Accelerating Implementation of Virtual Care in an Integrated Health Care System: Future Research and Operations Priorities.
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2021-08
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Abstract
Background
Virtual care is critical to Veterans Health Administration (VHA) efforts to expand veterans' access to care. Health care policies such as the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability (CHOICE) Act and the Maintaining Internal Systems and Strengthening Integrated Outside Networks (MISSION) Act impact how the VHA provides care. Research on ways to refine virtual care delivery models to meet the needs of veterans, clinicians, and VHA stakeholders is needed.Objective
Given the importance of virtual approaches for increasing access to high-quality VHA care, in December 2019, we convened a Think Tank, Accelerating Implementation of Virtual Care in VHA Practice, to consider challenges to virtual care research and practice across the VHA, discuss novel approaches to using and evaluating virtual care, assess perspectives on virtual care, and develop priorities to enhance virtual care in the VHA.Methods
We used a participatory approach to develop potential priorities for virtual care research and activities at the VHA. We refined these priorities through force-ranked prioritization and group discussion, and developed solutions for selected priorities.Results
Think Tank attendees (n = 18) consisted of VHA stakeholders, including operations partners (e.g., Office of Rural Health, Office of Nursing Services, Health Services Research and Development), clinicians (e.g., physicians, nurses, psychologists, physician assistants), and health services researchers. We identified an initial list of fifteen potential priorities and narrowed these down to four. The four priorities were (1) scaling evidence-based practices, (2) centralizing virtual care, (3) creating high-value care within the VHA with virtual care, and (4) identifying appropriate patients for virtual care.Conclusion
Our Think Tank took an important step in setting a partnered research agenda to optimize the use of virtual care within the VHA. We brought together research and operations stakeholders and identified possibilities, partnerships, and potential solutions for virtual care.Type
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Publication Info
Lewinski, Allison A, Caitlin Sullivan, Kelli D Allen, Matthew J Crowley, Jennifer M Gierisch, Karen M Goldstein, Kaileigh Gray, Susan N Hastings, et al. (2021). Accelerating Implementation of Virtual Care in an Integrated Health Care System: Future Research and Operations Priorities. Journal of general internal medicine, 36(8). pp. 2434–2442. 10.1007/s11606-020-06517-3 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/29635.
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Scholars@Duke
Allison A. Lewinski
I am a health services researcher and implementation scientist with a joint appointment at the Duke University School of Nursing (DUSON) and the Durham Veterans Affairs Health Care System (VHA). My expertise spans diabetes distress, qualitative research methods, and virtual care delivery (including telehealth and digital health).
My research examines how virtual care interventions can reduce distress, improve self-management, expand access to evidence-based care, and enhance patient and population health outcomes. I focus on patient-, provider-, and system-level factors that influence the use and effectiveness of virtual care. This work has been funded by competitive grants, published in high-impact journals, presented at national conferences, and used to inform health system decision-making. I am frequently sought by colleagues locally and nationally for expertise in diabetes distress, qualitative methods, and virtual care strategies for grants, projects, and manuscripts.
I strive to improve outcomes for individuals with chronic illness by developing equitable, sustainable virtual care solutions and evaluating their implementation. To optimize these interventions, I apply qualitative and implementation science approaches to ensure alignment among patient needs, care modalities, disease states, and social contexts. My work addresses critical questions: for whom and for what purposes are these interventions effective, in which contexts, and at what points in the care continuum. Ultimately, my research advances the implementation and adoption of virtual care to reduce psychosocial distress and improve health outcomes through patient-clinician interactions and system-level innovations.
Kelli Dominick Allen
- Improving care and outcomes for individuals with osteoarthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions with an emphasis on non-pharmacological therapies including physical activity, weight management, rehabilitation services, and pain coping
* Understanding rand reducing disparities in musculoskeletal conditions
* Musculoskeletal conditions in U.S. military Veterans
* Pragmatic clinical trials
* Adaptive interventions
Jennifer M. Gierisch
Jennifer Gierisch, PhD, is behavioral scientist and health services researcher. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Population Heath Sciences and the Department of Medicine at Duke University. She is a core investigator with the Center of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation (ADAPT) where she serves as the leader of the Partnered Research Methods Core (PRESTO) and Director of the VA OAA Health Services Research Postdoctoral Fellowship. Dr. Gierisch also is the Co-Director of the Evidence Synthesis Program (VA ESP) at the Durham Veteran Affairs Health Care System. She also served as a faculty director of the Duke Clinical Translational Science Institute's Community Engaged Research Initiative (CeRi) for five years
Dr. Gierisch’s research focuses on three overarching areas: 1) behavioral research on the psychosocial factors that influence appropriate uptake and maintenance of complex health behaviors (eg., weight management, smoking cessation, cancer screening); 2) evidence synthesis on key health and healthcare topics to enhance uptake of evidence-based interventions to improve patient and health system outcomes; and 3) participatory and community engaged research approaches.
Area of expertise: health behavior, community-engaged research, evidence synthesis, intervention development, qualitative research
Karen M. Goldstein
Dr. Goldstein's research interests include women's health, cardiovascular risk reduction, evidence synthesis methodology and peer support.
