Comparing Strategies for Translating Self-management Support Into Primary Care

Project staff will meet onsite with practice clinicians for a two-hour session to discuss what self-management support (SMS) is, why it is important, how primary care plays a role in this process, how others have approached it, and how it can be time and cost efficient for them to engage in SMS as part of standard diabetes care. Practices will have access to a website displaying general and local SMS resources. Discussion of the implementation of these resources into the practice will be facilitated. Two additional academic detailing visits will be made to check on progress on SMS adoption, provide additional information as needed, and answer questions. No input will be provided regarding how unique practice characteristics might be utilized for more effective implementation of SMS, and CTH will not be introduced.

Connection to Health (CTH) Arm: The number and length of staff visits to these practices will be the same as for the SMS Education Arm, but the content of the visits will center on the implementation and use of the CTH program as a way to implement SMS. Clinicians and selected staff members will be given hands-on experience using the system and will be provided with scenarios that will highlight the effective use of CTH as a tool for diabetes SMS. The practices will then implement CTH, using protocols selected from several suggested by the research team. Additional technical assistance with implementing CTH will also be provided as needed.

Connection to Health plus Coaching (CTH+C) Arm: This arm adds practice coaching as described above to CTH. The active coaching phase focuses on meetings of the practice improvement team, scheduled every other week for approximately 40 minutes each. The improvement team will consist of 6 - 10 diverse representatives of the practice (e.g., front office, medical assistants, physicians). The coach will assist the team in developing a CTH adoption plan and then help them break it down into small bites for rapid cycle change using the Plan-Do-Study-Act quality improvement (QI) model. Active coaching will last for 3 months, followed by monthly calls by the coach to review data regarding the practice's use of CTH and brief "booster" coaching to deal with problems.

Connection to Health plus Coaching (CTH+C) Arm: This arm adds practice coaching as described above to CTH. The active coaching phase focuses on meetings of the practice improvement team, scheduled every other week for approximately 40 minutes each. The improvement team will consist of 6 - 10 diverse representatives of the practice (e.g., front office, medical assistants, physicians). The coach will assist the team in developing a CTH adoption plan and then help them break it down into small bites for rapid cycle change using the Plan-Do-Study-Act quality improvement (QI) model. Active coaching will last for 3 months, followed by monthly calls by the coach to review data regarding the practice's use of CTH and brief "booster" coaching to deal with problems.