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Extended Abstracts - Connected Health Symposium 2015 (19) Knowledge Translation and Implementation Science (372) Virtual Communities and Communities of Practice for Healthcare Providers (42)

Published on in Vol 1, No 1 (2015): October

Professional Virtual Communities for Health Care Implementers: Impact of Participation on Practice

Professional Virtual Communities for Health Care Implementers: Impact of Participation on Practice

Professional Virtual Communities for Health Care Implementers: Impact of Participation on Practice

Authors of this article:

Marie Connelly1 Author Orcid Image ;   Aaron Beals1 Author Orcid Image ;   Aaron VanDerlip1 Author Orcid Image ;   Koundinya Singaraju1 Author Orcid Image ;   Rebecca L. Weintraub1, 2, 3 Author Orcid Image
Article Authors Cited by (2) Tweetations Metrics

    Abstract

    1The Global Health Delivery Project at Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States

    2Harvard Medical School, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Boston, MA, United States

    3Brigham and Women's Hospital, Division of Global Health and Social Medicine, Boston, MA, United States

    Corresponding Author:

    Marie Connelly

    The Global Health Delivery Project at Harvard University

    75 Francis Street

    Boston, MA, 02115

    United States

    Phone: 1 703 638 4407

    Fax:1 617 521 3319

    Email: marie@globalhealthdelivery.org


    Background: Since 2008, GHDonline.org has provided a platform of professional virtual communities (PVCs) for health care implementers around the world to connect and discuss delivery challenges. Initially focused on low-resource settings internationally, GHDonline received funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) in 2013 to expand the platform and launch the US Communities Initiative (USCI), PVCs for US-based health care professionals working with underserved populations.

    Objective: Over the course of the three-year funding period, we established four PVCs focused on population health, quality and safety, costs of care, and delivery innovations. We aim to develop a greater understanding of the challenges facing US health care professionals while also facilitating the dissemination and translation of evidence-based resources and novel approaches to delivering care. We seek to understand the impact that participation in these PVCs has on the implementation and integration of best practices in care delivery around the country.

    Methods: Each PVC is supported by a team of expert moderators who guide and shape community goals, content, and programming. GHDonline works closely with these moderators to organize virtual Expert Panels (week-long, asynchronous online conferences), which facilitate the spread of evidence-based resources and, through dialogue with experts, educate members on strategies for adapting these tools for a range of delivery settings. Our impact evaluation includes three methods: analysis of site data, member surveys, and phone interviews. Site data shows the scope and engagement of readership in the PVCs. Surveys, fielded before and after each Expert Panel, assess members’ knowledge of and ability to implement relevant best practices. Individual interviews identify examples of PVC participation impacting practice, as well as opportunities to improve the PVCs themselves.

    Results: While evaluation efforts are ongoing, current survey data shows a majority of respondents, 91% (149/163), found information shared in Expert Panels relevant to the populations they serve. A strong majority, 73% (127/175), report an intention to make changes in their practice, and 47% (81/172) report implementing changes based on knowledge gained through PVC participation. We randomly selected 500 active members to participate in interviews and have completed 50 interviews to date. A significant majority of interviewees, 82% (41/50), recommended GHDonline to colleagues, and many, 60% (30/50), indicated they are making changes in their practice based on information gained through PVC participation.

    Conclusions: Recognizing the limitations of self-reported surveys and interview responses, and the preliminary nature of our current findings, we believe these results show strong potential for PVCs to facilitate dissemination and translation of evidence-based practices and improve care delivery in the US.

    Trial Registration: Not applicable.

    iProc 2015;1(1):e11

    doi:10.2196/iproc.4695

    Keywords

    Professional Virtual Communities; Health care delivery; Knowledge dissemination; Communities of Practice; Online Communities 

    (This is a conference paper presented at the Connected Health Symposium, Boston, 2015, which was not edited and is only lightly peer-reviewed).

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    Multimedia Appendix 1

    Sample questions from pre-, post-, and follow-up Expert Panel surveys.

    PDF File (Adobe PDF File), 677KB
    ‎

    Multimedia Appendix 2

    Extended abstract.

    PDF File (Adobe PDF File), 925KB

      Edited by T Hale, G Eysenbach; submitted 14.05.15; peer-reviewed by C Bond, S Maloney, S Sadasivan, P Mohanty; accepted 20.07.15; published 27.10.15

      Copyright

      ©Marie Connelly, Aaron Beals, Aaron VanDerlip, Koundinya Singaraju, Rebecca L. Weintraub. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://www.iproc.org), 27.10.2015.

      This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR mhealth and uhealth, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://mhealth.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.