scholarly journals Discharging the complex patient - changing our focus to patients’ networks of care providers

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurent Perrault-Sequeira ◽  
Jacqueline Torti ◽  
Andrew Appleton ◽  
Maria Mathews ◽  
Mark Goldszmidt

Abstract Background A disconnect exists between the idealized model of every patient having a family physician (FP) who acts as the central hub for care, and the reality of health care where patients must navigate a network of different providers. This disconnect is particularly evident when hospitalized multimorbid patients transition back into the community. These discharges are identified as high-risk due to lapses in care continuity. The aim of this study was to identify and explore the networks of care providers in a sample of hospitalized, complex patients, and better understand the nature of their attachments to these providers as a means of discovering novel approaches for improving discharge planning. Methods This was a constructivist grounded theory study. Data included interviews from 30 patients admitted to an inpatient internal medicine service of a midsized academic hospital in Ontario, Canada. Analysis and data collection proceeded iteratively with sampling progressing from purposive to theoretical. Results We identified network of care configurations commonly found in patients with multiple medical comorbidities receiving care from multiple different providers admitted to an internal medicine service. FPs and specialists form the network’s scaffold. The involvement of physicians in the network dictated not only how patients experienced transitions in care but the degree of reliance on social supports and personal capacities. The ideal for the multimorbid patient is an optimally involved FP that remains at the centre, even when patients require more subspecialized care. However, in cases where a rostered FP is non-existent or inadequate, increased involvement and advocacy from specialists is crucial. Conclusions Our results have implications for transition planning in hospitalized complex patients. Recognizing salient network features can help identify patients who would benefit from enhanced discharge support.

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marjorie Argollo ◽  
Gionata Fiorino ◽  
Daniela Gilardi ◽  
Federica Furfaro ◽  
Giulia Roda ◽  
...  

Introduction: Biosimilars present a considerable potential to reduce costs related to clinical management allowing health-care providers to reinvest this money, leading to a wider access to an effective biological treatment with monoclonal antibodies (mAb). Infliximab biosimilars have already been incorporated in daily clinical practice and are currently used in all indications for which the reference product (RP) was approved. Areas covered: In the next few years, also adalimumab biosimilars will become available for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In fact, several of them (ABP501, BI 695501, GP2017, and SB5) have been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) with the same indications of the reference product (Humira ®). Initial preclinical data proved a strong similarity between all biosimilars and the RP. Moreover, phase 3 studies in rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis showed no differences in terms of efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity. Data on IBD patients are urgently needed. Expert opinion: Biosimilars of adalimumab showed equivalent clinical efficacy to the RP in other immunemediated diseases. However, defining the ideal patient’s profile to receive or to be switched to a biosimilar, choosing one biosimilar vs. another, or cross-switching among biosimilars, will become the next challenge in IBD.


BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. e038406
Author(s):  
Sayra Cristancho ◽  
Emily Field

ObjectivesThis interview-based qualitative study aims to explore how healthcare providers conceptualise trace-based communication and considers its implications for how teams work. In the biological literature, trace-based communication refers to the non-verbal communication that is achieved by leaving ‘traces’ in the environment and other members sensing them and using them to drive their own behaviour. Trace-based communication is a key component of swam intelligence and has been described as a critical process that enables superorganisms to coordinate work and collectively adapt. This paper brings awareness to its existence in the context of healthcare teamwork.DesignInterview-based study using Constructivist Grounded Theory methodology.SettingThis study was conducted in multiple team contexts at one of Canada’s largest acute-care teaching hospitals.Participants25 clinicians from across professions and disciplines. Specialties included surgery, anesthesiology, psychiatry, internal medicine, geriatrics, neonatology, paramedics, nursing, intensive care, neurology and emergency medicine.InterventionNot relevant due to the qualitative nature of the study.Primary and secondary outcomeNot relevant due to the qualitative nature of the study.ResultsThe dataset was analysed using the sensitising concept of ‘traces’ from Swarm Intelligence. This study brought to light novel and unique elements of trace-based communication in the context of healthcare teamwork including focused intentionality, successful versus failed traces and the contextually bounded nature of the responses to traces. While participants initially felt ambivalent about the idea of using traces in their daily teamwork, they provided a variety of examples. Through these examples, participants revealed the multifaceted nature of the purposes of trace-based communication, including promoting efficiency, preventing mistakes and saving face.ConclusionsThis study demonstrated that clinicians pervasively use trace-based communication despite differences in opinion as to its implications for teamwork and safety. Other disciplines have taken up traces to promote collective adaptation. This should serve as inspiration to at least start exploring this phenomenon in healthcare.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 233339282110183
Author(s):  
Tariku Shimels ◽  
Abrham Getachew ◽  
Mekdim Tadesse ◽  
Alison Thompson

