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As a child approaches adulthood, many transitions take place; physically and psychosocially. There are new roles and responsibilities. For the young adult with cleft lip and palate (CLP), one of the most significant transitions is moving from the pediatric interdisciplinary team to the adult-centered health care system. There is a shift in focus from the cleft itself and clinician-reported outcomes to patient self-report about the perceived impact of the cleft on quality of life. Transition also befalls the parents and team providers who, through the course of some 18 years, were active participants in the young person's care. Their roles, too, have changed. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF; World Health Organization, 2001, 2004) is a conceptual framework for considering the totality of the cleft by addressing the interaction between the person and their personal and social environment. This model is suitably applicable to the transition of care of the young adult with CLP. In this paper, we propose an evidence-based person-centered delivery model of care using the concepts of the ICF to facilitate the transition of care for this population. A case example is presented highlighting the use of these concepts for the speech-language pathologist.

This research explored health decision-making processes among people recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Our analysis suggested that diagnosis with type 2 was followed by a period of intense emotional and cognitive disequilibrium. Subsequently, the informants were observed to proceed to health decision-making which was affected by three separate and interrelated factors: knowledge, self-efficacy, and purpose. Knowledge included cognitive or factual components and emotional elements. Knowledge influenced the degree of upset or disequilibrium the patient experienced, and affected a second category, agency: the informants’ confidence in their ability to enact lifestyle changes. The third factor, purpose, summarized the personal and deeply held reasons people gave as they made decisions concerning their health, eating and exercising. We propose this model, grounded in informant stories, as a heuristic, to guide further inquiry. From these stories, the patient is seen as more active and the interrelated influences of knowledge, agency, and purpose, synergistically interact to explain changes in health behaviors.

The fragmented approaches to delivering health care services in the United States, along with the associated structural inefficiencies and unsustainable increases in health care costs affecting all payers, compel the need for reform. Various federal and state-level delivery system reform models have emerged in response. The Medical Home (MH) is one of such reform models. In 2004 a national initiative entitled "The Future for Family Medicine Project" identified the lack of emphasis on comprehensive primary care, especially for chronic care patients, and proposed the introduction of MHs to improve comprehensive primary care delivery for every patient. Oregon's MH variant, the Patient-Centered Primary Care Home (PCPCH), was introduced in 2009 as part of a state-wide health reform initiative ushered in by the passage of House Bill 2009 to promote the Triple Aim. Since 2011, over 600 primary care clinics have been recognized as PCPCHs. Proponents of the model argued that it will help improve comprehensive primary care services upstream and reduce inappropriate utilization of Emergency Department (ED) and Inpatient (IP) care and expenditures downstream. Evidence on the model's application to reduce ED and IP utilization and expenditures have so far been mixed. Based on growing interests in the effects of the model's application to provide care for different types of patients, this research was designed to evaluate the policy effects of the application of PCPCHs, with a focus on PCPCHs that treat greater proportions of chronic care patients, to answer the following questions: (1) What is the average chronic disease burden of PCPCHs, and how does their average chronic disease burden compare to the communities PCPCHs are in pre-post PCPCH recognition? (2) How do primary care expenditures change based on the chronic disease burden of PCPCHs? (3) Do PCPCHs that engage more high chronic disease burden patients have more reductions in ED and IP expenditures? For this research, a chronic disease burden measure was developed from 10 markers of chronic conditions. This measure was then used to stratify PCPCH clinics and their comparators into high and low chronic disease burden clinics. The research was designed as a natural experiment, utilizing difference-in-difference methods to measure outcome differences pre-post PCPCH policy implementation and comparing outcome differences between PCPCHs and their control groups. The unit of analysis was PCPCH clinics. The theoretical perspectives that informed this research were Risk Selection and Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS). Data from Oregon's All Payer All Claims (APAC) data system, which included 16 quarters of claims and eligibility data from fourth quarter 2010 to third quarter 2014, as well as PCPCH attestation data on 525 clinics were utilized for this research. The results suggest that the chronic disease burden for PCPCHs was significantly lower than their comparator groups before clinics recognition as PCPCHs, but the chronic disease burden did not change after clinics recognition as PCPCHs. Average primary care expenditures did not change after PCPCH recognition. Average ED and average IP expenditures for high chronic disease burden PCPCHs did not change but rather decreased significantly for low chronic disease burden PCPCHs. The results imply that the distribution of chronic disease burden in PCPCHs is important and related to ED and IP expenditures, but in a different direction than expected. The results also suggest that focusing on low chronic disease burden patients in PCPCHs could help reduce ED and IP expenditures in the short and medium terms. Policies to engage a broader mix of chronic disease burden patients in PCPCHs could help increase savings from ED and IP utilization. The results also suggest the need for more research to improve current understanding of how PCPCHs are impacting health care trajectories in the current delivery system environment.

