Clinical Interviewing: An Essential but Neglected Method of Medicine.

Clinical interviewing is the basic method to understand how a person feels and what are the presenting complaints, obtain medical history, evaluate personal attitudes and behavior related to health and disease, give the patient information about diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment, and establish a bond between patient and physician that is crucial for shared decision making and self-management. However, the value of this basic skill is threatened by time pressures and emphasis on technology. Current health care trends privilege expensive tests and procedures and tag the time devoted to interaction with the patient as lacking cost-effectiveness. Instead, the time spent to inquire about problems and life setting may actually help to avoid further testing, procedures, and referrals. Moreover, the dialogue between patient and physician is an essential instrument to increase patient's motivation to engage in healthy behavior. The aim of this paper was to provide an overview of clinical interviewing and its optimal use in relation to style, flow and hypothesis testing, clinical domains, modifications according to settings and goals, and teaching. This review points to the primacy of interviewing in the clinical process. The quality of interviewing determines the quality of data that are collected and, eventually, of assessment and treatment. Thus, interviewing deserves more attention in educational training and more space in clinical encounters than it is currently receiving.

Association of Serious Hypoglycemic Events in Older Adults With Changes in Glycemic Performance Measures.

BACKGROUND: Reducing serious hypoglycemic events is a Federal-wide objective. Despite studies of trends for rates of serious hypoglycemia in existing literature, rigorous evaluation of links between the observed trends and changes in professional guidelines or performance measures for glycemic control is lacking. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether changes in professional society guidelines and performance measures for glycemic control correspond to changes in rates of serous hypoglycemia. RESEARCH DESIGN: This was a retrospective observational study. We merged Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and Medicare patient-level databases of VHA patients and identified those aged 65 years and above and receiving hypoglycemic agents. We derived age-adjusted and sex-adjusted annual rates and constructed piecewise Poisson regression models adjusting for age and sex to assess time trends of the rates. SUBJECTS: VHA patients, 2002-2015. MEASURES: The main outcome was the annual rates (2004-2015) of serious hypoglycemia, defined as hypoglycemia-related emergency department visits or hospitalizations. Secondary outcomes were annual rates of hemoglobin (Hb) A1c level <7% and >9%. Age and sex were additional variables. RESULTS: The annual rate for hypoglycemia decreased by 4.8% (rate ratio: 0.952; 95% confidence interval, 0.949-0.956) for 2008-2015 but did not change (1.001; 0.994-1.001) in 2004-2008. In 2008-2015, the annual rate for HbA1c <7% decreased by 5.0% (0.950; 0.949-0.951) but for HbA1c >9%, increased by 7.9% (1.079; 1.076-1.082). CONCLUSION: The cooccurrence of decreasing rates for HbA1c<7% and serious hypoglycemia since 2008 supports the possibility that withdrawal of a <7% HbA1c measure in 2008 impacted clinical practice and patient outcomes.

The interprofessional VA quality scholars program: Promoting predoctoral nursing scientists and their career trajectories.

BACKGROUND: The VA Quality Scholars (VAQS) program is an interprofessional fellowship that provides a unique opportunity for predoctoral nurse scientists to embed their work in quality improvement learning "laboratories" to inform their scholarship, science, and research. PURPOSE: To describe the VAQS program in relation to promoting nursing science and predoctoral nurse scientist (PhD) career trajectories, and to propose policy implications. METHOD: Data were collected on all predoctoral (PhD, DNP) nurses who entered and completed the VAQS program nationally. FINDINGS: A total of 17 predoctoral nurses (11 PhD and 6 DNP) have completed the VAQS program. Ten predoctoral PhD nurses (91%) completed their degree while in the program. Nine predoctoral PhD nurses (82%) entered a postdoctoral fellowship, and many obtained positions as faculty at research-intensive universities postfellowship. DISCUSSION: The knowledge, skills, and experiences gained by predoctoral nurse scientists from the VAQS's program contribute to their nursing research and professional career growth.

