Opportunities to improve asthma and COPD prevention and care: insights from the patient journey obtained through focus groups.

BACKGROUND: The healthcare experiences of patients hold valuable insights for improving the quality of services related to their well-being. We therefore invited and explored the perspectives of patients living with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) on their interaction with the systems supporting health, in order to identify opportunities to improve services to prevent, treat and manage these conditions. METHODS: Two virtual focus groups were held in August 2021, one for adult asthma and one for COPD, to learn of patients' experiences receiving care for these conditions in the Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) region of British Columbia. Participants were recruited through online postings or their clinician. We discussed the care pathway for each condition and invited participants to share their experiences of the past 5 years, specifically their reflections on the process, including feelings, points of praise and frustration, and opportunities for improvement in this context. Composite patient journey maps were developed for each condition to reflect the experiences shared. Audio recordings of the focus groups were transcribed and used in qualitative data analysis. RESULTS: Thematic analysis revealed the following as possible areas for improvement: low public awareness of asthma and COPD and associated risk factors, non-standardised diagnosis pathways that delay diagnosis, and inconsistency in delivering valued aspects of care such as supports for self-management, trust-inspiring acute care, empowering patient communication and timely access to care. CONCLUSION: We successfully used focus groups to generate composite journey maps of the experiences of patients living with asthma (n=8) and COPD (n=9) to identify features that these patients consider important for improving the healthcare system for asthma and COPD in VCH. Health professionals, decision makers and patient advocates in VCH and beyond can consider these insights when evaluating, and planning changes to, current practices and policies in service delivery.

Disparities in self-reported healthcare access for airways disease in British Columbia, Canada, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Insights from a survey co-developed with people living with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Patients' perspectives on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their access to asthma and COPD healthcare could inform better, more equitable care delivery. We demonstrate this topic using British Columbia (BC), Canada, where the impact of the pandemic has not been described. We co-designed a cross-sectional survey with patient partners and administered it to a convenience sample of people living with asthma and COPD in BC between September 2020 and March 2021. We aimed to understand how access to healthcare for these conditions was affected during the pandemic. The survey asked respondents to report their characteristics, access to healthcare for asthma and COPD, types of services they found disrupted and telehealth (telephone or video appointment) use during the pandemic. We analysed 433 responses and found that access to healthcare for asthma and COPD was lower during the pandemic than pre-pandemic (p < 0.001). Specialty care services were most frequently reported as disrupted, while primary care, home care and diagnostics were least disrupted. Multivariable logistic regression revealed that access during the pandemic was positively associated with self-assessed financial ability (OR = 22.0, 95% CI: 7.0 - 84.0, p < 0.001, reference is disagreeing with having financial ability) and living in medium-sized urban areas (OR = 2.3, 95% CI: 1.0 - 5.2, p = 0.04, reference is rural areas). These disparities in access should be validated post-pandemic to confirm whether they still persist. They also indicate the continued relevance of exploring approaches for more equitable healthcare.

Advancing virtual primary care for people with opioid use disorder (VPC OUD): a mixed-methods study protocol.

INTRODUCTION: The emergence of COVID-19 introduced a dual public health emergency in British Columbia, which was already in the fourth year of its opioid-related overdose crisis. The public health response to COVID-19 must explicitly consider the unique needs of, and impacts on, communities experiencing marginalisation including people with opioid use disorder (PWOUD). The broad move to virtual forms of primary care, for example, may result in changes to healthcare access, delivery of opioid agonist therapies or fluctuations in co-occurring health problems that are prevalent in this population. The goal of this mixed-methods study is to characterise changes to primary care access and patient outcomes following the rapid introduction of virtual care for PWOUD. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will use a fully integrated mixed-methods design comprised of three components: (a) qualitative interviews with family physicians and PWOUD to document experiences with delivering and accessing virtual visits, respectively; (b) quantitative analysis of linked, population-based administrative data to describe the uptake of virtual care, its impact on access to services and downstream outcomes for PWOUD; and (c) facilitated deliberative dialogues to co-create educational resources for family physicians, PWOUD and policymakers that promote equitable access to high-quality virtual primary care for this population. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Approval for this study has been granted by Research Ethics British Columbia. We will convene PWOUD and family physicians for deliberative dialogues to co-create educational materials and policy recommendations based on our findings. We will also disseminate findings via traditional academic outputs such as conferences and peer-reviewed publications.

Family physician perspectives on primary care reform priorities: a cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: The province of British Columbia is facing a family physician shortage despite consistent increases in the number of physicians per capita and ongoing reforms to address the shortage. We identify physicians' priorities for structural reform, describe the alignment of those priorities with BC's suite of reforms and compare responses between established physicians and those new to practice; we also assessed rates of burnout. METHODS: All family physicians credentialed within Vancouver Coastal Health in 2018 were invited to participate in a cross-sectional survey. Respondents were asked about their practice model and characteristics, demographics, level of burnout and reform priorities. We used χ2 tests and multivariable logistic regression to investigate associations between personal and practice characteristics, burnout and reform priorities. RESULTS: Of the 1017 family physicians invited to participate, 525 (51.6%) responded. Of these, 399 (76.0%) indicated a need for fundamental change to how primary care is delivered; 244 (46.4%) would prefer to be a clinic employee rather than a small business owner. Other reform priorities included options to practise in a team (stated as very important by 69.6% of respondents), direct funding for team roles (66.7%), direct clinic funding (59.8%), part-time work options (64.7%), and ability to take planned vacations and parental leave (81.1%). The importance of individual reform priorities varied based on the participants' model of practice, location and years in practice. Of respondents, 108 (21.1%) had experienced a high level of burnout. INTERPRETATION: Almost half of family physicians would prefer to be employees rather than small business owners and over 20% reported a high level of burnout. Practice models offering direct employment model have very limited availability and are not included in the current suite of reforms in BC, potentially pulling physicians away from community-based family medicine and into other models or specialties.