Provider incentives are a commonly used policy tool to mold provider behaviors.1 However, while we frequently measure the change in patient outcomes, failure to consistently produce changes in outcomes does not mean that providers are not changing their behavior. This paper focuses on two programs with null or inconsistent quality outcomes to try to identify why such inconsistency occurs. The two programs, both ratified in the Affordable Care Act, are 1) patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs), and 2) the Medicare Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (HVBP) program. Chapter 1: Using data from the Medical Expenditure Panel survey (MEPS), I match provider characteristic surveys to member experience with care in order to evaluate characteristics key to patient-centered medical homes. I find that patient-perceived patient-centeredness of a practice is not related to the number of PCMH attributes a practice reports. However, some characteristics do play specific and significant roles in patient perception and outcomes. For instance, case management is not only associated with increased patient perception of after-hours access to care, but overall costs were reduced. Interestingly, having after hours clinic hours was more common with practices highly consistent with PCMH criteria, but these hours did not result in decreased emergency department use or cost of care. Chapter 2: The second provider incentive studied is the Medicare Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program (HVBP). This program assigns payment adjustments based on performance on a series of rotating quality metrics. To date, changes in patient outcomes cannot be attributed to the program; however, it should not be concluded that hospitals are not responding at all. I identify changes in staffing by provider type as an early indicator of hospital response to payment incentives. Data come from the Virginia Health Information (VHI) Hospital Cost Report, 2010-2017. Using a generalized linear model, I find that when receiving a penalty, hospitals reduce staffing among the most and least expensive personnel (physicians and nursing aides). Hospitals increase nursing and administrative staff following a bonus. These findings are consistent with hospitals responding to incentives both by aiming to improve efficient use of resources and maintain or improve quality of care. Chapter 3: Finally, I assess potential unintended consequences of the HVBP program, specifically the provision of charity care. Using the VHI cost reports for year 2013 to 2017 with a regression discontinuity model, I find that hospitals receiving a bonus decrease their charity care among the lowest income patients (under 100% federal poverty level (FPL)). Hospitals receiving a penalty tend to reduce charity care among higher income patients (100%-200% FPL). These findings are consistent with two separate responses to the incentives. Hospitals receiving bonuses appear to be cream-skimming healthier, wealthier individuals while hospitals receiving penalties appear to be shifting the focus of their charity care to the most needy, likely in an effort to reduce cost of care levels overall while maintaining their community benefit programs, potentially as a result of goal gradient cognitive bias.

The emerging health care culture of accountability for patient outcomes compounds problems for already overwhelmed clinicians struggling to fit everything entailed in complicated office visits into 15-minute appointments. Unprocessed frustrations tempt clinicians to use ineffective and outdated methods for trying to get their patients to comply or adhere to their care plans, undermining effective health care management. The intention of this project was to evaluate whether educating medical assistants in the health coaching method of motivational interviewing can improve the patient care approach while simultaneously assisting clinicians struggling with insufficient time. Several individual scheduling conflicts limited the target population into two primary care medical assistants and two auxiliary primary care office staff who voluntarily chose to learn the new approach. Guided by the adult learning theory, an educational lecture project was designed to capture the spirit of motivational interviewing through basic descriptions and strategies that will assist learners to focus on person-centered conversation skills, helping to balance both the needs of the patient and clinician. Following the education, participants filled out an anonymous post-lecture evaluation questionnaire to provide immediate feedback about learner understanding. Responses indicated the project met its stated objectives, and results showed the versatility of the motivational interviewing method which can be learned and effectively applied by health care workers from a wide range of professional backgrounds. Motivational interviewing is an innovative approach that utilizes therapeutic communication to promote behavior changes that lead to improved health of our communities and country.

Ineffectively managed chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus (DM) increase overall health care expenditures and negatively affects health outcomes such as exacerbations, functional decline, disability, and death. The purpose of this systematic review (SR) was to review the DM outcomes reported by patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs). The goal was to determine how care coordination and evidence-based clinical management impacted financial and health outcomes. The SR followed the Cochrane protocol and complied with the PRISMA evidence-based minimum set for reporting. Overall, DM management in the PCMH demonstrated statistically significant completion rates for essential screenings and preventive care, including HgA1c (p = 0.0013), lipid management (p