Balancing measures: identifying unintended consequences of diabetes quality performance measures in patients at high risk for hypoglycemia.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if changes in overtreatment rates were associated with changes in undertreatment rates. DESIGN: Pre-test/post-test study used cross-sectional administrative data from calendar years (CYs) 2013 and 2016. SETTING: The Veterans Health Administration. PARTICIPANTS: Patients with diabetes at risk for hypoglycemia (n = 171 875 and 166 703 in 2013 and 2016, respectively). INTERVENTION: Observational study of extant initiatives to reduce overtreatment. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Overtreatment rate of diabetes defined at the proportion of patients in the group at high risk for hypoglycemia with A1c < 7.0%. Undertreatment defined as A1C > 9%. RESULTS: There was marked variation in overtreatment rates; for A1c < 7%, overtreatment rates ranged from 26.4% to 58.2% and 26.2% to 49.2% at the facility level in 2013 and 2016, respectively. The mean (±standard deviation (SD)) facility-level overtreatment rates fell from 40.3 (±5.3)% in 2013 to 37.75 (±4.70)% in 2016 (P < 0.001, paired t-test). Facility undertreatment rates ranged from 5.8% to 16.9% and 6.8% to 18.7% at the facility level in 2013 and 2016, respectively. The mean (±SD) undertreatment rate rose from 10.3 (±2.2)% in 2013 to 11.0 (±2.4)% in 2016 (P ≤ 0.001, paired t-test). However, change at individual facilities ranged from a decrease of 4.6% to an increase of 7.2%. Within year correlations were stronger than between year correlations. Overtreatment defined as A1c < 7 in this population inversely correlated strongly with undertreatment (r = -0.653, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Promotion of overtreatment reduction may be associated with an increase in undertreatment in patients with diabetes. Unintended consequence should be considered when implementing and evaluating quality measures and systems should include balancing measures to identify potential unintended harms.

Implementing team-based primary care models: a mixed-methods comparative case study in a large, integrated health care system.

BACKGROUND: Successful implementation of new care models within a health system is likely dependent on contextual factors at the individual sites of care. OBJECTIVE: To identify practice setting components contributing to uptake of new team-based care models. DESIGN: Convergent mixed-methods design. PARTICIPANTS: Employees and patients of primary care practices implementing two team-based models in a large, integrated health system. MAIN MEASURES: Field observations of 9 practices and 75 interviews, provider and staff surveys to assess adaptive reserve and burnout, analysis of quality metrics, and patient panel comorbidity scores. The data were collected simultaneously, then merged, thematically analyzed, and interpreted by a multidisciplinary team. KEY RESULTS: Based on analysis of observations and interviews, the 9 practices were categorized into 3 groups-high, partial, and low uptake of new team-based models. Uptake was related to (1) practices' responsiveness to change and (2) flexible workflow as related to team roles. Strength of local leadership and stable staffing mediated practices' ability to achieve high performance in these two domains. Higher performance on several quality metrics was associated with high uptake practices compared to the lower uptake groups. Mean Adaptive Reserve Measure and Maslach Burnout Inventory scores did not differ significantly between higher and lower uptake practices. CONCLUSION: Uptake of new team-based care delivery models is related to practices' ability to respond to change and to adapt team roles in workflow, influenced by both local leadership and stable staffing. Better performance on quality metrics may identify high uptake practices. Our findings can inform expectations for operational and policy leaders seeking to implement change in primary care practices.

Using Shared Decision-Making to Address Possible Overtreatment in Patients at High Risk for Hypoglycemia: The Veterans Health Administration's Choosing Wisely Hypoglycemia Safety Initiative.

IN BRIEF Successful management of patients with diabetes requires individualizing A1C and treatment goals in conjunction with identifying and managing hypoglycemia risk. This article describes the Veterans Health Administration's Choosing Wisely Hypoglycemia Safety Initiative (CW-HSI), a voluntary program that aims to reduce the occurrence of hypoglycemia through shared decision-making about deintensifying diabetes treatment in a dynamic cohort of patients identified as being at high risk for hypoglycemia and potentially overtreated. The CW-HSI incorporates education for patients and clinicians, as well as clinical decision support tools, and has shown decreases in the proportions of high-risk patients potentially overtreated and impacts on the frequency of reported hypoglycemia.

