Catalyzing System Change: 100 Quality Improvement Projects in 1000 Days.

BACKGROUND: Health system change requires quality improvement (QI) infrastructure that supports frontline staff implementing sustainable innovations. We created an 8-week rapid-cycle QI training program, Stanford Primary Care-Project Engagement Platform (PC-PEP), open to patient-facing primary care clinicians and staff. OBJECTIVE: Examine the feasibility and outcomes of a scalable QI program for busy practicing providers and staff in an academic medical center. DESIGN: Program evaluation. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 172 PCPH team members: providers (n = 55), staff (n = 99), and medical learners (n = 18) in the Stanford Division of Primary Care and Population Health (PCPH) clinics, 2018-2021. MAIN MEASURES: We categorized projects by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's (IHI) Quintuple Aim (QA): better health, better patient experience, lower cost of care, better care team experience, and improved equity/inclusion. We assessed project progress with a modified version of The Ottawa Hospital Innovation Framework: step 1 (identified root causes), step 2 (designed/tested interventions), step 3 (assessed project outcome), step 4 (met project goal with target group), step 5A (intervention(s) spread within clinic), step 5B (intervention(s) spread to different setting). Participants rated post-participation QI self-efficacy. KEY RESULTS: Within 1000 days, 172 unique participants completed 104 PC-PEP projects. Most projects aimed to improve patient health (55%) or care team experience (23%). Among projects, 9% reached step 1, 8% step 2, 16% step 3, 26% step 4, 21% step 5A, and 20% step 5B. Learner involvement increased likelihood of scholarly products (47% vs 10%). Forty-six of 47 (98%) survey respondents reported improved QI self-efficacy. Medical assistants, more so than physicians, reported feeling acknowledged by the health system for their QI efforts (100% vs 61%). CONCLUSIONS: With appropriate QI infrastructure, scalable QI training models like Stanford PC-PEP can empower frontline workers to create meaningful changes across the IHI QA.

Primary Care 2.0: A Prospective Evaluation of a Novel Model of Advanced Team Care With Expanded Medical Assistant Support.

PURPOSE: Assess effectiveness of Primary Care 2.0: a team-based model that incorporates increased medical assistant (MA) to primary care physician (PCP) ratio, integration of advanced practice clinicians, expanded MA roles, and extended the interprofessional team. METHODS: Prospective, quasi-experimental evaluation of staff/clinician team development and wellness survey data, comparing Primary Care 2.0 to conventional clinics within our academic health care system. We surveyed before the model launch and every 6-9 months up to 24 months post implementation. Secondary outcomes (cost, quality metrics, patient satisfaction) were assessed via routinely collected operational data. RESULTS: Team development significantly increased in the Primary Care 2.0 clinic, sustained across all 3 post implementation time points (+12.2, +8.5, + 10.1 respectively, vs baseline, on the 100-point Team Development Measure) relative to the comparison clinics. Among wellness domains, only "control of work" approached significant gains (+0.5 on a 5-point Likert scale, P = .05), but was not sustained. Burnout did not have statistically significant relative changes; the Primary Care 2.0 site showed a temporal trend of improvement at 9 and 15 months. Reversal of this trend at 2 years corresponded to contextual changes, specifically, reduced MA to PCP staffing ratio. Adjusted models confirmed an inverse relationship between team development and burnout (P <.0001). Secondary outcomes generally remained stable between intervention and comparison clinics with suggestion of labor cost savings. CONCLUSIONS: The Primary Care 2.0 model of enhanced team-based primary care demonstrates team development is a plausible key to protect against burnout, but is not sufficient alone. The results reinforce that transformation to team-based care cannot be a 1-time effort and institutional commitment is integral.

Factors Affecting Burnout Among Medical Assistants.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Medical assistants-key professionals supporting physician practices-have not been studied with regard to burnout and professional fulfillment, which may affect other healthcare professionals. This study examined the factors associated with burnout among medical assistants in an academic healthcare organization while validating the use of a tool previously used to assess burnout in physicians. Using portions of the Professional Fulfillment Index (PFI) and questions designed for this mixed methods study, medical assistants employed across Stanford Health Care were surveyed. The authors assessed demographic characteristics and the impact of control, organizational culture, team knowledge, self-efficacy, and professional fulfillment/meaningfulness on burnout. Of the 505 eligible participants, 261 (52%) completed the survey; 76% were women. The study validated the PFI for use with this population and validated three additional scales. Burnout was found to be low among medical assistants (M = 2.32); professional fulfillment/meaningfulness of work was found to be high (M = 4.08). Organizational culture, professional fulfillment, and self-efficacy were found to be predictors of burnout (R2 = 0.438), with negative perceptions of organizational culture as the strongest predictor of burnout among medical assistants (ß = -0.34). These results indicate that a survey tool is useful in understanding components of burnout and professional fulfillment in this population. Although limited to one site, this study could be replicated in other organizations.

A Multidisciplinary Initiative to Increase Inpatient Discharges Before Noon.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of 2 hospital-wide interventions on achieving a discharge-before-noon rate of 40%. BACKGROUND: A multidisciplinary team led by administrative and physician leadership developed a plan to diminish capacity constraints by minimizing late afternoon hospital discharges using 2 patient flow management techniques. METHODS: The study was a preintervention/postintervention retrospective analysis observing all inpatients discharged across 19 inpatient units in a 484-bed, academic teaching hospital measuring calendar month discharge-before-noon percentage, patient satisfaction, and readmission rates. Patient satisfaction and readmission rates were used as baseline metrics. RESULTS: The discharge-before-noon percentage increased from 14% in the 11-month preintervention period to an average of 24% over the 11-month postintervention period, whereas patient satisfaction scores and readmission rates remained stable. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of the 2 interventions successfully increased the percentage of discharges before noon yet did not achieve the goal of 40%. Patient satisfaction and readmission rates were not negatively impacted by the program.