Introduction: Transplantation is the optimal management for patients with end-stage renal disease. In Ethiopia, the first national kidney transplantation center was opened at St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College in September 2015. The aim of this study was to explore providers’ views and experiences of the past to present at this center. Methods: A qualitative study design was employed from 1st November to 15th December, 2019. To ensure that appropriate informants would provide rich study data, 8 health care providers and top management members were purposefully chosen for in-depth interviews. A maximum variation sampling method was considered to include a representative sample of informants. Interviews were digitally audio-recorded, and transcribed verbatim. Transcribed data was coded and analyzed using Qualitative Data Analysis (QDA) Minor Lite software and Microsoft-Excel. Result: The participants (5 males and 3 females) approached were from different departments of the renal transplant center, and the main hospital. Eight main themes and 18 sub-themes were generated initially from all interviews totaling to 109 index codes. Further evaluation and recoding retained 5 main themes, and 14 sub-themes. The main themes are; challenges experienced during and after launching the center, commitment, sympathy and satisfaction, outcomes of renal transplant, actions to improve the quality of service, and how the transplant center should operate. Providers claim that they discharge their responsibilities through proper commitment and compassion, paying no attention to incentive packages. They also explained that renal transplantation would have all the outcomes related to economic, humanistic and clinical facets. Conclusion and Recommendation: A multitude of challenges were faced during and after the establishment of the first renal transplant center in Ethiopia. Providers discharge their responsibility through a proper compassion for patients. Concerned stakeholders should actively collaborate to improve the quality of renal transplant services in the center.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 804-804
Author(s):  
Kenneth Miller

Abstract The transitions between medical settings, the community and back again is a complex and intimidating process for patients, families and caregivers. These transitions are vulnerable points where planning is key and must begin at the initial examination with rehabilitation providers (PTs/OTs,SLPs). These providers are key members of the healthcare team to facilitate effective transition management. In this session, attendees will learn the critical factors rehabilitation providers use to evaluate patients in order to facilitate successful care transitions. An overview of the indications for rehabilitation referral will be presented, as well as evidence for effective rehabilitation strategies. The speaker will present tools from the American Physical Therapy Association Home Health Toolbox and outline a decision-making process for care transitions based on the individual, caregivers, and health care providers to achieve successful transitions that reduce resource use and hospital readmission rates. Attendees will learn strategies to facilitate inter-professional collaboration, communication, and advocacy.


2010 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita Jakobsen ◽  
Venke Sørlie

The purpose of this study was to illuminate the ethically difficult situations experienced by care providers working in a nursing home. Individual interviews using a narrative approach were conducted. A phenomenological-hermeneutic method developed for researching life experience was applied in the analysis. The findings showed that care providers experience ethical challenges in their everyday work. The informants in this study found the balance between the ideal, autonomy and dignity to be a daily problem. They defined the culture they work in as not supportive. They also thought they were not being seen and heard in situations where they disagree with the basic values of the organization. The results are discussed in terms of Habermas’s understanding of modern society. Care settings for elderly people obviously present ethical challenges, particularly in the case of those suffering from dementia. The care provider participants in this study expressed frustration and feelings of powerlessness. It is possible to understand their experiences in terms of Habermas’s theory of modern society and the concept of the system’s colonization of the life world.


1997 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 28-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor A. Collymore ◽  
V. M.L. Roche ◽  
David Berman

Author(s):  
Ida Linander ◽  
Erika Alm ◽  
Isabel Goicolea ◽  
Lisa Harryson

The few previous studies investigating regulation of gender in trans-specific healthcare are mainly based on text material and interviews with care-providers or consist solely of theoretical analyses. There is a lack of studies analysing how the regulation of gender is expressed in the care-seeker’s own experiences, especially in a Nordic context. The aim of this study is to analyse narratives of individuals with trans experiences (sometimes called transgender people) to examine how gender performances can be regulated in trans-specific care in Sweden. The conceptual framework is inspired by trans studies, a Foucauldian analysis of power, queer phenomenology and the concept of cisnormativity. Fourteen interviews with people with trans experiences are analysed with constructivist grounded theory. The participants’ experiences indicate that gender is constructed as norm-conforming, binary and stable in trans-specific healthcare. This gendered position is resisted, negotiated and embraced by the care-seekers. Norms and discourses both inside and outside trans-specific care contribute to the regulation and limit the room for action for care-users. We conclude that a trans-specific care that has a confirming approach to its care-users, instead of the current focus on gender norm conformity, has the potential to increase the self-determination of gender performance and increase the quality of care.


2013 ◽  
pp. 103-108
Author(s):  
Chiara Bozzano ◽  
Ilario Lancini ◽  
Elena Mei ◽  
Maida Lucarini ◽  
Roberta Mastriforti ◽  
...  

Introduction: To evaluate the use of multidimensional assessment based on the Fluegelman Index (FI) to identify internal medicine patients who are likely to be difficult to discharge from the hospital. Materials and methods: Have been evaluated all patients admitted to the medical wards of the District General Hospital of Arezzo from September 1 to October 31, 2007. We collected data on age, sex, socioeconomic condition, cause of admission, comorbidity score preadmission functional status (Barthel Index), incontinence, feeding problems, length of hospitalization, condition at discharge, and type of discharge. The FI cut off for difficult discharge was > 17. Results: Of the 413 patients (mean age 80 + 11.37 years; percentage of women, 56.1%) included in the study, 109 (26.39%) had Flugelman Index > 17. These patients were significantly older than the patients with lower FIs (85 + 9.35 vs 78 + 11.58 years, p < 0.001), more likely to be admitted for pneumonia (22% vs. 4.9% of those with lower FIs; p < 0,001). They also had more comorbidity, loss of autonomy, cognitive impairment, social frailty, and nursing care needs. The subgroup with FIs>17 had significantly higher in-hospital mortality (30.28% vs 6.25%, p < 0.001), longer hospital stay (13 vs. 10 days, p < 0.05), and higher rates of discharge to nursing homes. Conclusions: Evaluation of internal medicine patients with the Flugelman Index may be helpful for identifying more critical patients likely to require longer hospitalization and to detect factors affecting the hospital stay. This information can be useful for more effective discharge planning.


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