Identification of outliers and positive deviants for healthcare improvement: looking for high performers in hypoglycemia safety in patients with diabetes.

BACKGROUND: The study objectives were to determine: (1) how statistical outliers exhibiting low rates of diabetes overtreatment performed on a reciprocal measure - rates of diabetes undertreatment; and (2) the impact of different criteria on high performing outlier status. METHODS: The design was serial cross-sectional, using yearly Veterans Health Administration (VHA) administrative data (2009-2013). Our primary outcome measure was facility rate of HbA1c overtreatment of diabetes in patients at risk for hypoglycemia. Outlier status was assessed by using two approaches: calculating a facility outlier value within year, comparator group, and A1c threshold while incorporating at risk population sizes; and examining standardized model residuals across year and A1c threshold. Facilities with outlier values in the lowest decile for all years of data using more than one threshold and comparator or with time-averaged model residuals in the lowest decile for all A1c thresholds were considered high performing outliers. RESULTS: Using outlier values, three of the 27 high performers from 2009 were also identified in 2010-2013 and considered outliers. There was only modest overlap between facilities identified as top performers based on three thresholds: A1c < 6%, A1c < 6.5%, and A1c < 7%. There was little effect of facility complexity or regional Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISNs) on outlier identification. Consistent high performing facilities for overtreatment had higher rates of undertreatment (A1c > 9%) than VA average in the population of patients at high risk for hypoglycemia. CONCLUSIONS: Statistical identification of positive deviants for diabetes overtreatment was dependent upon the specific measures and approaches used. Moreover, because two facilities may arrive at the same results via very different pathways, it is important to consider that a "best" practice may actually reflect a separate "worst" practice.

A realist review of shared medical appointments: How, for whom, and under what circumstances do they work?

BACKGROUND: Shared medical appointments (SMAs) are doctor-patient visits in which groups of patients are seen by one or more health care providers in a concurrent session. There is a growing interest in understanding the potential benefits of SMAs in various contexts to improve clinical outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. This study builds upon the existing evidence base that suggests SMAs are indeed effective. In this study, we explored how they are effective in terms of the underlying mechanisms of action and under what circumstances. METHODS: Realist review methodology was used to synthesize the literature on SMAs, which included a broad search of 800+ published articles. 71 high quality primary research articles were retained to build a conceptual model of SMAs and 20 of those were selected for an in depth analysis using realist methodology (i.e.,middle-range theories and and context-mechanism-outcome configurations). RESULTS: Nine main mechanisms that serve to explain how SMAs work were theorized from the data immersion process and configured in a series of context-mechanism-outcome configurations (CMOs). These are: (1) Group exposure in SMAs combats isolation, which in turn helps to remove doubts about one's ability to manage illness; (2) Patients learn about disease self-management vicariously by witnessing others' illness experiences; (3) Patients feel inspired by seeing others who are coping well; (4) Group dynamics lead patients and providers to developing more equitable relationships; (5) Providers feel increased appreciation and rapport toward colleagues leading to increased efficiency; (6) Providers learn from the patients how better to meet their patients' needs; (7) Adequate time allotment of the SMA leads patients to feel supported; (8) Patients receive professional expertise from the provider in combination with first-hand information from peers, resulting in more robust health knowledge; and (9) Patients have the opportunity to see how the physicians interact with fellow patients, which allows them to get to know the physician and better determine their level of trust. CONCLUSIONS: Nine overarching mechanisms were configured in CMO configurations and discussed as a set of complementary middle-range programme theories to explain how SMAs work. It is anticipated that this innovative work in theorizing SMAs using realist review methodology will provide policy makers and SMA program planners adequate conceptual grounding to design contextually sensitive SMA programs in a wide variety of settings and advance an SMA research agenda for varied contexts.

