Evaluating the care provision of a community-based serious-illness care program via chart measures

BMC Geriatrics

Timothy P. Daaleman¹  Christine E. Kistler²  Matthew J. Van Dongen³  Laura C. Hanson⁴  Natalie C. Ernecoff⁵ 

[1] Department of Family Medicine, University of North Carolina, 590 Manning Drive, CB #7595, 27599, Chapel Hill, NC, USA;Department of Family Medicine, University of North Carolina, 590 Manning Drive, CB #7595, 27599, Chapel Hill, NC, USA;Department of Internal Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA;Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA;Department of Internal Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA;Department of Internal Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA;Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA;Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA;

关键词: home-based primary care, home-based palliative care, community-based care, quality-of-care, serious-illness care;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12877-020-01736-z

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAlthough quality-of-care domains for home-based primary and palliative programs have been proposed, they have had limited testing in practice. Our aim was to evaluate the care provision in a community-based serious-illness care program, a combined home-based primary and palliative care model.MethodsRetrospective chart review of patients in an academic community-based serious-illness care program in central North Carolina from August 2014 to March 2016 (n = 159). Chart review included demographics, health status, and operationalized measures of seven quality-of-care domains: medical assessment, care coordination, safety, quality of life, provider competency, goal attainment, and access.ResultsPatients were mostly women (56%) with an average age of 70 years. Patients were multi-morbid (53% ≥3 comorbidities), functionally impaired (45% had impairment in ≥2 activities of daily living) and 32% had dementia. During the study period, 31% of patients died. Chart review found high rates assessment of functional status (97%), falls (98%), and medication safety (96%). Rates of pain assessment (70%), advance directive discussions (65%), influenza vaccination (59%), and depression assessment (54% of those with a diagnosis of depression) were lower. Cognitive barriers, spiritual needs, and behavioral issues were assessed infrequently (35, 22, 21%, respectively).ConclusionThis study is one of the first to operationalize and examine quality-of-care measures for a community-based serious-illness care program, an emerging model for vulnerable adults. Our operationalization should not constitute validation of these measures and revealed areas for improvement; however, the community-based serious-illness care program performed well in several key quality-of-care domains. Future work is needed to validate these measures.

【 授权许可】

CC BY