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Home Research Research Library Practice Adjustments Made by Family Physicians During the COVID-19 Pandemic Practice Adjustments Made by Family Physicians During the COVID-19 Pandemic 2022 Author(s) Price, David W, Eden, Aimee R, Baxley, Elizabeth G, Williamson, Ann, and Newton, Warren P Topic(s) Role of Primary Care Keyword(s) Practice Innovations Volume 35(2):274-283 Source Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 pandemic-related health care disruptions necessitated rapid adaptation among family physicians to safely meet patient needs while protecting themselves and their staff. On April 1, 2020, the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) introduced a COVID Performance Improvement (PI) activity for physicians to report on and receive Family Medicine certification credit for practice adjustments they made during the early stages of the pandemic. We aimed to understand the types of interventions implemented, and lessons physicians learned from the efforts. METHODS: We analyzed data from COVID-PI activities submitted by self-selected family physicians between April 1 and June 30, 2020. We summarized the COVID-related topics chosen for improvement and performed a qualitative content analysis on a random sample of open-text responses about lessons learned. RESULTS: The most common practice changes among 1259 unique COVID-PI activity submissions related to virtualization of patient visits, implementing new workflows, developing screening protocols, and obtaining and preserving personal protective equipment. We identified 12 themes regarding lessons learned, most commonly regarding patient and staff safety, modified practice processes and workflows, positive perceptions of and future plans for virtual visits, access to care, and patient satisfaction. Most submitters noted early successes with their interventions. CONCLUSION: A PI activity template designed for continuous board certification allowed family physicians to report on how they successfully implemented short term practice changes during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Reflections from this subset of physicians regarding lessons learned may prove useful in informing future COVID-19 related practice changes. Read More ABFM Research Read all 2021 Digital health needs for implementing high-quality primary care: recommendations from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Go to Digital health needs for implementing high-quality primary care: recommendations from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2015 Fewer family physicians are in solo practices Go to Fewer family physicians are in solo practices 2020 Team Configurations, Efficiency, and Family Physician Burnout Go to Team Configurations, Efficiency, and Family Physician Burnout 2016 Telehealth: A Very Useful Tool That Enables and Improves Patient Access Go to Telehealth: A Very Useful Tool That Enables and Improves Patient Access
Author(s) Price, David W, Eden, Aimee R, Baxley, Elizabeth G, Williamson, Ann, and Newton, Warren P Topic(s) Role of Primary Care Keyword(s) Practice Innovations Volume 35(2):274-283 Source Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine
ABFM Research Read all 2021 Digital health needs for implementing high-quality primary care: recommendations from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Go to Digital health needs for implementing high-quality primary care: recommendations from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2015 Fewer family physicians are in solo practices Go to Fewer family physicians are in solo practices 2020 Team Configurations, Efficiency, and Family Physician Burnout Go to Team Configurations, Efficiency, and Family Physician Burnout 2016 Telehealth: A Very Useful Tool That Enables and Improves Patient Access Go to Telehealth: A Very Useful Tool That Enables and Improves Patient Access
2021 Digital health needs for implementing high-quality primary care: recommendations from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Go to Digital health needs for implementing high-quality primary care: recommendations from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
2015 Fewer family physicians are in solo practices Go to Fewer family physicians are in solo practices
2020 Team Configurations, Efficiency, and Family Physician Burnout Go to Team Configurations, Efficiency, and Family Physician Burnout
2016 Telehealth: A Very Useful Tool That Enables and Improves Patient Access Go to Telehealth: A Very Useful Tool That Enables and Improves Patient Access