Integrating support persons into diabetes telemonitoring to improve self-management and medication adherence.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential benefits for medication adherence of integrating a patient-selected support person into an automated diabetes telemonitoring and self-management program, and to determine whether these benefits vary by patients' baseline level of psychological distress. STUDY DESIGN: The study was a quasi-experimental patient preference trial. METHODS: The study included patients with type 2 diabetes who participated in three to six months of weekly automated telemonitoring via interactive voice response (IVR) calls, with the option of designating a supportive relative or friend to receive automated updates on the patient's health and self-management, along with guidance regarding potential patient assistance. We measured long-term medication adherence using the four-point Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-4, possible range 0-4), weekly adherence with an IVR item, and psychological distress at baseline with the Mental Composite Summary (MCS) of the SF-12. RESULTS: Of 98 initially nonadherent patients, 42% opted to involve a support person. Participants with a support person demonstrated significantly greater improvement in long-term adherence than those who participated alone (linear regression slopes: -1.17 vs. -0.57, respectively, p =0.001). Among distressed patients in particular, the odds of weekly nonadherence tended to decrease 25% per week for those with a support person (p =0.030), yet remained high for those who participated alone (p =0.820). CONCLUSIONS: Despite their multiple challenges in illness self-management, patients with diabetes who are both nonadherent and psychologically distressed may benefit by the incorporation of a support person when they receive assistance via automated telemonitoring.

Evaluation of a telementoring intervention for pain management in the Veterans Health Administration.

OBJECTIVE: Half of all Veterans experience chronic pain yet many face geographical barriers to specialty pain care. In 2011, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) launched the Specialty Care Access Network-ECHO (SCAN-ECHO), which uses telehealth technology to provide primary care providers with case-based specialist consultation and pain management education. Our objective was to evaluate the pilot SCAN-ECHO pain management program (SCAN-ECHO-PM). DESIGN AND SETTING: This was a longitudinal observational evaluation of SCAN-ECHO-PM in seven regional VHA healthcare networks. METHODS: We identified the patient panels of primary care providers who submitted a consultation to one or more SCAN-ECHO-PM sessions. We constructed multivariable Cox proportional hazards models to assess the association between provider SCAN-ECHO-PM consultation and 1) delivery of outpatient care (physical medicine, mental health, substance use disorder, and pain medicine) and 2) medication initiation (antidepressants, anticonvulsants, and opioid analgesics). RESULTS: Primary care providers (N = 159) who presented one or more SCAN-ECHO-PM sessions had patient panels of 22,454 patients with chronic noncancer pain (CNCP). Provider consultation to SCAN-ECHO-PM was associated with utilization of physical medicine [hazard ratio (HR) 1.10, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.05-1.14] but not mental health (HR 0.99, 95% CI 0.93-1.05), substance use disorder (HR 0.93, 95% CI 0.84-1.03) or specialty pain clinics (HR 1.01, 95% CI 0.94-1.08). SCAN-ECHO-PM consultation was associated with initiation of an antidepressant (HR 1.09, 95% CI 1.02-1.15) or anticonvulsant medication (HR 1.13, 95% CI 1.06-1.19) but not an opioid analgesic (HR 1.05, 0.99-1.10). CONCLUSIONS: SCAN-ECHO-PM was associated with increased utilization of physical medicine services and initiation of nonopioid medications among patients with CNCP. SCAN-ECHO-PM may provide a novel means of building pain management competency among primary care providers.

A Mobile Health Intervention Supporting Heart Failure Patients and Their Informal Caregivers: A Randomized Comparative Effectiveness Trial.

