Physicians' Voices: What Skills and Supports Are Needed for Effective Practice in an Integrated Delivery System? A Case Study of Kaiser Permanente.

Payers are demanding that US health care become more accountable and integrated, posing new demands for physicians and the organizations that partner with them. We conducted focus groups with 30 physicians in a large integrated delivery system who had previous experience practicing in less integrated settings and asked about skills they need to succeed in this environment. Physicians identified 3 primary skills: orienting to teams and systems, engaging patients as individuals and as a panel, and integrating cost awareness into practice. Physicians also expressed a high level of trust that the system was designed to help them provide better care. This belief appeared to make the new demands and mental shifts tolerable, even welcome, standing in contrast to research showing widespread physician distrust of their institutional settings. Physicians' new skills and the system features that promote trust are described in the article and should be a focus for systems transitioning to a more integrated, accountable model.

Low-value care for acute sinusitis encounters: who's choosing wisely?

OBJECTIVES: To assess acute sinusitis (AS) encounters in primary care (PC), urgent care (UC), and emergency department (ED) settings for adherence to recommendations to avoid low-value care. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective, observational study of adult AS encounters (2010-2012) within a large integrated healthcare system. METHODS: We compared ED and UC encounters with PC visits, adjusting for differences in patient characteristics. PRIMARY OUTCOMES: adherence to recommendations to avoid antibiotics and a computed tomography (CT) scan of the face, head, or sinuses. SECONDARY OUTCOMES: length of symptoms and adherence with AS recommendations. RESULTS: Of 152,774 AS encounters, 89.2% resulted in antibiotics and 1.1% resulted in a CT scan. Compared with PC encounters, ED encounters were less likely to result in antibiotics (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 0.57; 95% CI, 0.50-0.65) but more likely to result in a CT scan (AOR, 59.4; 95% CI, 51.3-68.7), while UC encounters were more likely to result in both antibiotics (AOR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.08-1.17) and CT imaging (AOR, 2.4; 95% CI, 2.1-2.7). Chart review of encounters resulting in antibiotics found that 50% were inappropriately prescribed for symptoms of ≤7 days' duration (95% CI, 41%-58%), while 35% were appropriately prescribed for symptoms of ≥14 days' duration (95% CI, 27%-44%). Only 29% (95% CI, 22%-36%) of encounters were consistent with guideline-adherent care. CONCLUSIONS: AS encounters in an integrated health system infrequently result in CT imaging, but antibiotic treatment is common. Differences exist across acute care settings, but improved antibiotic stewardship is needed in all settings.

Higher antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (C-ANCA) titers are associated with increased overall healthcare use in patients with sinonasal manifestations of granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA).

BACKGROUND: Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) is an autoimmune disease characterized by necrotizing granulomatous airway inflammation and vasculitis. Sinonasal involvement occurs in more than 80% cases, with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (C-ANCA) titers used as a marker of disease severity. The purpose of this study was to determine whether C-ANCA levels impact radiographic findings and healthcare use in patients with sinonasal GPA. METHODS: A retrospective review was performed on GPA patients evaluated in a multidisciplinary rheumatologic/otolaryngologic clinic from 2008 to 2013. Data were collected with respect to age, gender, clinical presentation, C-ANCA titers, Lund-Mackay (LM) scores, surgical interventions, and healthcare use, the latter of which were determined by assessing the number of rheumatology/otolaryngology clinic visits, computed tomography (CT) scans, and email/telephone encounters. RESULTS: A total of 44 patients were identified, 11 male and 33 female. Sinonasal manifestations were evident in 70.4%, with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) (41.9%), septal perforation (38.7%), and crusting (32.2%) the most common findings. No significant differences in number of CT scans (p = 0.10) or mean LM scores (p = 0.47) were found between patients with more than or equal to 1:80 and less than 1:80 C-ANCA titers, respectively. However, overall healthcare use was increased in the more than or equal to 1:80 C-ANCA group (n = 28) compared with less than 1:80 (n = 16), with a significantly greater number of rheumatologic/otolaryngologic encounters (mean 121 versus 69.2, p = 0.03) noted. When otolaryngologic healthcare use was specifically examined, the average number of encounters was also higher in more than or equal to 1:80 C-ANCA patients (31.9 versus 22.9), but this difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.16). CONCLUSION: Sinonasal GPA patients with presenting C-ANCA titers more than or equal to 1:80 demonstrated significantly greater overall healthcare use than their lower C-ANCA level counterparts (less than 1:80). However, no significant differences in otolaryngology resource use or LM scores were evident between the two titer groups.

What does professionalism mean to the physician?

Professionalism, which is a core competency for physicians, can be described as a spectrum of behaviors and may have a significant impact on the problems in today's changing health care climate. In this article, we discuss the meaning of professionalism and its role in the Southern California Permanente Medical Group (SCPMG) and consider how it may be applied to integrated care delivery systems such as Kaiser Permanente. To understand professionalism, one must consider Stern's definition, which consists of four principles: excellence, humanism, accountability, and altruism. SCPMG has taken three of these principles-excellence, accountability, and altruism-and divided the fourth, humanism, into another three principles similar to those identified by the University of California Los Angeles Task Force on Professionalism: humanitarianism, respect for others, and honor and integrity. SCPMG has a rich history and culture of promoting clinical excellence and professionalism, as evidenced by the programs and initiatives described throughout this article. Indeed, the SCPMG experience validates professionalism as a core physician competency comprising a set of behaviors that are continually refined.