Abstract

In the U.S., suboptimal care quality for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is reflected by high rates of emergency department visits and hospital readmissions, as well as excessive costs. Moreover, a substantial proportion of COPD patients do not receive guideline-directed therapies. In quality improvement (QI) programs, these types of health care problems are commonly addressed through interventions that primarily or exclusively support physicians in aligning their practices with guidelines and clinical quality measures. However, the root causes of many deficits in health care quality are not necessarily “physician centric.” Instead, they often involve suboptimal collaboration among members of interprofessional health care teams and gaps in coproductive relationships among patients and providers.

We conducted a QI project to identify interprofessional and coproductive correlates of COPD care quality in the context of a continuing education program designed to advance knowledge and skill among patients, providers, and the interprofessional COPD team regarding coproductive COPD care. Participants in the program included providers in 30 primary care practices across the U.S. who, along with their own COPD patients and a separate cohort of patients from COPD advocacy groups, completed a patient-provider survey study designed to identify alignments and mismatches in coproductive perceptions and behaviors, a private survey feedback session for each practice's team, and online/mobile educational activities on COPD. In addition, more than 1,000 additional providers and 200 patients participated in just the online/mobile education.

From the patient perspective, baseline measures indicated a high rate of dissatisfaction with COPD treatment plans and suboptimal coproductive interaction with members of the interprofessional health care team. Across providers, there were gaps and variation in provision of patient education, attitudes and practices regarding shared decision-making, and care coordination with pulmonary specialists. In addition, relatively low proportions of providers reported high levels of skill in various coproductive processes.

The project outcomes indicated mismatches between COPD patients and providers in perceived ability to recognize COPD exacerbations, shared treatment goals, barriers to medication adherence, perceived impact of COPD on quality of life, and other aspects of COPD care. Providers demonstrated improvements in knowledge and attitudes regarding coproductive and coordinated COPD care.