August 2016 Management of metabolic syndrome (MetS) may be enhanced by promoting patient engagement. Training health care providers in the conceptual and practical application of integrative patient centered care tools may promote patient lifestyle behaviors for better management of MetS. The purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental study was to assess the impact of training providers in integrative patient centered care for patients with MetS. The biopsychosocial construct provided the conceptual framework for the study. Two groups of physicians were included; one received training in an integrative model (IM) while the second received no training and provided usual care (UC). Following training, patient disease biometrics and medication adherence were monitored for approximately four months. Due to a diminished sample size in the completer data set, an intention to treat (ITT) data set was created with baseline values brought forward. In the ITT set, BMI decreased significantly (p=0.005, d=0.18) with each group over time: (IM: 32.9 -± 7.3 Kg/m2 to 31.6 -± 6.8 Kg/m2) and (UC: 32.1 -± 6.7 to 31.5 -± 6.3 Kg/m2). However, there were no statistically significant differences between these two groups' measures. In the completer set, BMI decreased significantly (p < 0.05, d=0.18) over time with the IM group, but not the UC group: (IM: 35.14 -± 7.9 Kg/m2 to 33.65* -± 7.62 Kg/m2) and (UC: 32.4 -± 6.62 Kg/m2 and (32.4 -± 6.5 Kg/m2); indicating a possible relationship between the intervention training (IM) and improved health outcomes. Thus, providers are assisting patients with important lifestyle choices to better manage MetS, potentially leading to social change around improved patient health care behaviors and advancement in providers' patient centered practices.

Over the last decade, long-term care facilities have transitioned from institutional care models that focus on person-centered care, in which the resident is the center of the care. The purpose of this study is to explore the nurse and certified nursing assistant perception of the person-centered care services they deliver. Jean Watson's theory of human caring is the theoretical framework that guided this study. The theory focusing on the human caring experiences and person-centered care is being characterized as a caring feeling. The carative factors of Watson's theory, the fundamental concept of caring, has been associated with improved outcomes for the resident and the caregiver. Using a phenomenology research design, 3 focus groups of 15 nurses and 10 certified nursing assistants (CNA), working in a long-term care facility, were asked questions to describe their perception of person-centered care. The responses from the 25 participants were stored and organized using Nvivo. The thematic analysis revealed that the nurses and CNAs perceived person-centered care to include the caring and compassionate approach taken when care is being delivered. The participants also shared that person-centered care included involving the resident in decision making through communicating openly and developing relationships. The discussions revealed that 8 carative factors influenced their understanding, with the main factor being the creative problem-solving method for decision making. The �ndings from this study have the potential to impact positive social change at the organizational level, influencing the delivery of care within long-term care settings.

Bakgrund: En kronisk oförutsägbar sjukdom som Crohns sjukdom framkallar fysisk, psykologisk och social stress. Sjukdomen påverkar vardagen, försämrar livskvalitet och skapar oro. För att bedriva personcentrerad vård krävs insikt i hur denna oro upplevs. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att belysa sjukdomsrelaterad oro hos personer med Crohns sjukdom. Metod: Åtta kvinnor och fyra män mellan 30 och 64 år som skattat sin sjukdomsrelaterade oro som hög eller mycket hög identifierades. Intervjuer genomfördes och analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Analysen genererade tre kategorier: (1) Oro för sjukdomen i sig, (2) känslor runt oron, (3) samt hantering av oron. Sjukdomens oförutsägbarhet samt nedsatt funktion till följd av trötthet och bristande kontroll över tarmfunktionen var de mest framträdande orsakerna till oro. Oron skapade känslor av stress, skuld och besvikelse. Deltagarna uttryckte önskemål att få prata om och synliggöra oron men hade också funnit egna sätt att hantera denna. Slutsats: Det finns ett kvarstående behov av att ventilera och få förståelse för sjukdomsrelaterad oro, även efter många års sjukdom. Personer med Crohns sjukdom måste få prata om sin oro, vara en aktiv partner i vården och tillsammans med vårdgivaren finna sätt att hantera oron så att denna kan lindras. / Background: A chronic, unpredictable disease as Crohn's disease provides physical, psychological and social stress. The disease affects everyday life, impairs quality of life and create worries. To conduct person-centered care requires insight into how this worry is experienced. Objective: To explore disease-related worries in persons with Crohn´s disease. Method: Eight women and four men between 30 and 64 who estimated their disease-related worries high or very high were identified. Interviews were conducted and analyzed with content analysis. Results: The analysis generated three categories: (1) Worries about the disease itself, (2) feelings around the worries, (3) management of the worries. The unpredictable course of the disease and the impaired function due to fatigue and lack of control of bowel function were the most prominent causes of worries. The worries created feelings of stress, guilt and disappointment. The participants expressed the wish to talk about and make the worries visible but had also found their own ways to handle it. Conclusion: There is a persistent need to vent and get an understanding of disease-related worries, even after many years of disease. Persons with Crohn's disease need to talk about their worries, be an active partner in healthcare and together with the health-care providers find ways to handle the worries so it can be relieved.