Journal of general internal medicine
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Completion of Medicare Annual Wellness Visits (AWV) and documentation of Hierarchical Condition Categories (HCC) are important metrics in accountable care organizations (ACO) with quality and financial implications. To improve performance in large healthcare organizations, quality improvement (QI) efforts need to be scaled up in a way that is feasible within available system-wide resources. ⋯ AWV and HCC performance goals were met in 2020, despite service disruptions due to COVID-19. The QI approach we used is applicable to other problems and other large healthcare systems.
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Seventeen medical homes (MHs) were established in the Local Health Authority (LHA) of Parma (about 450,000 residents), Emilia Romagna, Italy, between 2011 and 2016. ⋯ This MH initiative was associated with a 7% reduction in risk of ED visits. More research is necessary to understand if ED visit risk will continue to improve and how other aspects of healthcare utilization might change as more MHs open and the length of exposure to MHs increases.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of Peer Benchmarking on Specialist Electronic Consult Performance in a Los Angeles Safety-Net: a Cluster Randomized Trial.
Since the advent of COVID-19, accelerated adoption of systems that reduce face-to-face encounters has outpaced training and best practices. Electronic consultations (eConsults), structured communications between PCPs and specialists regarding a case, have been effective in reducing face-to-face specialist encounters. As the health system rapidly adapts to multiple new practices and communication tools, new mechanisms to measure and improve performance in this context are needed. ⋯ The pandemic has shed light on clinicians' commitment to professionalism and service as we rapidly adapt to changing paradigms. Interventions that appeal to professional norms can help improve the efficacy of new systems of practice. We show that specialists' performance can be measured and improved with feedback using aspirational norms.