Analytical typology of multiprofessional primary care models.

BACKGROUND: There is only limited evidence to support care redefinition and role optimization processes needed for scaling up of a stronger primary care capacity. METHODS: Data collection was based on a keyword search in MEDLINE, EMBASE and CINAHL databases. Three thousand, two hundred and twenty-nine documents were identified, 1851 met our inclusion criteria, 71 were retained for full-text assessment and 52 included in the final selection. The analysis process was done in four steps. In the end, the elements that were identified as particularly central to the process of transforming primary care provision were used as the basis of two typologies. RESULTS: The first typology is based on two structural dimensions that characterize promising multiprofessional primary care teams. The first is the degree to which the division of tasks in the team was formalized. The second dimension is the centrality and autonomy of nurses in the care model. The second typology offers a refined definition of comprehensiveness of care and its relationship with the optimization of professional roles. CONCLUSIONS: The literature we analyzed suggests there are several plausible avenues for coherently articulating the relationships between patients, professionals, and care pathways. The expertise, preferences, and numbers of available human resources will determine the plausibility that a model will be a coherent response that is appropriate to the needs and environmental constraints (funding models, insurance, etc.). The typologies developed can help assess existing care models analytically or evaluatively and to propose, prospectively, some optimal operational parameters for primary care provision.

Integrated Primary Care Teams (IPCT) pilot project in Quebec: a protocol paper.

INTRODUCTION: The overall aim of this project is to help develop knowledge about primary care delivery models likely to improve the accessibility, quality and efficiency of care. Operationally, this objective will be achieved through supporting and evaluating 8 primary care team pilot sites that rely on an expanded nursing role within a more intensive team-based, interdisciplinary setting. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The first research component is aimed at supporting the development and implementation of the pilot projects, and is divided into 2 parts. The first part is a logical analysis based on interpreting available scientific data to understand the causal processes by which the objectives of the intervention being studied may be achieved. The second part is a developmental evaluation to support teams in the field in a participatory manner and thereby learn from experience. Operationally, the developmental evaluation phase mainly involves semistructured interviews. The second component of the project design focuses on evaluating pilot project results and assessing their costs. This component is in turn made up of 2 parts. Part 1 is a pre-and-post survey of patients receiving the intervention care to analyse their care experience. In part 2, each patient enrolled in part 1 (around 4000 patients) will be matched with 2 patients followed within a traditional primary care model, so that a comparative analysis of the accessibility, quality and efficiency of the intervention can be performed. The cohorts formed in this way will be followed longitudinally for 4 years. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The project, as well as all consent forms and research tools, have been accepted by 2 health sciences research ethics committees. The procedures used will conform to best practices regarding the anonymity of patients.