controls that have come to define and shape American health care - and our unhealthy obsession with illness, disease and curative medicine that has resulted in a system that has little to do with health.To realize Flexner's prediction, and to transform health care into a holistic system whose primary goals are focused on health outcomes, six disruptive interventions are proposed. First, health needs to be placed in the context of community. Second, the model of primary care needs to be revised. Third, big data need to be harnessed to provide personalized, consumable, and actionable health knowledge. Fourth, there needs to greater patient engagement, but with fewer face-to-face encounters.Fifth, we need revitalized, collaborative medical training for physicians. And finally, true transformation will require market-driven, not regulatory-constrained, innovation. The evolution from health care to health demands consumer-driven choices that only a deregulated, free market can provide.

[Paradigm Shift in the Quality of Regional Medical Care: Cooperative Treatment of Onychomycosis].

　In a superaging society, the medical paradigm should include both less coverage of medical-care work flow by human resources and high-quality care for patients. Strategies such as establishing medical-care teams and community medicine systems mainly for home medical care should be implemented. However, a well-organized system for home-based medical treatment of elderly patients is not yet in place, as evidenced by the lack of care, problems with long-term polypharmacy resulting from visits to multiple healthcare providers, and declines in their physical strength. It is assumed that care might not be provided in association with treatment because planning based on the paradigm of "home medical care" has not been fully established. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to determine the "paradigm shift in home medical care" based on the treatment of onychomycosis. We also hoped to identify the types of medical support required to improve the general well-being of individuals and what needs to be done to ensure a high quality of life for patients. All those (including patients themselves) involved in patient care should together formulate a protocol for medical treatment and cooperate based on the role each can play. Although it may be difficult to maintain cooperation among healthcare workers, improvements in the medical quality of an entire region can be achieved by planning a life design including medical treatment for each patient.

The Nutrition Care Process Terminology: Changes in perceptions, attitudes, knowledge and implementation amongst Australian dietitians after three years.

AIM: Assessing changes in dietetic perceptions, attitudes and knowledge regarding the Nutrition Care Process Terminology (NCPT) is important to determine implementation effectiveness. This study aimed to investigate changes in the perceptions and attitudes of Australian dietitians over a three-year period, identify changes in benefits and barriers to support successful NCPT implementation and determine future directions for NCPT progression. METHODS: An online survey was performed in 2011 and repeated in 2014 by recruiting members of the Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA) through an email link. The survey assessed familiarity, knowledge, attitudes, benefits, barriers, concerns and use of educational enablers around the NCPT. RESULTS: The survey was completed by 218 respondents in 2011 and 205 respondents in 2014. Survey respondents from both years were representative of overall DAA membership. Respondent knowledge of NCPT increased significantly over the three-years, as did confidence, preparation, access to support and training and NCPT usage. Respondent's identification of benefits to implementation increased whilst barriers reduced. Attitudes regarding NCPT implementation were conflicting. CONCLUSIONS: Over three years, improvements were evident in NCPT knowledge, attitudes and usage. However, not all dietitians saw reason to implement NCPT in their practice, and some attitudes have become less supportive. A collective vision is required to foster positive attitudes towards the transformational professional benefits possible from NCPT. With ongoing uptake of electronic health records, the potential for NCPT to evaluate and justify dietetic interventions is increasing.

Del razonamiento clínico al aprendizaje del proceso diagnóstico en medicina / No disponible

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Women's experiences of routine care during labour and childbirth and the influence of medicalisation: A qualitative study from Iran.

OBJECTIVE: to understand women's experiences of routine care during labor and childbirth in a medicalised context. DESIGN: twenty-six in-depth interviews were conducted during the late postpartum period and thematic analysis was applied. SETTING: four public hospitals in Tehran with a high rate of births, providing services to low and middle income families. PARTICIPANTS: women who had a low risk pregnancies and gave a birth to a healthy infant by normal vaginal delivery. FINDINGS: two main themes emerged: 'An ethos of medicalisation' which indicates that women's perception of childbirth was influenced by the medicalised context of childbirth. And 'The reality of fostered medicalisation' which illustrates the process by which interventions during labor affected women's pathway through childbirth, and how the medicalisation resulted in a birth experience which often included a preference for Caesarean Section rather than vaginal birth with multiple interventions. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: contextual factors such as legal issues, state's regulations and the organisational framework of maternity services foster medicalised childbirth in Tehran public hospitals. These factors influence the quality of care and should be considered in any intervention for change. The aim should be a high quality birth experience with minimal interventions during normal vaginal delivery. A midwifery model of care combining scientific evidence with empathy may address this need for change.