What Are Patient Preferences for Integrated Behavioral Health in Primary Care?

Background: Behavioral health services, integrated into primary care practices, have become increasingly implemented. Although patient satisfaction has been studied, limited information exists about patient preferences for integrated behavioral health in primary care and how perceptions may vary. Objective: To determine patient preferences for integrated behavioral health within primary care and explore differences across patient groups. Methods: A self-report survey was distributed within a quality improvement initiative in an academic health system. A brief 8-item self-report questionnaire of perceptions and preferences for integrated behavioral health was administered to 752 primary care patients presenting before their visits at two primary care clinics. Participation was voluntary, responses were anonymous, and all patients presenting during a three-week timeframe were eligible. Results: In general, patients preferred to have behavioral health concerns addressed within primary care (n = 301; 41%) rather than referral to a specialist (7.5%; n = 55). There was no evidence of variation in preferences by demographic characteristics. Comfort levels to receive behavioral health services (P < .001) and perceived needs being met were significantly associated with preferences for receiving IBHPC (P < .001). Conclusion: This project provided valuable data to support the implementation of integrated behavioral health services in primary care clinics. In general, patients prefer to have behavioral health issues addressed within their primary care experience rather than being referred to specialty mental health care. This study adds to an expanding pool of studies exploring patient preferences for integrated behavioral health in primary care.

Building Bridges Between Community Health Centers and Academic Medical Centers in a COVID-19 Pandemic.

The threat to the public health of the United States from the COVID-19 pandemic is causing rapid, unprecedented shifts in the health care landscape. Community health centers serve the patient populations most vulnerable to the disease yet often have inadequate resources to combat it. Academic medical centers do not always have the community connections needed for the most effective population health approaches. We describe how a bridge between a community health center partner (Roots Community Health Center) and a large academic medical center (Stanford Medicine) brought complementary strengths together to address the regional public health crisis. The 2 institutions began the crisis with an overlapping clinical and research faculty member (NKT). Building on that foundation, we worked in 3 areas. First, we partnered to reach underserved populations with the academic center's newly developed COVID test. Second, we developed and distributed evidence-based resources to these same communities via a large community health navigator team. Third, as telemedicine became the norm for medical consultation, the 2 institutions began to research how reducing the digital divide could help improve access to care. We continue to think about how best to create enduring partnerships forged through ongoing deeper relationships beyond the pandemic.

What constitutes "behavioral health"? Perceptions of substance-related problems and their treatment in primary care.

BACKGROUND: Integrating behavioral health in primary care is a widespread endeavor. Yet rampant variation exists in models and approaches. One significant question is whether frontline providers perceive that behavioral health includes substance use. The current study examined front line providers': 1. definition of behavioral health, and 2. levels of comfort treating patients who use alcohol and other drugs. Frontline providers at two primary care clinics were surveyed using a 28-item instrument designed to assess their comfort and knowledge of behavioral health, including substance use. Two questions from the Integrated Behavioral Health Staff Perceptions Survey pertaining to confidence in clinics' ability to care for patients' behavioral health needs and comfort dealing with patients with behavioral health needs were used for the purposes of this report. Participants also self-reported their clinic role. Responses to these two items were assessed and then compared across roles. Chi square estimates and analysis of variance tests were used to examine relationships between clinic roles and comfort of substance use care delivery. RESULTS: Physicians, nurses/nurse practitioners, medical assistants, and other staff (N = 59) participated. Forty-nine participants included substance use in their definition of behavioral health. Participants reported the least comfort caring for patients who use substances (M = 3.5, SD = 1.0) compared to those with mental health concerns (M = 4.1, SD = 0.7), chronic medical conditions (M = 4.2, SD = 0.7), and general health concerns (M = 4.2, SD = 0.7) (p < 0.001). Physicians (M = 3.0, SD = 0.7) reported significantly lower levels of comfort than medical assistants (M = 4.2, SD = 0.9) (p < 0.001) caring for patients who use substances. CONCLUSIONS: In a small sample of key stakeholders from two primary care clinics who participated in this survey, most considered substance use part of the broad umbrella of behavioral health. Compared to other conditions, primary care providers reported being less comfortable addressing patients' substance use. Level of comfort varied by role, where physicians were least comfortable, and medical assistants most comfortable.

Lean-Based Redesign of Multidisciplinary Rounds on General Medicine Service.

BACKGROUND: Multidisciplinary rounds (MDR) facilitate timely communication amongst the care team and with patients. We used Lean techniques to redesign MDR on the teaching general medicine service. OBJECTIVE: To examine if our Lean-based new model of MDR was associated with change in the primary outcome of length of stay (LOS) and secondary outcomes of discharges before noon, documentation of estimated discharge date (EDD), and patient satisfaction. DESIGN, SETTING, PATIENTS: This is a pre-post study. The preperiod (in which the old model of MDR was followed) comprised 4000 patients discharged between September 1, 2013, and October 22, 2014. The postperiod (in which the new model of MDR was followed) comprised 2085 patients between October 23, 2014, and April 30, 2015. INTERVENTION: Lean-based redesign of MDR. MEASUREMENTS: LOS, discharges before noon, EDD, and patient satisfaction. RESULTS: There was no change in the mean LOS. Discharges before noon increased from 6.9% to 10.7% (P < .001). Recording of EDD increased from 31.4% to 41.3% (P < .001). There was no change in patient satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Lean-based redesign of MDR was associated with an increase in discharges before noon and in recording of EDD.