Exploring educational needs of multiple sclerosis care providers: Results of a care-provider survey.

Our objective was to survey experienced multiple sclerosis (MS) care providers, determine their ongoing professional educational needs, and develop future education programs. We asked providers across a variety of disciplines to identify the areas in which clinical consultation and continuing medical education (CME) would most improve their ability to provide care to individuals with MS; their preferred education modalities; and their confidence in providing care related to disease-modifying agents (DMAs), fatigue, depression, spasticity, and bladder management. At a national meeting of MS professionals, 152 MS care providers completed a self-report survey that was designed for this cross-sectional cohort study. Areas of greatest interest for clinical consultation and CME were identical and included cognition, fatigue, DMA use, spasticity, pain, sex, diagnosis of MS, and depression. Participants expressed a preference for live and interactive CME modalities. Confidence in providing specific disease-related care sometimes differed between Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and non-VHA providers. The results indicate that clinical consultations and CME should be targeted to the topics of greatest interest identified by providers and delivered in a live or interactive modality whenever possible.

Use of medical informatics for management of multiple sclerosis using a chronic-care model.

The mission of the Multiple Sclerosis Centers of Excellence (MSCoEs) is to optimize the services veterans with multiple sclerosis (MS) receive across the U.S. Veterans Health Administration. To accomplish this mission, the MSCoE West has adopted a collaborative chronic-disease management strategy along the lines of the model described by Wagner and colleagues. This model describes an organized, integrated, proactive, and population-based approach to patient care that includes healthcare delivery system change and patient-based self-management. While Wagner's model is described independent of information technology, the majority of actions called for in that model benefit tremendously from the application of a powerful and well-integrated informatics infrastructure designed to serve and support populations with chronic disease. Key elements such as goals and actions encourage high-quality care for those with chronic illnesses.

Complementary and alternative medicine use in veterans with multiple sclerosis: Prevalence and demographic associations.

The present study explored complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use in veterans with multiple sclerosis (MS). We administered self-report questionnaires to 451 veterans who received healthcare from Veterans Health Administration facilities. CAM use among veterans with MS was widespread; 37% of respondents reported current or past use. Roughly 33% of CAM users reported using multiple interventions, and 40% of respondents desired interventions that they were not already using. Logistic regression suggested that CAM use was more likely among participants with graduate-level education, poor self-reported health over the past year, and a progressive relapsing MS subtype. Participants who used traditional medical services were also more likely to use CAM, which suggests that CAM services are used in addition to, as opposed to in place of, traditional services. As others have proposed, these results suggest that care providers who work with persons with MS would be well served to understand, routinely screen for, and make use of CAM when appropriate.

Predictors of prescriptions for management of fatigue among veterans with multiple sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: To determine predictors of fatigue-modifying medication use. DESIGN: Cross-sectional cohort. SETTING: Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities. PARTICIPANTS: Veterans with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the VHA in the northwestern United States from 1995 to 2000. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: A self-administered survey distributed by mail sought information from veterans with MS about demographics, symptoms, barriers to care, and disease characteristics. The variables were compared with prescriptions for fatigue-modifying medications during the study period. RESULTS: Of 1032 patients, 451 (44%) completed the survey, and 306 (68%) reported moderate or high fatigue levels. Only 40% of the 306 were prescribed fatigue-modifying medications. Those using specialized fatigue services or who received care at tertiary centers were more likely to receive fatigue treatments. Patient-perceived barriers to accessing care and other patient characteristics were not associated with prescription rates. CONCLUSIONS: Fatigue is undertreated among veterans with MS. However, there is considerable variability in the provision of fatigue care. Interventions to improve the quality and uniformity of fatigue care are warranted.

Understanding a VA preventive care clinical reminder: lessons learned.

This article presents "lessons learned" about using a computerized clinical reminder (CCR) for influenza in spinal cord injury (SCI) centers in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Although research has shown that use of a CCR increases adherence to preventive care measures, technical and administrative issues affect its use by nurses. CCR is a term for a reminder in a patient's electronic medical record to initiate a preventive care activity. Qualitative data about using the CCR for influenza were collected from staff using semi-structured interviews, e-mail questionnaires, and telephone calls. Once issues were identified, follow-up activities included discussions with local and national experts and problem-solving activities. The investigators identified two national issues about the CCR for influenza: the taxonomy to identify patients with SCI, and the "due date" for influenza vaccine. Local issues included authorization for nurses to use the CCR, ease of use of the CCR for inpatients and outpatients, connectivity of the medication tracking program for inpatients with the electronic medical record, configuration of the CCR in the electronic medical record, training, and technical support.

A comparison of multiple data sources to identify vaccinations for veterans with spinal cord injuries and disorders.

Monitoring vaccination activity requires regular access to information about patient vaccination status. This report describes our experience using multiple Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) data sources to determine availability and completeness of vaccination information for veterans with spinal cord injuries and disorders (SCI&D). Administrative and clinical databases were limited to coding vaccine administration, undercounted vaccinations, and were unable to account for whether the vaccine was offered and the reasons for nonreceipt. Medical record review provided more detail but was labor intensive and costly. Patient surveys provided the richest information but were costly, time-consuming, and based on a sample of patients. Agreement was poor between data sources. This report suggests that while VA is well positioned to use national databases for clinical care decisions and to inform policy, vaccination data were incomplete. Electronic records must include data that are consistently entered and validated before they can be useful for care management and decision making.

Telemedicine and the delivery of health services to veterans with multiple sclerosis.

Telemedicine involves the provision of health care and sharing of medical knowledge using telecommunications technologies. Preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic services, as well as patient education and assistance with self-management of health, can be provided via telemedicine. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has a wide range of telemedicine capabilities. Given limitations on studying its effectiveness, telemedicine is often applied to new patient populations without explicit evaluation of efficacy. Evaluating the potential use of telemedicine services through supporting literature from other disorders may be possible. This paper discusses applying telemedicine to the care of individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) when few published evaluations exist in MS. In this paper, we (1) provide a background on the use of telemedicine in the private sector and in the VHA, (2) discuss the use of current telemedicine literature to management of individuals with MS, and (3) review the strengths and limitations of telemedicine as a care delivery vehicle.