Background Rural Americans with diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) face a 50% increased risk of major amputation compared to their urban counterparts. We sought to identify health system barriers contributing to this disparity. Methods We interviewed 44 participants involved in the care of rural patients with DFUs: 6 rural primary care providers (PCPs), 12 rural specialists, 12 urban specialists, 9 support staff, and 5 patients/caregivers. Directed content analysis was performed guided by a conceptual model describing how PCPs and specialists collaborate to care for shared patients. Results Rural PCPs reported lack of training in wound care and quickly referred patients with DFUs to local podiatrists or wound care providers. Timely referrals to, and subsequent collaborations with, rural specialists were facilitated by professional connections. However, these connections often were lacking between rural providers and urban specialists, whose skills were needed to optimally treat patients with high acuity ulcers. Urban referrals, particularly to vascular surgery or infectious disease, were stymied by 1) time-consuming processes, 2) negative provider interactions, and 3) multiple, disconnected electronic health record systems. Such barriers ultimately detracted from rural PCPs’ ability to focus on medical management, as well as urban specialists’ ability to appropriately triage referrals due to lacking information. Subsequent collaboration between providers also suffered as a result. Conclusions Poor connections across rural and urban healthcare systems was described as the primary health system barrier driving the rural disparity in major amputations. Future interventions focusing on mitigating this barrier could reduce the rural disparity in major amputations.
Trust between healthcare workers is a fundamental component of effective, interprofessional collaboration and teamwork. However, little is known about how this trust is built, particularly when healthcare workers are distributed (i.e., not co-located and lack a shared electronic health record). We interviewed 39 healthcare workers who worked with proximal and distributed colleagues to care for patients with diabetic foot ulcers and analyzed transcripts using content analysis. Generally, building trust was a process that occurred over time, starting with an introduction and proceeding through iterative cycles of communication and working together to coordinate care for shared patients. Proximal, compared to distributed, dyads had more options available for interactions which, in turn, facilitated communication and working together to build trust. Distributed healthcare workers found it more difficult to develop trusting relationships and relied heavily on individual initiative to do so. Few effective tools existed at the level of interprofessional collaborations, teams, or broader healthcare systems to support trust between distributed healthcare workers. With increasing use of distributed interprofessional collaborations and teams, future efforts should focus on fostering this critical attribute.
Objective: SBP variability may be a target for mitigating end-organ damage associated with vascular disease. We evaluated the relationship between increased SBP variability and risk of incident diabetic foot ulceration. Methods: Using a nested case-control design, we followed patients diagnosed with diabetes and treated within the US Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare system for development of a diabetic foot ulcer (event) between 2006 and 2010. Each case was randomly matched to up to five controls based on age, sex, race/ethnicity, and calendar time. SBP variability was computed using at least three blood pressure measurements from the year preceding the event. The association between SBP variability and foot ulceration was examined using conditional logistic regression. Potential protective effects of calcium channel blockers, which blunt SBP variability, were also explored. Results: The study sample included 51 111 cases and 129 247 controls. Compared with those in quartile 1 (lowest variability), patients in quartiles 2–4 had higher adjusted odds ratios for diabetic foot ulcer development: 1.11 (95% CI 1.07–1.16), 1.20 (95% CI 1.15–1.25), 1.29 (95% CI 1.24–1.34) (P for trend <0.001). Calcium channel blockers were associated with reduced risks of ulceration for those without peripheral vascular disease (OR = 0.87, 95% CI 0.84–0.90, P< 0.001) or neuropathy (OR = 0.85, 95% CI 0.82–0.89, P< 0.001) in adjusted subgroup analyses. Conclusion: This study describes a graded relationship between SBP variability and risk of diabetic foot ulceration, providing a potential new and modifiable target to reduce this common complication.
BackgroundApproximately 2 million Americans develop a diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) annually; >50% die and 5% lose a limb within 5 years. IDSA guidelines recommend multidisciplinary team care for these patients (moderate evidence). Little is known about who should compose the team or how the team should function (low evidence). We conducted a systematic review following PRISMA guidelines to evaluate the effect of multidisciplinary team care on major amputation in patients with DFU’s and describe team composition and function.MethodsA medical reference librarian searched databases without date limits through May 26, 2017. Two independent reviewers screened abstracts and then full text using the following inclusion criteria: original article; reported the effect of multidisciplinary teams (≥2 specialties) on major amputation; included a control group; >50% of study patients had diabetes; in English. Abstracted data included study design, patient characteristics, team composition and function, and major amputation rates.ResultsWe included 33 studies (Figure 1). Five (15%) were in the United States, and 27 (82%) were historically controlled trials. Thirty-two (97%) documented lower major amputation rates among patients cared for by a multidisciplinary team (Figure 2). Relative reductions ranged from 11 to 90%. A 12% relative increase was observed in the single study documenting increased rates of major amputation following multidisciplinary care. Thirty-six different specialties were represented in the 26 studies reporting team composition, including: endocrinology (85%), vascular surgery (73%), orthopedic surgery (65%), podiatry (54%), and infectious disease (50%). Teams functioned in the following settings: inpatient (30%), outpatient (15%), or both (55%). Among 12 studies reporting team function, the following topics were addressed: surgical debridement/offloading (66%), vascular disease (63%), infection (59%), and glycemic control (41%).ConclusionCare by multidisciplinary teams may help prevent major amputation for patients with DFUs. Team composition and function, and reductions in major amputation rates, varied considerably. Research directly comparing different models of multidisciplinary care is needed. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.
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