Quality and team care response to the pandemic stresses in high performing primary care practices: A qualitative study.

<h4>Objective</h4>To learn how high performing primary care practices organized care for patients with diabetes during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic.<h4>Participants and methods</h4>Semi-structured interviews were conducted between August 10 and December 10, 202...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Milton Eder, Rachel Jacobsen, Kevin A Peterson, Leif I Solberg
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2022-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278410
_version_ 1811167209498607616
author Milton Eder
Rachel Jacobsen
Kevin A Peterson
Leif I Solberg
author_facet Milton Eder
Rachel Jacobsen
Kevin A Peterson
Leif I Solberg
author_sort Milton Eder
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Objective</h4>To learn how high performing primary care practices organized care for patients with diabetes during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic.<h4>Participants and methods</h4>Semi-structured interviews were conducted between August 10 and December 10, 2020 with 16 leaders from 11 practices that had top quartile performance measures for diabetes outcomes pre-COVID. Each clinic had completed a similar interview and a survey about the existence of care management systems associated with quality outcomes before the pandemic. Transcript analysis utilized a theoretical thematic analysis at the semantic level.<h4>Results</h4>The pandemic disrupted the primary care practices' operations and processes considered important for quality prior to the pandemic, particularly clinic reliance on proactive patient care. Safety concerns resulted from the shift to virtual visits, which produced documentation gaps and led practices to reorder their use of proactive patient care processes. Informal interactions with patients also declined. These practices' challenges were mitigated by technical, informational and operational help from the larger organizations of which they were a part. Care management processes had to accommodate both in-person and virtual visits.<h4>Conclusion</h4>These high performing practices demonstrated an ability to adapt their use of proactive patient care processes in pursuing quality outcomes for patients with diabetes during the pandemic. Continued clinic transformation and improvements in quality within primary care depend on the ability to restructure the responsibilities of care team members and their interactions with patients.
first_indexed 2024-04-10T16:05:21Z
format Article
id doaj.art-e839ac9c8dd0417f858375b7568d9eda
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1932-6203
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-10T16:05:21Z
publishDate 2022-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj.art-e839ac9c8dd0417f858375b7568d9eda2023-02-10T05:31:44ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-011712e027841010.1371/journal.pone.0278410Quality and team care response to the pandemic stresses in high performing primary care practices: A qualitative study.Milton EderRachel JacobsenKevin A PetersonLeif I Solberg<h4>Objective</h4>To learn how high performing primary care practices organized care for patients with diabetes during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic.<h4>Participants and methods</h4>Semi-structured interviews were conducted between August 10 and December 10, 2020 with 16 leaders from 11 practices that had top quartile performance measures for diabetes outcomes pre-COVID. Each clinic had completed a similar interview and a survey about the existence of care management systems associated with quality outcomes before the pandemic. Transcript analysis utilized a theoretical thematic analysis at the semantic level.<h4>Results</h4>The pandemic disrupted the primary care practices' operations and processes considered important for quality prior to the pandemic, particularly clinic reliance on proactive patient care. Safety concerns resulted from the shift to virtual visits, which produced documentation gaps and led practices to reorder their use of proactive patient care processes. Informal interactions with patients also declined. These practices' challenges were mitigated by technical, informational and operational help from the larger organizations of which they were a part. Care management processes had to accommodate both in-person and virtual visits.<h4>Conclusion</h4>These high performing practices demonstrated an ability to adapt their use of proactive patient care processes in pursuing quality outcomes for patients with diabetes during the pandemic. Continued clinic transformation and improvements in quality within primary care depend on the ability to restructure the responsibilities of care team members and their interactions with patients.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278410
spellingShingle Milton Eder
Rachel Jacobsen
Kevin A Peterson
Leif I Solberg
Quality and team care response to the pandemic stresses in high performing primary care practices: A qualitative study.
PLoS ONE
title Quality and team care response to the pandemic stresses in high performing primary care practices: A qualitative study.
title_full Quality and team care response to the pandemic stresses in high performing primary care practices: A qualitative study.
title_fullStr Quality and team care response to the pandemic stresses in high performing primary care practices: A qualitative study.
title_full_unstemmed Quality and team care response to the pandemic stresses in high performing primary care practices: A qualitative study.
title_short Quality and team care response to the pandemic stresses in high performing primary care practices: A qualitative study.
title_sort quality and team care response to the pandemic stresses in high performing primary care practices a qualitative study
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278410
work_keys_str_mv AT miltoneder qualityandteamcareresponsetothepandemicstressesinhighperformingprimarycarepracticesaqualitativestudy
AT racheljacobsen qualityandteamcareresponsetothepandemicstressesinhighperformingprimarycarepracticesaqualitativestudy
AT kevinapeterson qualityandteamcareresponsetothepandemicstressesinhighperformingprimarycarepracticesaqualitativestudy
AT leifisolberg qualityandteamcareresponsetothepandemicstressesinhighperformingprimarycarepracticesaqualitativestudy