1. Ohio Collaborative Strengthens PCMH
Consumer Education through Engagement1,2,3Thometta Cozart; 2,4Amy Bashforth; 2David Maywhoor; 2Kate Mahler; 2Kaitlin Smith; 2Lori Stewart; 2,3Angela Dawson
1Directors 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.
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