Participatory and patient-centered interactions between older patients and their physicians directly and positively impact important patient outcomes, such as health status and the use of health care services. Patient activation and other related interventions have been demonstrated to enhance these interactions, but are time consuming and do not replicate to primary care settings where most older adults receive their care. This study will determine the feasibility of implementing the Electronic Enhancement of Health Assessments in Clinical Encounters (ENHANCE) system in primary care settings. A sample of 60 patients presenting for routine care, who are 50 years of age and older with a self-identified serious chronic illness (e.g., congestive heart failure, chronic lung disease) will be identified and recruited into a feasibility study. Patients will be recruited from four primary care practices, which participate in a primary care research network, and will be selected from counties in central North Carolina over a 9-month period. All practices will receive the intervention (i.e., ENHANCE), consisting of a touchpad personal computer and software that will gather and report patient health-related quality of life at the time of the encounter. Patient encounters will be audio-taped and analyzed using the Roter Interaction Analysis System (RIAS). The evaluation of the intervention will be guided by the RE-AIM framework, using semi-structured interviews of physician and staff members, analyses of RIAS codes, and direct observation of practice sites during the study. Public Health Relevance: Participatory and patient-centered interactions between chronically ill older adults and their physicians directly and positively impact important patient outcomes, such as health status and the use of health care services. This proposal evaluates feasibility of a novel health information technology system, called ENHANCE (Electronic Enhancement of Health Assessments in Clinical Encounters), that promotes patient- physician communication in primary care practices. The long-term goal of our research is to implement, assess, and disseminate an intervention that enhances quality, patient-centered communication and point-of- care decision making among chronically ill older adults and their physicians.

Public Health Relevance

Participatory and patient-centered interactions between chronically ill older adults and their physicians directly and positively impact important patient outcomes, such as health status and the use of health care services. This proposal evaluates feasibility of a novel health information technology system, called ENHANCE (Electronic Enhancement of Health Assessments in Clinical Encounters), that promotes patient- physician communication in primary care practices. The long-term goal of our research is to implement, assess, and disseminate an intervention that enhances quality, patient-centered communication and point-of- care decision making among chronically ill older adults and their physicians.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Type
Exploratory/Developmental Grants (R21)
Project #
5R21AG030166-02
Application #
7916644
Study Section
Health Services Organization and Delivery Study Section (HSOD)
Program Officer
Nielsen, Lisbeth
Project Start
2009-08-15
Project End
2012-07-31
Budget Start
2010-08-01
Budget End
2012-07-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2010
Total Cost
$176,989
Indirect Cost
Name
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Department
Family Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
608195277
City
Chapel Hill
State
NC
Country
United States
Zip Code
27599
Daaleman, Timothy P; Shea, Christopher M; Halladay, Jacqueline et al. (2014) A method to determine the impact of patient-centered care interventions in primary care. Patient Educ Couns 97:327-31
Halladay, Jacqueline; Shea, Christopher M; Reed, David et al. (2012) An Academic-Industry Collaboration to Develop an EHR Module for Primary Care. Prim Health Care 2:
Shea, Christopher M; Halladay, Jacqueline R; Reed, David et al. (2012) Integrating a health-related-quality-of-life module within electronic health records: a comparative case study assessing value added. BMC Health Serv Res 12:67