Implementing an osteoarthritis management program to deliver guideline-driven care for knee and hip osteoarthritis in a U.S. academic health system.

Objective: Assess implementation feasibility and outcomes for an Osteoarthritis Management Program (OAMP) at an academic center. Design: This open study assessed an OAMP designed to deliver care in 1-5 individual or group visits across ≤12 months. Eligibility included adults with knee or hip osteoarthritis with ≥1 visit from 7/1/2017-1/15/2021. A multidisciplinary care team provided: education on osteoarthritis, self-management, exercise, weight loss; pharmacologic management; assessments of mood, sleep, quality of life, and diet. Clinic utilization and growth are reported through 2022. Patient outcomes of body mass index (BMI), pain, and function were analyzed using multivariable general linear models. OAMP outcomes were feasibility and sustainability. Results: Most patients were locally referred by primary care. 953 patients attended 2531 visits (average visits 2.16, treatment duration 187.9 days). Most were female (72.6%), older (62.1), white (91.1%), and had medical insurance (95.4%). Obesity was prevalent (84.7% BMI ≥30, average BMI 40.9), mean Charlson Comorbidity Index was 1.89, and functional testing was below average. Longitudinal modeling revealed statistically but not clinically significant pain reduction (4.4-3.9 on 0-10 scale, p â€‹= â€‹0.002). BMI did not significantly change (p â€‹= â€‹0.87). Higher baseline pain and BMI correlated with greater reductions in each posttreatment. Uninsured patients had shorter treatment duration. Increasing clinic hours (4-24 â€‹h weekly) and serving 953 patients over four years demonstrated OAMP sustainability. Conclusions: OAMP implementation was feasible and sustainable. Patients with high baseline pain and BMI were more likely to improve. Noninsurance was a barrier. These results contribute to understanding OAMP outcomes in U.S. healthcare.

Walking the talk: understanding how language barriers affect the delivery of rehabilitation services.

PURPOSE: Individuals who lack proficiency in the dominant language of their region experience difficulty accessing healthcare and exhibit poorer health outcomes. Utilization of professional interpreters can improve health services and outcomes for this population. Most existing studies focus on medical settings, with very little research about language barriers in rehabilitation services such as occupational and physical therapy. The purpose of this study was to explore experiences of English-speaking rehabilitation clinicians working with limited English proficient (LEP) patients, as well as LEP patients receiving rehabilitation services. METHODS: A qualitative study was conducted involving four focus groups with seven Spanish-speaking patients and 13 primarily English-speaking occupational and physical therapy clinicians. Transcripts and field notes were analyzed using directed content analysis. RESULTS: Time and resource constraints, session demands, environmental factors, previous experiences, and patient characteristics influenced clinicians' decisions about whether to use professional interpretation, rely on untrained interpreters, or go without interpretation. Clinicians discussed both challenges and joys of working across language barriers. Patients reported minimal experiences with, and expectations of professional interpretation in rehabilitation, instead describing clinicians' attempts to "get by" with limited non-English language skills. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight unique considerations for language access in rehabilitation compared with other settings. These findings inform structural, process, and outcomes recommendations and changes in practice guidelines to improve language access in rehabilitation services.Implications for RehabilitationRehabilitation encounters present unique challenges for language interpretation services that require creative technological, procedural, and structural solutions.Technological solutions include flexible and mobile telecommunication devices, such as headsets, which allow real-time interpreting without interfering with treatment processes.Procedural solutions include establishing a systematic mechanism for recording patients' language needs, creating a standard and seamless protocol for clinicians to obtain language supports, and hiring trained interpreters who are familiar with rehabilitation jargon.Structural solutions include budgeting for interpreter services, sponsoring trainings for staff and clinicians, and adjusting clinicians' workload and expectations to allow greater time and flexibility to meet patients' language needs.

Indicators of Quality Rehabilitation Services for Individuals with Limited English Proficiency: A 3-Round Delphi Study.