BACKGROUND: Mobile health (mHealth) interventions may improve heart failure (HF) self-care, but standard models do not address informal caregivers' needs for information about the patient's status or how the caregiver can help. OBJECTIVE: We evaluated mHealth support for caregivers of HF patients over and above the impact of a standard mHealth approach. METHODS: We identified 331 HF patients from Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinics. All patients identified a "CarePartner" outside their household. Patients randomized to "standard mHealth" (n=165) received 12 months of weekly interactive voice response (IVR) calls including questions about their health and self-management. Based on patients' responses, they received tailored self-management advice, and their clinical team received structured fax alerts regarding serious health concerns. Patients randomized to "mHealth+CP" (n=166) received an identical intervention, but with automated emails sent to their CarePartner after each IVR call, including feedback about the patient's status and suggestions for how the CarePartner could support disease care. Self-care and symptoms were measured via 6- and 12-month telephone surveys with a research associate. Self-care and symptom data also were collected through the weekly IVR assessments. RESULTS: Participants were on average 67.8 years of age, 99% were male (329/331), 77% where white (255/331), and 59% were married (195/331). During 15,709 call-weeks of attempted IVR assessments, patients completed 90% of their calls with no difference in completion rates between arms. At both endpoints, composite quality of life scores were similar across arms. However, more mHealth+CP patients reported taking medications as prescribed at 6 months (8.8% more, 95% CI 1.2-16.5, P=.02) and 12 months (13.8% more, CI 3.7-23.8, P<.01), and 10.2% more mHealth+CP patients reported talking with their CarePartner at least twice per week at the 6-month follow-up (P=.048). mHealth+CP patients were less likely to report negative emotions during those interactions at both endpoints (both P<.05), were consistently more likely to report taking medications as prescribed during weekly IVR assessments, and also were less likely to report breathing problems or weight gains (all P<.05). Among patients with more depressive symptoms at enrollment, those randomized to mHealth+CP were more likely than standard mHealth patients to report excellent or very good general health during weekly IVR calls. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to a relatively intensive model of IVR monitoring, self-management assistance, and clinician alerts, a model including automated feedback to an informal caregiver outside the household improved HF patients' medication adherence and caregiver communication. mHealth+CP may also decrease patients' risk of HF exacerbations related to shortness of breath and sudden weight gains. mHealth+CP may improve quality of life among patients with greater depressive symptoms. Weekly health and self-care monitoring via mHealth tools may identify intervention effects in mHealth trials that go undetected using typical, infrequent retrospective surveys. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00555360; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00555360 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6Z4Tsk78B).

Understanding the Health Needs and Barriers to Seeking Health Care of Veteran Students in the Community.

OBJECTIVES: Access to care at Veterans Affairs facilities may be limited by long wait times; however, additional barriers may prevent US military veterans from seeking help at all. We sought to understand the health needs of veterans in the community to identify possible barriers to health-seeking behavior. METHODS: Focus groups were conducted with veteran students at a community college until thematic saturation was reached. Qualitative data analysis involved both an inductive content analysis approach and deductive elements. RESULTS: A total of 17 veteran students participated in 6 separate focus groups. Health needs affecting health-seeking behavior were identified. Themes included lack of motivation to improve health, concern about social exclusion and stigma, social interactions and behavior, limited access to affordable and convenient health care, unmet basic needs for self and family, and academics competing with health needs. CONCLUSIONS: Veterans face a range of personal, societal, and logistical barriers to accessing care. In addition to decreasing wait times for appointments, efforts to improve the transition to civilian life; reduce stigma; and offer assistance related to work, housing, and convenient access to health care may improve health in veteran students.

Quality indicators and performance measures in diabetes care.

The operations of any portion of the healthcare delivery system, eg, ambulatory care, the consultation and referral process, or hospital care, are critically dependent upon their control systems. The quality of health care produced by the system and its components is also subject to "control." One of the regulatory mechanisms involves performance measures. The development of good measures of quality is a complex and dynamic process. Within endocrinology, most measures have addressed diabetes care and most quality measurement in diabetes has focused on the ambulatory setting and mainly includes measures of process and intermediate outcomes. This review addresses quality and performance measures for diabetes, their development, characteristics, use, misuse, and future prospects.

Workforce Development to Improve Access to Pain Care for Veterans: A Qualitative Analysis of VA-ECHO Participant Experiences.

