BackgroundHealth information technology can enhance self-management and quality of life for patients with chronic disease and overcome healthcare barriers for patients with limited English proficiency. After a randomized controlled trial of a multilingual automated telephone self-management support program (ATSM) improved patient-centered dimensions of diabetes care in safety net clinics, we collaborated with a nonprofit Medicaid managed care plan to translate research into practice, offering ATSM as a covered benefit and augmenting ATSM to promote medication activation. This paper describes the protocol of the Self-Management Automated and Real-Time Telephonic Support Project (SMARTSteps).Methods/DesignThis controlled quasi-experimental trial used a wait-list variant of a stepped wedge design to enroll 362 adult health plan members with diabetes who speak English, Cantonese, or Spanish and receive care at 4 publicly-funded clinics. Through language-stratified randomization, participants were assigned to four intervention statuses: SMARTSteps-ONLY, SMARTSteps-PLUS, or wait-list for either intervention. In addition to usual primary care, intervention participants received 27 weekly calls in their preferred language with rotating queries and response-triggered education about self-care, medication adherence, safety concerns, psychological issues, and preventive services. Health coaches from the health plan called patients with out-of-range responses for collaborative goal setting and action planning. SMARTSteps-PLUS also included health coach calls to promote medication activation, adherence and intensification, if triggered by ATSM-reported non-adherence, refill non-adherence from pharmacy claims, or suboptimal cardiometabolic indicators. Wait-list patients crossed-over to SMARTSteps-ONLY or -PLUS at 6 months. For participants who agreed to structured telephone interviews at baseline and 6 months (n = 252), primary outcomes will be changes in quality of life and functional status with secondary outcomes of 6-month changes in self-management behaviors/efficacy and patient-centered processes of care. We will also evaluate 6-month changes in cardiometabolic (HbA1c, blood pressure, and LDL) and utilization indicators for all participants.DiscussionOutcomes will provide evidence regarding real-world implementation of ATSM within a Medicaid managed care plan serving safety net settings. The evaluation trial will provide insight into translating and scaling up health information technology interventions for linguistically and culturally diverse vulnerable populations with chronic disease.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00683020
Safety net systems need innovative diabetes self-management programs for linguistically diverse patients. A low-income government-sponsored managed care plan implemented a 27-week automated telephone self-management support (ATSM) / health coaching intervention for English, Spanish-, and Cantonese-speaking members from four publicly-funded clinics in a practice-based research network. Compared to waitlist, immediate intervention participants had greater 6-month improvements in overall diabetes self-care behaviors (standardized effect size [ES] 0.29, p<0.01) and SF-12 physical scores (ES 0.25, p=0.03); changes in patient-centered processes of care and cardiometabolic outcomes did not differ. ATSM is a strategy for improving patient-reported self-management and may also improve some outcomes.
The 2022 Supreme Court decision leaving the regulation of abortion to the states is sure to result in a complex regulatory environment for patients and nurses. In states where abortion is illegal, patients may self-manage abortions using medications they obtain through the mail or by other means. Nurses may care for these patients in multiple settings and may wonder about their own legal and ethical obligations. This article reviews patient privacy as it relates to self-managed abortion, ethical reporting requirements for nurses, and best practices for treating complications of self-managed abortion using a harm reduction framework, with a focus on protecting patients' rights. Recommendations for ethical patient care are also provided.
Since the World Health Organisation's announcement of the "Bone and Joint Decade 2000-2010" diseases of the musculoskeletal system attract more and more attention throughout patients and professional health care providers. In an aging society especially osteoporosis represents a major public health concern. Fragility fractures are the most limiting condition in osteoporosis with the highest impact on both, life quality and health care systems worldwide. Orthopaedic surgeons play a key role in implementing primary diagnostics and therapy in patients with fragility fractures. Objective of this effort is the reduction of the common subsequent fractures in patients with osteoporosis. According to national and international guidelines implementation of contemporary clinical pathways to diagnose and treat patients with fractures due to diminished bone mineral density is fast, simple and proven to be effective.
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