Major achievements of evidence-based traditional Chinese medicine in treating major diseases.

A long history of use and extensive documentation of the clinical practices of traditional Chinese medicine resulted in a considerable number of classical preparations, which are still widely used. This heritage of our ancestors provides a unique resource for drug discovery. Already, a number of important drugs have been developed from traditional medicines, which in fact form the core of Western pharmacotherapy. Therefore, this article discusses the differences in drug development between traditional medicine and Western medicine. Moreover, the article uses the discovery of artemisinin as an example that illustrates the "bedside-bench-bedside" approach to drug discovery to explain that the middle way for drug development is to take advantage of the best features of these two distinct systems and compensate for certain weaknesses in each. This article also summarizes evidence-based traditional medicines and discusses quality control and quality assessment, the crucial steps in botanical drug development. Herbgenomics may provide effective tools to clarify the molecular mechanism of traditional medicines in the botanical drug development. The totality-of-the-evidence approach used by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for botanical products provides the directions on how to perform quality control from the field throughout the entire production process.

Conocimientos supuestos: más que cuidados invisibles, cuidados inexistentes / No disponible

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Respuesta de las autoras: Conocimientos supuestos: más que cuidados invisibles, cuidados inexistentes / No disponible

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Exploring the concept of continuous midwifery-led care and its dimensions in the prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal periods in Iran (Kashan).

AIM: to explore the concept of continuous care and its dimensions in the prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal periods based on the experiences of midwives, gynaecologists, obstetricians, pregnant women and their husbands. DESIGN: a qualitative study that was part of a large scale action research which aimed to develop, use and test a continuous midwifery-led care model. Data collection and analysis were performed concurrently through undertaking semi-structured interviews and using the conventional content analysis approach. SETTING: healthcare centres and hospitals affiliated to Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran. PARTICIPANTS: 21 women following a recent pregnancy, five husbands, 18 midwives, and five physicians who had different official positions. FINDINGS: the participants' experiences revealed five concepts for continuous midwifery-led care which included continuity, the process of care, education and informing, management, and professionalism. Each of these five concepts consisted of several categories. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATION FOR PRACTICE: according to the study participants, continuous midwifery-led prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal care is a multidimensional and important concept. Given the differences in the health infrastructures of different countries as well as the unique characteristics of pregnancy, higher priorities are recommended to be given to continuous midwifery-led care and its dimensions.

Integrated Care for Older Adults Improves Perceived Quality of Care: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial of Embrace.

BACKGROUND: All community-living older adults might benefit from integrated care, but evidence is lacking on the effectiveness of such services for perceived quality of care. OBJECTIVE: To examine the impact of Embrace, a community-based integrated primary care service, on perceived quality of care. DESIGN: Stratified randomized controlled trial. PARTICIPANTS: Integrated care and support according to the "Embrace" model was provided by 15 general practitioners in the Netherlands. Based on self-reported levels of case complexity and frailty, a total of 1456 community-living older adults were stratified into non-disease-specific risk profiles ("Robust," "Frail," and "Complex care needs"), and randomized to Embrace or control groups. INTERVENTION: Embrace provides integrated, person-centered primary care and support to all older adults living in the community, with intensity of care dependent on risk profile. MEASUREMENTS: Primary outcome was quality of care as reported by older adults on the Patient Assessment of Integrated Elderly Care (PAIEC). Effects were assessed using mixed model techniques for the total sample and per risk profile. Professionals' perceived level of implementation of integrated care was evaluated within the Embrace condition using the Assessment of Integrated Elderly Care. KEY RESULTS: Older adults in the Embrace group reported a higher level of perceived quality of care than those in the control group (B = 0.33, 95 % CI = 0.15-0.51, ES d = 0.19). The advantages of Embrace were most evident in the "Frail" and "Complex care needs" risk profiles. We found no significant advantages for the "Robust" risk profile. Participating professionals reported a significant increase in the perceived level of implementation of integrated care (ES r = 0.71). CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that providing a population-based integrated care service to community-living older adults improved the quality of care as perceived by older adults and participating professionals.