Browsing by Author "Sanchez, Steven L."

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    Clinicians' use of Health Information Exchange technologies for medication reconciliation in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: a qualitative analysis
    (Springer Nature, 2024-10-08) Snyder, Margie E.; Nguyen, Khoa A.; Patel, Himalaya; Sanchez, Steven L.; Traylor, Morgan; Robinson, Michelle J.; Damush, Teresa M.; Taber, Peter; Mixon, Amanda S.; Fan, Vincent S.; Savoy, April; Dismore, Rachel A.; Porter, Brian W.; Boockvar, Kenneth S.; Haggstrom, David A.; Locke, Emily R.; Gibson, Bryan S.; Byerly, Susan H.; Weiner, Michael; Russ-Jara, Alissa L.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background: Medication reconciliation is essential for optimizing medication use. In part to promote effective medication reconciliation, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) invested substantial resources in health information exchange (HIE) technologies. The objectives of this qualitative study were to characterize VA clinicians' use of HIE tools for medication reconciliation in their clinical practice and to identify facilitators and barriers. Methods: We recruited inpatient and outpatient prescribers (physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants) and pharmacists at four geographically distinct VA medical centers for observations and interviews. Participants were observed as they interacted with HIE or medication reconciliation tools during routine work. Participants were interviewed about clinical decision-making pertaining to medication reconciliation and use of HIE tools, and about barriers and facilitators to use of the tools. Qualitative data were analyzed via inductive and deductive approaches using a priori codes. Results: A total of 63 clinicians participated. Over half (58%) were female, and the mean duration of VA clinical experience was 7 (range 0-32) years. Underlying motivators for clinicians seeking data external to their VA medical center were having new patients, current patients receiving care from an external institution, and clinicians' concerns about possible medication discrepancies among institutions. Facilitators for using HIE software were clinicians' familiarity with the HIE software, clinicians' belief that medication information would be available within HIE, and their confidence in the ability to find HIE medication-related data of interest quickly. Six overarching barriers to HIE software use for medication coordination included visual clutter and information overload within the HIE display; challenges with HIE interface navigation; lack of integration between HIE and other electronic health record interfaces, necessitating multiple logins and application switching; concerns with the dependability of HIE medication information; unfamiliarity with HIE tools; and a lack of HIE data from non-VA facilities. Conclusions: This study is believed to be the first to qualitatively characterize clinicians' HIE use with respect to medication reconciliation. Results inform recommendations to optimize HIE use for medication management activities. We expect that healthcare organizations and software vendors will be able to apply the findings to develop more effective and usable HIE information displays.
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    Data‑driven approach to implementation mapping for the selection of implementation strategies: a case example for risk‑aligned bladder cancer surveillance
    (BMC, 2022-09-01) Schroeck, Florian R.; Ismail, A. Aziz Ould; Haggstrom, David A.; Sanchez, Steven L.; Walker, DeRon R.; Zubkoff, Lisa
    Background: Implementation Mapping is an organized method to select implementation strategies. However, there are 73 Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (ERIC) strategies. Thus, it is difficult for implementation scientists to map all potential strategies to the determinants of their chosen implementation science framework. Prior work using Implementation Mapping employed advisory panels to select implementation strategies. This article presents a data-driven approach to implementation mapping, in which we systematically evaluated all 73 ERIC strategies using the Tailored Implementation for Chronic Diseases (TICD) framework. We illustrate our approach using implementation of risk-aligned bladder cancer surveillance as a case example. Methods: We developed objectives based on previously collected qualitative data organized by TICD determinants, i.e., what needs to be changed to achieve more risk-aligned surveillance. Next, we evaluated all 73 ERIC strategies, excluding those that were not applicable to our clinical setting. The remaining strategies were mapped to the objectives using data visualization techniques to make sense of the large matrices. Finally, we selected strategies with high impact, based on (1) broad scope, defined as a strategy addressing more than the median number of objectives, (2) requiring low or moderate time commitment from clinical teams, and (3) evidence of effectiveness from the literature. Results: We identified 63 unique objectives. Of the 73 ERIC strategies, 45 were excluded because they were not applicable to our clinical setting (e.g., not feasible within the confines of the setting, not appropriate for the context). Thus, 28 ERIC strategies were mapped to the 63 objectives. Strategies addressed 0 to 26 objectives (median 10.5). Of the 28 ERIC strategies, 10 required low and 8 moderate time commitments from clinical teams. We selected 9 strategies based on high impact, each with a clearly documented rationale for selection. Conclusions: We enhanced Implementation Mapping via a data-driven approach to the selection of implementation strategies. Our approach provides a practical method for other implementation scientists to use when selecting implementation strategies and has the advantage of favoring data-driven strategy selection over expert opinion.
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    Determinants of Risk-Aligned Bladder Cancer Surveillance—Mixed-Methods Evaluation Using the Tailored Implementation for Chronic Diseases Framework
    (American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2022) Schroeck, Florian R.; Ismail, A. Aziz Ould; Perry, Grace N.; Haggstrom, David A.; Sanchez, Steven L.; Walker, DeRon R.; Young, Jeanette; Zickmund, Susan; Zubkoff, Lisa; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Purpose: For many patients with cancer, the frequency of surveillance after primary treatment depends on the risk for cancer recurrence or progression. Lack of risk-aligned surveillance means too many unnecessary surveillance procedures for low-risk patients and not enough for high-risk patients. Using bladder cancer as an example, we examined whether practice determinants differ between Department of Veterans Affairs sites where risk-aligned surveillance was more (risk-aligned sites) or less common (need improvement sites). Methods: We used our prior quantitative data to identify two risk-aligned sites and four need improvement sites. We performed semistructured interviews with 40 Veterans Affairs staff guided by the Tailored Implementation for Chronic Diseases framework that were deductively coded. We integrated quantitative data (risk-aligned site v need improvement site) and qualitative data from interviews, cross-tabulating salient determinants by site type. Results: There were 14 participants from risk-aligned sites and 26 participants from need improvement sites. Irrespective of site type, we found a lack of knowledge on guideline recommendations. Additional salient determinants at need improvement sites were a lack of resources ("the next available without overbooking is probably seven to eight weeks out") and an absence of routines to incorporate risk-aligned surveillance ("I have my own guidelines that I've been using for 35 years"). Conclusion: Knowledge, resources, and lack of routines were salient barriers to risk-aligned bladder cancer surveillance. Implementation strategies addressing knowledge and resources can likely contribute to more risk-aligned surveillance. In addition, reminders for providers to incorporate risk into their surveillance plans may improve their routines.