Socializing the evidence for diabetes control to develop "mindlines": a qualitative pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Evidence on specific interventions to improve diabetes control in primary care is available, but this evidence is not always well-implemented. The concept of "mindlines" has been proposed to explain how clinicians integrate evidence using specifics of their practices and patients to produce knowledge-in-practice-in-context. The goal of this pilot study was to operationalize this concept by creating a venue for clinician-staff interaction concerning evidence. The research team attempted to hold "mindlines"-producing conversations in primary care practices about evidence to improve diabetes control. METHODS: Each of four primary care practices in a single health system held practice-wide conversations about a simple diabetes intervention model over a provided lunch. The conversations were relatively informal and encouraged participation from all. The research team recorded the conversations and took field notes. The team analyzed the data using a framework adapted from the "mindlines" research and noted additional emergent themes. RESULTS: While most of the conversation concerned barriers to implementation of the simple diabetes intervention model, there were examples of practices adopting and adapting the evidence to suit their own needs and context. Performance metrics regarding diabetes control for the four practices improved after the intervention. CONCLUSION: It appears that the type of conversations that "mindlines" research describes can be generated with facilitation around evidence, but further research is required to better understand the limitations and impact of this intervention.

Lessons learned from implementing the patient-centered medical home.

The Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) is a primary care model that provides coordinated and comprehensive care to patients to improve health outcomes. This paper addresses practical issues that arise when transitioning a traditional primary care practice into a PCMH recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). Individual organizations' experiences with this transition were gathered at a PCMH workshop in Alexandria, Virginia in June 2010. An analysis of their experiences has been used along with a literature review to reveal common challenges that must be addressed in ways that are responsive to the practice and patients' needs. These are: NCQA guidance, promoting provider buy-in, leveraging electronic medical records, changing office culture, and realigning workspace in the practice to accommodate services needed to carry out the intent of PCMH. The NCQA provides a set of standards for implementing the PCMH model, but these standards lack many specifics that will be relied on in location situations. While many researchers and providers have made critiques, we see this vagueness as allowing for greater flexibility in how a practice implements PCMH.