141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

280156
Translating public health policy to private practice using lean

Monday, November 4, 2013

Constance van Eeghen, DrPH, MHSA, MBA , General Internal Medicine - Research, College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
Amanda Kennedy, PharmD , General Internal Medicine - Research, College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
Rodger Kessler, PhD , General Internal Medicine - Research, College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
Benjamin Littenberg, MD , General Internal Medicine - Research, College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
Charles MacLean, MD , General Internal Medicine - Research, College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
Mark Pasanen, MD , General Internal Medicine - Research, College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
Providers in private practices can play a significant role in changing population health outcomes by collaborating with public health leaders to effect change. However, private practices face significant challenges in promoting public health policy due, in part, to resource constraints and lack of quality improvement support. We modified a Lean management process and approached two private practices with the goal of implementing separate public health policies: increase pediatric lead screening in a family medicine practice and integrate a mental health clinician into an internal medicine primary care practice. We achieved higher lead screening rates and higher rates of mental health/behavioral health/substance abuse referrals with shorter wait times for appointments. Using feedback from these pilots, we further adapted the Lean process to meet practice resource constraints. We collaborated with our state health department to approach private practices on the issues of abuse and diversion of opiate prescriptions for managing chronic pain. We assisted 10 private practices who volunteered to collaborate in achieving better opiate prescription management, tailoring the Lean process to fit practice availability, resources, and staff. From a recommended set of improvements, each practice was successful at selecting and implementing at least one process change that affected prescribing habits. Practice providers and staff were surveyed for their perceptions of opiate prescription management before and after their projects and for their evaluation of the Lean management process. This presentation will summarize the changes made to prescription management in practices, modifications in the Lean management process, perceptions of the practice members, and the value of using a Lean management model to translate public policy into local practice solutions.

Learning Areas:
Administration, management, leadership
Chronic disease management and prevention
Provision of health care to the public
Public health or related research
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
Describe public policy implementation as a collaborative quality improvement process with private practice providers Discuss a use of Lean management that fits the resources and constraints of small health care organizations Assess the use of Lean to translate public policy into local practice solutions

Keywords: Change Concepts, Quality Improvement

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have substantial experience in the application of QI in health care settings and was the primary researcher of and quality improvement facilitator for all the practices referenced in these studies. Furthermore, I have held leadership positions in a variety of health care organizations over the past 25 years, including small and large hospitals, a health system, and small and large group practices.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.