Ohio Collaborative Strengthens PCMH Consumer Education through Engagement

1,2,3Thometta Cozart; 2,4Amy Bashforth; 2David Maywhoor; 2Kate Mahler; 2Kaitlin Smith; 2Lori Stewart; 2,3Angela Dawson1Directors of Health Promotion and Education (DHPE); 2Ohio Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative

3Ohio Commission on Minority Health 4 Ohio Department of Health

BACKGROUND The Ohio Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative (OPCPCC) is a coalition of primary care providers, insurers, consumer, advocates and public health professionals. They are creating a more effective and efficient model of health care delivery in Ohio - Patient-Centered Medical Homes (PCMH). An OPCPCC subcommittee focused on Patient Engagement and Education/Communications formed to address the need for more of a patient/consumer focus on the website.

This work is supported by funding from the Directors of Health Promotion and Education (DHPE) Health Equity Internship/Fellowship Program through a CDC

Cooperative Agreement (#5U58DP002846-05). Primary author Thometta Cozart completed this project as part of the DHPE Health Equity Policy Fellowship with the

Ohio Commission of Minority Health. Commission Executive Director Angela Dawson chairs the OPCPCC Patient Learning Engagement Center, which guided the direction

of this project. In addition to the OPCPCC Patient Learning Center and the Commission, the primary author acknowledges the OPCPCC Communications and

Education Center, along with Amy Rae Bashforth at the Ohio Department of Health, who staffs the OPCPCC.

LESSON 1: TERMS AND CONCEPTS

SCREENSHOT OF CONSUMER WEBSITE

The purpose of the focus group was to learn if the new webpages: 1.) increased the knowledge of PCMHs; 2.) were easy to navigate; 3.) offered adequate health resources; 4.) offered utilizable PCMH questions to be asked to a provider; and 5.) offered a utilizable PCMH map locator. Interventions: An Audience Response System (ARS) displayed responses immediately via PowerPoint by using remotes controls. Evaluation Measures: Results from the focus group were captured by taking notes during the discussion periods and capturing close-ended responses through the ARS.

OBJECTIVES

FOCUS GROUP RESULTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

THEORETICAL BASIS

The framework for the PCMH model identifies five key features: Patient-centered, comprehensive, coordinated, accessible, and committed to quality and safety. These features lead to potential impacts, such as costs control and improving health outcomes by coordinating a patient’s care through a team approach. This model also promotes patients being at the center for their care team. Engagement is one of the methods used by many PCMHs to enhance the experience of their patients and offer personalized care. Yet, the messaging on the OPCPCC Website was not tailored for consumers and was not focused on their health education needs. Thus, the subcommittee created consumer-focused webpages and conducted a focus group to garner their perceptions.

Of the 11 participants, most were age 40 or older and college educated with health insurance. 82% knew what a PCMH was after viewing the consumer homepage, which houses a patient-focused video. This gain in knowledge was demonstrated by the increase in affirmative answers throughout the session. The Locator Map that did not test well. 64% didn’t find it helpful and only 18% were likely to use it on their own, due to it being “very confusing.” All but one is likely to use the questions on the site to discuss PCMH benefits with their provider. But half still found the site navigation to be troublesome. Next steps include revising the consumer webpages, pilot testing the updated pages and launching a consumer PCMH education campaign.

IMPACT

Photo of participants of Consumer Website Focus Group at public library in Columbus, Ohio. Photo of Facilitator David Maywhoor and participants of

Consumer Website Focus Group."Good Health Begins With You"®