OBJECTIVE: To obtain expert consensus on indicators of quality rehabilitation services for individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP). DESIGN: Three-round Delphi study. SETTING: Delphi survey conducted online with 30 experts. Most experts worked in adult physical rehabilitation settings and were from Illinois (n=16), and the remaining participants were from 8 other US states or Canadian provinces. PARTICIPANTS: Experts (N=30) had a minimum of 2 publications on health care services for patients with LEP and/or a minimum of 5 years clinical experience in physical rehabilitation. Of 43 experts (11 researchers, 32 clinicians) who received the round 1 survey by e-mail, 30 returned complete responses (70% response rate). Of those, 25 completed round 2 and 24 completed round 3. Of round 1 participants, most (n =21) identified their primary professional activity as clinical, whereas the others worked in research (n =5) or education (n =4). Twenty-four were women. The median age was 43 years (range, 27-67y). Disciplines included occupational therapy (n =14), physical therapy (n =13), psychology (n=1), nursing (n=1), and medicine (n=1). INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Indicators were rated on a 7-point Likert scale for importance and feasibility. Interquartile range (IQR) and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for importance and feasibility ratings. Indicators with an IQR <2 and a median importance score ≥6 were accepted as reaching consensus for importance. RESULTS: Round 1 responses were categorized into 15 structural, 13 process, and 18 outcome indicators. All 15 structural indicators reached consensus for importance; 8 were rated as feasible. All 13 process indicators reached consensus, of which 8 were deemed feasible. Sixteen outcome indicators reached consensus, of which 7 were deemed feasible. CONCLUSIONS: This Delphi study identified structural, process, and outcome indicators that can inform delivery and assessment of quality rehabilitation services for individuals with LEP. Future research should operationalize and measure these quality indicators in clinical practice.

Patient and physician perceptions of knee and hip osteoarthritis care: A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Knee and hip osteoarthritis (KHOA) are common, chronic conditions affecting function, morbidity and mortality. Although the societal burden is high and guidelines are available to guide management, many patients do not receive recommended care. We investigated patient and physician perspectives on barriers and facilitators to KHOA guideline-based treatment and patient experiences in living with KHOA and navigating care. METHODS: Thirty-minute face-to-face interviews were conducted with primary care physicians and up to 4 patients of each physician at a US academic medical center. Physicians were recruited from 1 general internal medicine clinic and 1 family medicine clinic. All of their patients diagnosed with knee or hip osteoarthritis from 2008 to 2011 and under their care during the study period (2008-2015) were mailed study recruitment materials. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Content analysis was performed using QSR NVivo. RESULTS: Six of 19 physicians (31.6%) responded to the recruitment email and completed the interview. Seventy-three patients were sent recruitment letters; 18 (24.7%) expressed interest and 11 were scheduled for and completed the interview. Many patients reported a poor understanding of osteoarthritis and available treatment options and obtained most of their information from sources other than their medical team. They expressed fear of joint pain and often modified activities to avoid all pain. Many developed complex, time intensive treatment regimens that were not always evidence-based. Physicians expressed difficulties in managing osteoarthritis given time constraints and competing agenda items at appointments. Many felt that asking patients to make lifestyle changes for weight loss and exercise was daunting and unachievable. Both physicians and patients expressed interest in obtaining osteoarthritis education. CONCLUSIONS: Although evidence-based treatments for KHOA exist, our study highlights patient and physician barriers to receipt of this care. Better educational resources and new models of care to address these barriers may contribute to improved osteoarthritis management.

Multimodal Care for Knee and Hip Osteoarthritis: A Pilot Feasibility Study of a Novel Approach to a Common Problem.

BACKGROUND: Osteoarthritis is common and debilitating. Evidence-based care exists; there is a gap between recommended and received are. Multimodal treatment is recommended, with unknown effectiveness. We report pilot feasibility data for a new university-based clinic providing multimodal care for knee and hip osteoarthritis (KHOA). METHODS: Quality-improvement case series with the first 50 patients. A multidisciplinary team provided care. Feasibility outcomes included treatment duration, patient adherence, provision of guideline-recommended care, and satisfaction. Secondary outcomes included self-reported and objectively assessed patient measures. RESULTS: Fifty patients (59±10.5 years, 32 female) received guideline-recommended care; 40 adhered to 3.83±2.21 follow-up visits over 12.24±7.79 months; satisfaction was high. Objectively assessed outcomes improved, but self-reported outcomes did not. DISCUSSION: Early data suggest multimodal care for knee and hip osteoarthritis is feasible and may be associated with improved outcomes.

Nursing Unit Environment Associated with Provision of Language Services in Pediatric Hospices.

BACKGROUND: Provision of language services in pediatric hospice enables nurses to communicate effectively with patients who have limited English proficiency. Language barriers contribute to ethnic disparities in health care. While language service use corresponds with improved patient comprehension of illness and care options, we lack an understanding of how the nurse work environment affects the provision of these services. METHODS: Data were obtained from the 2007 National Home and Hospice Care Survey and included a study sample of 1251 pediatric hospice agencies. Variable selection was guided by structural contingency theory, which posits that organizational effectiveness is dependent upon how well an organization's structure relates to its context. Using multivariate logistic regression, we analyzed the extent to which nursing unit environment predicted provision of translation services and interpreter services. RESULTS: The majority of hospices provided translation services (74.9 %) and interpreter services (87.1 %). Four variables predicted translation services: registered nurse (RN) unit size, RN leadership, RN medical expertise, and for-profit status. RN medical expertise and having a safety climate within the hospice corresponded with provision of interpreter services. CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that nursing unit environment predicts provision of language services. Hospices with more specialized RNs and a stronger safety climate might include staffs who are dedicated to best care provision, including language services. This study provides valuable data on the nurse work environment as a predictor of language services provision, which can better serve patients with limited English proficiency and ultimately reduce ethnic disparities in end-of-life care for children and their families.

