Patient perceptions of integrated care: confused by the term, clear on the concept

Abstract

Purpose: Health care reform in the US has introduced terms such as 'the patient-centered medical home' and 'integrated care' that are often unclear and unfamiliar to patients. This study explored patient experiences with the functional domains of integrated care. Theory and methods:Patients first wrote their definitions of integrated care and then participated in focus group discussions about their experiences with the health care system. Transcripts were analyzed for thematic content.Results: Forty-four patients participated in one of seven focus groups in San Francisco, CA in English and Spanish. Many patients were not clear about the meaning of the term integrated care. However, patients described experiences largely reflected in an existing conceptual model of integrated care and the importance of coordination within and across teams and with community resources, continuity and sharing of information, and patient engagement. Patients with high medical needs described the ubiquitous challenges they faced in experiencing coordinated care. Conclusions:Patients may not understand the term integrated care but are relatively clear on what the concept of integrated care entails and support its successful implementation. Patients and their families are at the center of integrated care, and health systems need to support and empower them to successfully navigate the medical neighborhood.

Continuity of care after percutaneous coronary intervention: The patient’s perspective across secondary and primary care settings

“…14,18 Development of the interview guide was guided by Haggerty et al’s 6 definition of continuity of care (Box 1). The interview guide was slightly modified after performing two pilot interviews.…”

A state‐of‐the‐art review of the experience of care coordination interventions for people living with multimorbidity

“…Eight articles focused on older adults living with multimorbidity (Brown, Stainer, Stewart, Clacy, & Parker, 2008; Greenfield et al, 2014; Hjelm, Holst, Willman, Bohman, & Kristensson, 2015; Newbould et al, 2012; Scholz Mellum, Martsolf, Glazer, Tobias, & Martsolf, 2018; Sefcik et al, 2018; Spoorenberg et al, 2015; Yeager et al, 2018). Eight articles reported interventions targeting participants deemed to be at high risk of hospital admission (Gowing, Dickinson, Gorman, Robinson, & Duncan, 2016; Grinberg, Hawthorne, LaNoue, Brenner, & Mautner, 2016; Hjelm et al, 2015; Hudon, Chouinard, Diadiou, Lambert, & Bouliane, 2015; Hudon et al, 2018; Mao et al, 2017; Newbould et al, 2012; Walker et al, 2013). A summary of the included articles is documented in Table 1.…”

Translating the Patient Perception of Integrated Care Survey to Measure Integrated Care in the Netherlands: Combining Equivalence and Contextualization Approaches for Optimal Results

“…That the framework underlying the PPIC indeed reflects patients’ understanding of integrated care is supported by the study of Walker et al [6]. The authors conducted a series of focus groups with a diverse patient sample to explore patients’ perception of integrated care.…”

“…Integration of healthcare services and providers has become indispensable [4], giving rise to a number of initiatives all over the world that aim to improve the degree to which professionals integrate care [5678]. …”

“…Although of critical importance for practice and policy makers alike, little is known about which approaches actually improve various aspects of care integration [69]. Learning from on-going initiatives requires thorough evaluations and international comparison [8].…”