Modern work patterns of "classic" versus millennial family doctors and their effect on workforce planning for community-based primary care: a cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: There are ongoing accessibility challenges in primary care in British Columbia, Canada, with 17% of the population not having a regular source of care. Anecdotal evidence suggests that physicians are moving away from a community-based comprehensive practice model, which could contribute to shortages. Thus, we aimed to identify and describe how family physicians are currently organizing their primary care practices in a large health region in British Columbia and to examine differences between newer graduates and more established physicians. METHODS: Data for this cross-sectional study were drawn from an annual physician privileging survey. N = 1017 physicians were invited to participate. We categorized practice style into five distinct groupings and compared features across respondent groups, including personal and practice location characteristics, hospital and teaching work, payment and appointment characteristics, and scope of practice. We discuss the implications of styles of practice and associated characteristics on health workforce policy and planning. RESULTS: We received responses from 525 (51.6%) physicians. Of these, 355 (67.6%) reported doing at least some community-based primary care. However, only 112 (21.3%) provided this care full time. Most respondents supplemented community-based work with part-time hours in focused practice, hospitals, or inpatient facilities. We found diversity in the scope and style of practice across practice models. Compared to established physicians, new graduates (in practice less than 10 years) work more weekly hours (more patient care, and paperwork in particular). However, we found no difference between new and established physicians in the odds of providing any or full-time community-based primary care. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a lack of formalized structural reform in British Columbia's primary care system, most physicians are finding alternative ways to model their practice and shifting away from work at single-location, community-based clinics. This shift challenges assumptions that are relied on for workplace planning that is intended to ensure adequate access to longitudinal, community-based family medicine.

Low-acuity presentations to the emergency department: Reasons for and access to other health care providers before presentation.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the demographic characteristics of patients who present to the emergency department (ED) for low-acuity issues and to explore their self-reported contact with other sources of primary health care before presenting to the ED. DESIGN: Survey distributed in the ED waiting room. SETTING: A high-volume ED in Vancouver, BC. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 232 respondents aged 18 years or older in the ED waiting room. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Actions taken to seek health care for the current issue before presenting to the ED and predictors of first seeking nonurgent care. RESULTS: Of the 398 people approached, 232 (58.3%) people completed the survey. Exactly half (95% CI 43.6% to 56.4%) sought alternative care before presenting to the ED. Predictors for having sought alternative care included illness presentation and longer symptom duration, while injury presentation and work-related presentation were associated with not seeking alternative care. Most participants (162 patients, 87.6%) believed that the ED was the most appropriate place for them to receive care for their problem, while only 87 (45.3%) believed that an adjacent primary care clinic would be an acceptable alternative. CONCLUSION: Many patients do attempt to seek alternative care before presenting to the ED with low acuity issues. Most patients believe that the ED is the best place for them to receive care and are uncertain about using a primary care alternative. Further research is needed to explore barriers and motivators patients face in their decisions to seek care, as well as potential patient education methods to improve appropriate ED use.

Clinical Decision Support Decreases Volume of Imaging for Low Back Pain in an Urban Emergency Department.

PURPOSE: To determine whether point-of-care clinical decision support can effectively reduce inappropriate medical imaging of patients who present to the emergency department (ED) with low-back pain (LBP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a prospective, single-center study of lumbar imaging referrals made by 43 emergency physicians at a major acute care center. Each physician saw at least 10 LBP cases in both pre- and post-intervention periods. A point-of-care checklist of accepted red flags for LBP was designed by a working group of physicians and embedded in the computerized order entry form for lumbar imaging. We compared imaging rates of LBP and physician variation in imaging ordering before and after the implementation of the checklist. We then measured the potential harms of reduced imaging. RESULTS: After intervention, the proportion of LBP patients with an imaging order fell significantly (median: 22% to 17%; mean: 23% to 18%; P = .0002) compared with pre-intervention baseline. The percentage of patients without imaging who were later imaged at a hospital outpatient clinic within 30 days was 2.3% before intervention and 2.2% after (P = .974). In addition, the proportion of patients discharged from the ED without imaging who returned to the ED within 30 days was 8.2% before intervention and 6.9% after (P = .170). One minor thoracic spine compression fracture was missed, but management was not impacted. No serious diagnoses were missed. CONCLUSION: Clinical decision support integrated in electronic order entry forms can safely and effectively reduce imaging orders for LBP patients in the ED.