Characterization of columnar cell lesions of the breast: immunophenotypic analysis of columnar alteration of lobules with prominent apical snouts and secretions.

Columnar cell lesions of the breast are detected with increasing frequency in routine pathology practice, in part as a result of the widespread biopsy of nonpalpable breast abnormalities detected by screening mammography. Immunohistochemical investigation of the lesions in relation to the normal breast or to other breast pathologies is not well characterized, and the malignant potential of this spectrum of lesions has not been examined clinically. In this study, a cohort of 45 breast specimens containing columnar cell lesions, in particular, columnar alteration of lobules with prominent apical snouts and secretions (CAPSS), was investigated for expression of a series of breast tumor biomarkers. Using a semiquantitative immunohistochemical scoring system, up-regulation of estrogen, progesterone, and androgen receptors in CAPSS lesions to levels not significantly different from that in in situ or invasive breast tumors was identified. In four cases where CAPSS within a specimen lacked expression of a steroid hormone receptor, the coexisting in situ or invasive carcinoma also lacked expression of that receptor. In 81% of CAPSS lesions, E-cadherin immunostaining was reduced in isolated foci of cells or was decreased in intensity in all cells within the lesion. Quantitation of Ki-67 immunostaining demonstrated that proliferation of cells within CAPSS lesions was increased, compared with normal breast epithelium, but was lower than that detected in in situ or invasive cancers within the same specimens. Results of these analyses indicate that CAPSS shares immunophenotypic alterations with other premalignant lesions, the clinical implications of which may be investigated using established breast tumor biomarkers.

Naked plasmid DNA encoding fibroblast growth factor type 1 for the treatment of end-stage unreconstructible lower extremity ischemia: preliminary results of a phase I trial.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the safety and tolerance of increasing single and repeated (n = 2) doses of intramuscular naked plasmid DNA encoding for fibroblast growth factor (FGF) type 1 (NV1FGF) administered to patients with unreconstructible end-stage peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAD). The secondary objectives were to determine the biologic activity of NV1FGF on hemodynamic and clinical parameters associated with improved perfusion. METHODS: Fifty-one patients with unreconstructible peripheral arterial occlusive disease with rest pain or tissue necrosis underwent treatment with intramuscular NV1FGF. Increasing single (500, 1000, 2000, 4000, 8000, and 16,000 microg) and repeated (2 x 500, 2 x 1000, 2 x 2000, 2 x 4000, and 2 x 8000 microg) doses of NV1FGF were injected into the ischemic thigh and calf. Arteriography was performed before treatment and was repeated 12 weeks after treatment. Side effects and serious adverse events were monitored. Measurements of plasma and urine levels were performed to evaluate NV1FGF plasmid distribution. Serum FGF-1 was measured as an analysis of gene expression at the protein level. Transcutaneous oxygen pressure, ankle brachial index, toe brachial index, pain assessment with visual analog scale, and ulcer healing also were assessed. The safety results are presented for 51 patients, and the clinical outcomes are presented for the first 15 patients (500 to 4000 microg) who completed the 6-month follow-up study. RESULTS: NV1FGF was well tolerated. Sixty-six serious adverse events were reported; however, none were considered to be related to NV1FGF. Four patients had adverse events that were possibly or probably related to the study treatment: injection site pain, pain, peripheral edema, myasthenia, and paresthesia. No laboratory adverse events were related to the study treatment. Two deaths remote from the treatment were considered not related. Biodistribution of plasmid was limited and transient in plasma and absent in urine. No increase in the FGF-1 serum level was detected. A significant reduction in pain (P <.001) and aggregate ulcer size (P <.01) was associated with an increased transcutaneous oxygen pressure (P <.01) as compared with baseline pretreatment values. A significant increase in ankle brachial index (P <.01) was seen. CONCLUSION: NV1FGF is well tolerated and potentially could be effective for the treatment of patients with end-stage limb ischemia. Biologic parameters indicate improved perfusion after NV1FGF administration. Dose response is not yet evident. The safety of NV1FGF and the magnitude of improvement observed in this study encourage further investigation with a placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial.