Virtual Group Visits: Hope for Improving Chronic Disease Management in Primary Care During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 089011712110125
Author(s):  
Jacob B. Mirsky ◽  
Anne N. Thorndike

As health care systems respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, new virtual care approaches are emerging for health promotion and chronic disease management. Virtual group visits (VGVs) supporting a healthy lifestyle, adapted from the well-established shared medical appointment (SMA) model, hold promise as a primary care delivery tool for preventing and managing chronic disease. In order to establish VGVs as standard of care, evidence for clinical effectiveness, financial sustainability, and access for vulnerable populations is needed. In the future, VGVs could improve the quality and reach of chronic disease prevention and management strategies.

Author(s):  
Chuan De Foo ◽  
Shilpa Surendran ◽  
Geronimo Jimenez ◽  
John Pastor Ansah ◽  
David Bruce Matchar ◽  
...  

The primary care network (PCN) was implemented as a healthcare delivery model which organises private general practitioners (GPs) into groups and furnished with a certain level of resources for chronic disease management. A secondary qualitative analysis was conducted with data from an earlier study exploring facilitators and barriers GPs enrolled in PCN’s face in chronic disease management. The objective of this study is to map features of PCN to Starfield’s “4Cs” framework. The “4Cs” of primary care—comprehensiveness, first contact access, coordination and continuity—offer high-quality design options for chronic disease management. Interview transcripts of GPs (n = 30) from the original study were purposefully selected. Provision of ancillary services, manpower, a chronic disease registry and extended operating hours of GP practices demonstrated PCN’s empowering features that fulfil the “4Cs”. On the contrary, operational challenges such as the lack of an integrated electronic medical record and disproportionate GP payment structures limit PCNs from maximising the “4Cs”. However, the enabling features mentioned above outweighs the shortfalls in all important aspects of delivering optimal chronic disease care. Therefore, even though PCN is in its early stage of development, it has shown to be well poised to steer GPs towards enhanced chronic disease management.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie L. Albert ◽  
Margaret M. Paul ◽  
Ann M. Nguyen ◽  
Donna R. Shelley ◽  
Carolyn A. Berry

Abstract Background Primary care practices have remained on the frontline of health care service delivery throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of our study was to understand the early pandemic experience of primary care practices, how they adapted care processes for chronic disease management and preventive care, and the future potential of these practices’ service delivery adaptations. Methods We interviewed 44 providers and staff at 22 high-performing primary care practices located throughout the United States between March and May 2020. Interviews were transcribed and coded using a modified rapid assessment process due to the time-sensitive nature of the study. Results Practices reported employing a variety of adaptations to care during the COVID-19 pandemic including maintaining safe and socially distanced access through increased use of telehealth visits, using disease registries to identify and proactively outreach to patients, providing remote patient education, and incorporating more home-based monitoring into care. Routine screening and testing slowed considerably, resulting in concerns about delayed detection. Patients with fewer resources, lower health literacy, and older adults were the most difficult to reach and manage during this time. Conclusion Our findings indicate that primary care structures and processes developed for remote chronic disease management and preventive care are evolving rapidly. Emerging adapted care processes, most notably remote provision of care, are promising and may endure beyond the pandemic, but issues of equity must be addressed (e.g., through payment reform) to ensure vulnerable populations receive the same benefit.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (spe) ◽  
Author(s):  
Viviane Maria Osmarin ◽  
Fernanda Guarilha Boni ◽  
Taline Bavaresco ◽  
Amália de Fátima Lucena ◽  
Isabel Cristina Echer

Abstract Objective: To evaluate the knowledge of patients with venous ulcers (VU) on their chronic disease, treatment, and prevention of complications, according to the Nursing Outcomes Classification-NOC. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted between 2017 and 2018 in a Brazilian hospital. The sample consisted of 38 patients with VU attended in outpatient nursing consultations. The study analyzed sociodemographic, clinical and nine indexes from the Knowledge: Chronic Disease Management (1847) of the NOC, assessed using a five-point Likert scale, analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: The mean of the result Knowledge: Chronic Disease Management (1847) was 3.56±1.42. The clinical index Procedures involved in treatment regimen had the highest mean 4.18±0.21, followed by Pain management strategies with 3.92±0.27. In the association between knowledge and healing, the best scores were in patients with at least one healed VU. Conclusion: The knowledge of the patients was moderate and it was necessary to promote educational actions according to individual demands.


BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. e028554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Pierre Gagnon ◽  
Mame Awa Ndiaye ◽  
Alain Larouche ◽  
Guylaine Chabot ◽  
Christian Chabot ◽  
...  

IntroductionMultimorbidity increases care needs and primary care use among people with chronic diseases. The Concerto Health Program (CHP) has been developed to optimise chronic disease management in primary care services. However, in its current version, the CHP primarily targets clinicians and does not aim to answer directly patients’ and their informal caregivers’ needs for chronic disease management. Various studies have shown that interventions that increase patient activation level are associated with better health outcomes. Furthermore, educational tools must be adapted to patients and caregivers in terms of health literacy and usability. This project aims to develop, implement and evaluate a user-centred, multifunctional and personalised eHealth platform (CONCERTO+) to promote a more active patient role in chronic disease management and decision-making.Methods and analysisThis project uses a collaborative research approach, aiming at the personalisation of CHP through three phases: (1) the development of one module of an eHealth platform based on scientific evidence and user-centred design; (2) a feasibility study of CONCERTO+ through a pilot cluster randomised controlled trial where patients with chronic diseases from a primary healthcare practice will receive CONCERTO+ during 6 months and be compared to patients from a control practice receiving usual care and (3) an analysis of CONCERTO+ potential for scaling up. To do so, we will conduct two focus groups with patients and informal caregivers and individual interviews with health professionals at the two study sites, as well as health care managers, information officers and representatives of the Ministry of Health.Ethics and disseminationThis study received ethical approval from Ethics Committee of Université Laval. The findings will be used to inform the effectiveness of CONCERTO+ to improve management care in chronic diseases. We will disseminate findings through presentations in scientific conferences and publication in peer-reviewed journals.Trial registration numberNCT03628963; Pre-results.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 173
Author(s):  
Shiva Vasi ◽  
Jenny Advocat ◽  
Akuh Adaji ◽  
Grant Russell

Structured, multidisciplinary approaches to chronic disease management (CDM) in primary care, supported by eHealth tools, show improved clinical outcomes, yet the uptake of eHealth tools remains low. The adoption of cdmNet, an eHealth tool for chronic disease management, in general practice settings, was explored. This was a qualitative case study in three general practice clinics in Melbourne, Australia. Methods included non-participant observation, reflexive note taking and semi-structured interviews with GPs, non-GP clinical staff, administrative staff and patients with chronic conditions. Data were analysed iteratively and results were reviewed at regular team meetings. Findings highlighted the significance of clinical and organisational routines in determining practice readiness for embedding innovations. In particular, clinical routines that supported a structured approach to CDM involving team-based care, allocation of resources, training and leadership were fundamental to facilitating the adoption of the eHealth tool. Non-GP roles were found to be key in developing routines that facilitated the adoption of cdmNet within a structured approach to CDM. Practice managers, administrators and clinicians should first focus on routinising processes in primary care practices that support structured and team-based processes for CDM because without these processes, new technologies will not be embedded.


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