Susan Nicole Hastings
George Lee Jackson
Areas of expertise: Epidemiology, Health Services Research, and Implementation Science
George L. Jackson, Ph.D., MHA is a healthcare epidemiologist and implementation scientist with a background in health administration. He joined the faculty of the UT Southwestern Medical Center in February of 2023 as a Professor and Director of the Advancing Implementation & Improvement Science Program in the Peter O'Donnell Jr. School of Public Health. He is also currently the initial Interim Chair of the new Department of Health Economics, Systems, and Policy in the O’Donnell School of Public Health. Dr. Jackson has a secondary appointment as a Professor in the UT Southwestern Division of General Internal Medicine and is a member of the Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center. In addition to his work at UT Southwestern, Dr. Jackson is a Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Systems Research (HSR) Research Health Scientist who works with the VA healthcare systems in both Durham, NC and Dallas, TX. He is the Director of the Implementation and Improvement Science Lab/Core at the Durham VA Center of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation (ADAPT). Additionally, he is a co-leader of a cooperative effort between the Dallas VA and Advancing Implementation & Improvement Science Program designed to enhance the infrastructure for partnered health services and other research across the Dallas VA and UT Southwestern focused on enhancing the health and healthcare of Veterans in North Texas and across the Nation.
The UT Southwestern Advancing Implementation & Improvement Science Program seeks to further enhance collaborations between the UT Southwestern and affiliated health systems and community partners in the pursuit of common missions to enhance the health and healthcare of the people of North Texas and beyond. The goal is to develop a system to identify potentially successful projects using implementation and improvement science – which uses rigorous, data-driven research to expand programs and improve a community’s health.
Dr. Jackson’s own research and evaluation efforts focus on the development, testing, and implementation of team-based approaches to address the treatment and prevention of chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and cancer. He has also evaluated efforts to enhance the organization of mental health care. As an implementation scientist, Dr. Jackson studies strategies focused on the adoption and spread of evidence-informed practices across large health systems. He is currently the corresponding principal investigator for three VA program grants focused on the process of identifying, replicating, and spreading innovations across large healthcare systems. These include the Spreading Healthcare Access, Activities, Research and Knowledge (SHAARK) partnered evaluation of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Diffusion of Excellence program, Dynamic Diffusion Network (DDN) QUERI Program, and Building and Evaluating the Innovation Infrastructure Across the VA Mid-Atlantic Health Care Learning Network partnered evaluation initiative, all funded by the VA Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI).
Dr. Jackson received his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in epidemiology, Master of Health Administration (MHA), and Bachelor of Science in Public Health (BSPH) in health policy and administration degrees from the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He completed an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) pre-doctoral fellowship in health services research at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research and AHRQ post-doctoral fellowship in health services research in the Duke Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research & Development (HSR&D) Center at the Durham VA. He came to UT Southwestern from Duke University, where he was a Professor in the Departments of Population Health Sciences, Medicine (Division of General Internal Medicine), and Family Medicine & Community Health. He also co-taught evidence-based practice in the Duke Physician Assistant (PA) Program. Dr. Jackson currently maintains appointments as an Adjunct Professor of Population Health Sciences at Duke and Adjunct Professor of Health Policy and Management at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Leah L Zullig
Leah L. Zullig, PhD, MPH is a health services researcher and an implementation scientist. She is a Professor in the Duke Department of Population Health Sciences and an investigator with the Center of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation (ADAPT) at the Durham Veterans Affairs Health Care System. Dr. Zullig leads INTERACT, the Implementation Science Research Collaborative, and is co-leader of Duke Cancer Institute's cancer prevention and control program.
Dr. Zullig’s overarching research interests address three domains: improving cancer care delivery and quality; promoting cancer survivorship and chronic disease management; and improving medication adherence. Throughout these three area of foci Dr. Zullig uses an implementation science lens with the goal of providing equitable care for all by implementing evidence-based practices in a variety of health care environments. She has authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications.
Dr. Zullig completed her BS in Health Promotion, her MPH in Public Health Administration, and her PhD in Health Policy.
Areas of expertise: Implementation Science, Health Measurement, Health Policy, Health Behavior, Telehealth, and Health Services Research
Hayden Barry Bosworth
Dr. Bosworth is a health services researcher and Deputy Director of the Center of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation (ADAPT) at the Durham VA Medical Center. He is also Vice Chair of Education and Professor of Population Health Sciences. He is also a Professor of Medicine, Psychiatry, and Nursing at Duke University Medical Center and Adjunct Professor in Health Policy and Administration at the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research interests comprise three overarching areas of research: 1) clinical research that provides knowledge for improving patients’ treatment adherence and self-management in chronic care; 2) translation research to improve access to quality of care; and 3) eliminate health care disparities.
Dr. Bosworth is the recipient of an American Heart Association established investigator award, the 2013 VA Undersecretary Award for Outstanding Achievement in Health Services Research (The annual award is the highest honor for VA health services researchers), and a VA Senior Career Scientist Award. In terms of self-management, Dr. Bosworth has expertise developing interventions to improve health behaviors related to hypertension, coronary artery disease, and depression, and has been developing and implementing tailored patient interventions to reduce the burden of other chronic diseases. These trials focus on motivating individuals to initiate health behaviors and sustaining them long term and use members of the healthcare team, particularly pharmacists and nurses. He has been the Principal Investigator of over 30 trials resulting in over 400 peer reviewed publications and four books. This work has been or is being implemented in multiple arenas including Medicaid of North Carolina, private payers, The United Kingdom National Health System Direct, Kaiser Health care system, and the Veterans Affairs.
Areas of Expertise: Health Behavior, Health Services Research, Implementation Science, Health Measurement, and Health Policy
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