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Research Highlights
Organizational Change Is Key To Improving Rates of Adult Immunizations And Cancer Screening
Taken from the Veterans Health Administration Highlights dated May 10, 2002
Improvements in rates of adult immunization and cancer screening are most likely to occur when a health care organization supports performance of these activities through organizational changes in staffing and clinical procedures according to a study to be published in the May 2002 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. The study was conducted by researchers from the Greater Los Angeles Health Care System in collaboration with the Southern California Evidence-Based Practice Center (which includes the RAND Health Division), Santa Monica, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, and the Center for the Study of Health Care Provide Behavior, Sepulveda, California.
The relative effectiveness of the divers approaches used to promote preventive care activities such as cancer screening and adult immunizations is unknown. Despite a wealth of published studies, health care providers and policymakers attempting to improve preventive care have little definitive information upon which to base decisions. The purpose of this study was to quantitatively assess the relative effectiveness of previously studied approaches for improving adherence to adult immunization and cancer screening guidelines.
Organizational change interventions included the use of separate clinics devoted to prevention, the use of a planned care visit for prevention, and designating non-physician staff to carry out specific prevention activities. The next most effective intervention components were patient financial incentives and patient reminders.
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