Usage and Scientific Properties of the ADVOCATE Oral Health Care Measures.

BACKGROUND: Feedback information about the quality of oral health care is important for reflective learning by oral health care professionals and the wider health system. To this end, a list of 48 topics describing oral health and oral health care was recently agreed as part of the EU H2020 ADVOCATE project. OBJECTIVE: This article reports on the formulation of measures based on the ADVOCATE topics and provides information on usage, reporting, validity, and reliability of the measures. METHODS: The AIRE instrument was used to guide the methodological approach adopted. The appropriateness of the measures was tested among 39 general dental practitioners (GDPs) in Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands. Data were collected from a convenience sample of patients via a questionnaire deployed in an online application in their practice. Feasibility, acceptability, and usefulness of the measures were evaluated through focus group interviews with GDPs. Face validity and test-retest reliability of the measures were assessed. RESULTS: For 46 of the 48 topics, a measure could be defined by constructing a definition and a numerator and denominator. Data collection for all 46 measures was feasible and acceptable for patients using the online questionnaire. The practicalities of using claims data for the purpose of giving feedback to individual and groups of GDPs proved to be challenging in terms of timely access of such data, the granularity of the data, and matching the content of the data with the consented items on quality of oral health care. Face validity was considered appropriate, as the patients found the questionnaire easy to understand. Test-retest reliability was found to be acceptable for 36 of 46 measures. CONCLUSION: The broad range of the ADVOCATE oral health care measures could make a useful contribution to a more transparent, evidence-based, and patient-centered oral health care system. KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER STATEMENT: This study shows the usage, reliability, and validity of 46 oral health care measures. The measures, which include patient experience and health behaviors, were found to be useful to stimulate discussions about clinical practice. The measures can provide essential information for quality improvement strategies and useful and relevant feedback information for GDPs.

Improving oral healthcare using academic detailing - design of the ADVOCATE Field Studies.

Background: Academic detailing (AD) is a defined form of educational outreach that can be deployed to intrinsically motivate practitioners towards improving quality of care. This paper describes the design of the ADVOCATE Field Studies. This proof of concept study aims to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and usefulness of AD, reinforced with feedback information to promote prevention-oriented, patient-centred and evidence-based oral healthcare delivery by general dental practitioners (GDPs). Methods: Six groups of GDPs will be recruited; two groups of six to eight GDPs in each of three countries - the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. GDPs will meet for four Academic Detailing Group (ADG) meetings for open discussions using comparative feedback data to stimulate debate about their dental practice performance and care delivery. Group meetings will be moderated using the AD methodology. Qualitative data will be collected through focus group interviews, an online discussion forum, field notes and debriefs of ADG meetings and analysed by conventional content analysis using MaxQDA software. Discussion: The results of the study will provide novel information on the feasibility, perceived acceptability and usefulness of AD and feedback data for GDPs to improve oral healthcare delivery.

A Consensus-Based Set of Measures for Oral Health Care.

Increasingly more responsive and accountable health care systems are demanded, which is characterized by transparency and explicit demonstration of competence by health care providers and the systems in which they work. This study aimed to establish measures of oral health for transparent and explicit reporting of routine data to facilitate more patient-centered and prevention-oriented oral health care. To accomplish this, an intermediate objective was to develop a comprehensive list of topics that a range of stakeholders would perceive as valid, important, and relevant for describing oral health and oral health care. A 4-stage approach was used to develop the list of topics: 1) scoping of literature and its appraisal, 2) a meeting of experts, 3) a 2-stage Delphi process (online), and 4) a World Café discussion. The aim was to create consensus through structured conversations via a range of stakeholders (general dental practitioners, patients, insurers, and policy makers) from the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hungary, and Denmark. The study was part of the ADVOCATE project, and it resulted in a list of 48 topics grouped into 6 clusters: 1) access to dental care, 2) symptoms and diagnosis, 3) health behaviors, 4) oral treatments, 5) oral prevention, and 6) patient perception. All topics can be measured, as they all have a data source with defined numerators and denominators. This study is the first to establish a comprehensive and multiple-stakeholder consented topic list designed for guiding the implementation of transparent and explicit measurement of routine data of oral health and oral health care. Successful measurement within oral health care systems is essential to facilitate learning from variation in practice and outcomes within and among systems, and it potentiates improvement toward more patient-centered and prevention-oriented oral health care.

Improving oral healthcare: towards measurement?

In the last 30 years oral healthcare is increasingly being contested. Needs and expectations have evolved to a point of advanced restorative techniques, long term planning for preventative care and evidence-based practice, and patients and payers increasingly require more explicit demonstration of competence. However, relevant data are currently not routinely collected that would support approaches needed to further improve oral health and care. This paper sets out the case to collect and evaluate routinely available data. Variations in care and oral health could be described, which in turn would provide valuable insights for all wishing to further improve oral health and care.