Background/Objective: The prevalence of chronic pain and its links to the opioid epidemic have given way to widespread aims to improve pain management care and reduce opioid use, especially in rural areas. Pain Management Specialty Care Access Network-Extension for Community Health Outcomes (VA-ECHO) promotes increased pain care access to rural Veterans through knowledge sharing from specialists to primary care providers (PCPs). We explored PCP participants' experiences in VA-ECHO and pain management care. Methods: This qualitative study is based on a descriptive secondary analysis of semi-structured interviews (n = 10) and 3 focus groups with PCPs participating in VA-ECHO from 2017-2019. A rapid matrix analysis approach was used to analyze participants' responses. Results: VA-ECHO was an effective workforce development strategy for meeting PCPs' training needs by providing pain management knowledge and skills training (eg alternative care approaches and communicating treatment options). Having protected time to participate in VA-ECHO was a challenge for many PCPs, mitigated by leadership and administrative support. Participants who volunteer to participate had more positive experiences than those required to attend. Conclusions: VA-ECHO could be used for meeting the workforce development needs of PCPs. Respondents were satisfied with the program citing improvement in their practice and increased confidence in providing pain management care to Veterans despite some challenges to participation. These findings offer insight into using VA-ECHO to meet the VHA's workforce development to improve Veterans' access to pain management care. The ECHO model presents opportunities for workforce development in large complex healthcare systems and garnering ongoing support for this training model is necessary for promoting workforce development for PCPs.

Training satisfaction for subspecialty fellows in internal medicine: findings from the Veterans Affairs (VA) Learners' Perceptions Survey.

BACKGROUND: Learner satisfaction assessment is critical in the design and improvement of training programs. However, little is known about what influences satisfaction and whether trainee specialty is correlated. A national comparison of satisfaction among internal medicine subspecialty fellows in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides a unique opportunity to examine educational factors associated with learner satisfaction. We compared satisfaction across internal medicine fellows by subspecialty and compared factors associated with satisfaction between procedural versus non-procedural subspecialty fellows, using data from the Learners' Perceptions Survey (LPS), a validated survey tool. METHODS: We surveyed 2,221 internal medicine subspecialty fellows rotating through VA between 2001 and 2008. Learners rated their overall training satisfaction on a 100-point scale, and on a five-point Likert scale ranked satisfaction with items within six educational domains: learning, clinical, working and physical environments; personal experience; and clinical faculty/preceptor. RESULTS: Procedural and non-procedural fellows reported similar overall satisfaction scores (81.2 and 81.6). Non-procedural fellows reported higher satisfaction with 79 of 81 items within the 6 domains and with the domain of physical environment (4.06 vs. 3.85, p <0.001). Satisfaction with clinical faculty/preceptor and personal experience had the strongest impact on overall satisfaction for both. Procedural fellows reported lower satisfaction with physical environment. CONCLUSIONS: Internal medicine fellows are highly satisfied with their VA training. Nonprocedural fellows reported higher satisfaction with most items. For both procedural and non-procedural fellows, clinical faculty/preceptor and personal experience have the strongest impact on overall satisfaction.

Management of diabetes in elderly patients during the COVID-19 pandemic: current and future perspectives.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the entire population with the most deleterious effects in elders. Elders, especially those with diabetes, are at the highest risk of COVID-19 related adverse outcomes and mortality. This is usually linked to the comorbidities that accumulate with age, diabetes-related chronic inflammation, and the pandemic's psychosocial effects.Areas covered: We present some approaches to manage these complicated elderly patients with diabetes during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the inpatient setting, we suggest similar (pre-pandemic) glycemic targets and emphasize the importance of using IV insulin and possible use of continuous glucose monitoring to reduce exposure and PPE utilization. Outside the hospital, we recommend optimal glycemic control within the limits imposed by considerations of safety. We also describe the advantages and challenges of using various technological platforms in clinical care.Expert opinion: The COVID-19 pandemic has lifted the veil off serious deficiencies in the infrastructures for care at both the individual level and the population level and also highlighted some of the strengths, all of which affect individuals with diabetes and COVID-19. We anticipate that things will not return to 'normal' after the COVID-19 pandemic has run its course, but rather they will be superseded by 'New Normal.'

Cushing's syndrome: why is diagnosis so difficult?

Practicing and perfecting the art of medicine demands recognition that uncertainty permeates all clinical decisions. When delivering clinical care, clinicians face a multiplicity of potential diagnoses, limitations in diagnostic capacity, and "sub-clinical" disease identified by tests rather than by clinical manifestations. In addition, clinicians must recognize the rapid changes in scientific knowledge needed to guide decisions. Cushing's syndrome is one of several disorders in which there may be considerable difficulty and delay in diagnosis. This article describes a current model of clinical reasoning, some of its challenges, and the application of the principles of clinical epidemiology to meet some of those challenges.