Improvements in Communication and Coordination of Care in a Hemophilia Treatment Center

Abstract

Introduction: In response to the increasing complexity of care for patients with bleeding disorders, we established new clinical teams for our hemophilia treatment center (HTC).

Aims: We undertook a quality improvement project to improve the coordination and communication with our patients by establishing primary assignments of clinical staff to individual patients (primary teams).

Methods: A quality improvement project group was formed that established the goals and assignment of primary teams. Patients were surveyed for their knowledge of their primary teams as well as their ability to schedule and contact their primary providers. As a measure of the effects on clinical staff, a balancing survey was also conducted among providers impacted by the clinical assignment of teams.

Results: Our results demonstrate improvements across both coordination and communication as reported by patients. Additionally, the assignment of primary teams was met with high satisfaction and improvement in coordination and communication as reported by the clinical staff members of the HTC.

Conclusions: Initiation of a quality improvement project and the creation of a primary team system were feasible at a large HTC and resulted in improvements in both patient-reported and staff-reported outcomes of coordination and communication of care.

Keywords: Hemophilia; Patient-centered care; Quality improvement.