RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Development of System-level Performance Measures for Evaluation of Models of Care for Inflammatory Arthritis in Canada
JF The Journal of Rheumatology
JO J Rheumatol
FD The Journal of Rheumatology
SP jrheum.150839
DO 10.3899/jrheum.150839
A1 Claire E.H.  Barber
A1 Deborah A.  Marshall
A1 Dianne P.  Mosher
A1 Pooneh Akhavan
A1 Lori Tucker
A1 Kristin Houghton
A1 Michelle Batthish
A1 Deborah M.  Levy
A1 Heinrike Schmeling
A1 Janet Ellsworth
A1 Heidi Tibollo
A1 Sean Grant
A1 Dmitry Khodyakov
A1 Diane Lacaille
A1 and the Arthritis Alliance of Canada Performance Measurement Development Panel
YR 2016
UL http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2016/01/02/jrheum.150839.abstract
AB Objective To develop system-level performance measures for evaluating the care of patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA), including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Methods This study involved several methodological phases. Over multiple rounds, various participants were asked to help define a set of candidate measurement themes. A systematic search was conducted of existing guidelines and measures. A set of 6 performance measures was defined and presented to 50 people, including patients with IA, rheumatologists, allied health professionals, and researchers using a 3-round, online, modified Delphi process. Participants rated the validity, feasibility, relevance, and likelihood of use of the measures. Measures with median ratings ≥ 7 for validity and relevance were included in the final set. Results Six performance measures were developed evaluating the following aspects of care, with each measure being applied separately for each type of IA except where specified: waiting times for rheumatology consultation for patients with new onset IA, percentage of patients with IA seen by a rheumatologist, percentage of patients with IA seen in yearly followup by a rheumatologist, percentage of patients with RA treated with a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD), time to DMARD therapy in RA, and number of rheumatologists per capita. Conclusion The first set of system-level performance measures for IA care in Canada has been developed with broad input. The measures focus on timely access to care and initiation of appropriate treatment for patients with IA, and are likely to be of interest to other arthritis care systems internationally.