Faculty Sponsor’s Department
Health Sciences
Name of Project's Faculty Sponsor
Dr. Jodi Polaha
Type
Poster: Competitive
Project's Category
Community Health, Managed Care, Mental Health, Patient Care and Education, Rural Health
Abstract or Artist's Statement
TCC (Transitions of care clinic) is a specialized clinic visit where patients present to their primary clinic after a hospital stay. TCC deploys an interprofessional team to address a gamult of patient concerns. Traditionally, TCC interprofessional team includes a nurse and a doctor. The nurse calls the patient’s house within 2 days to check up on the patient and then they schedule a clinic visit, usually within 7-14 days. However it has been proposed that addition of team members from other disciplines could contribute to better health outcomes for patients seen in TCC. We studied a TCC model with an interprofessional team of not only physicians and nurses but also pharmacists and behavioral therapists for two months. Our aim was to uncover the utility of having a behavioral health team member in TCC visits. This was a prospective study of patients who attended a TCC clinic in a residency setting. An observer collected data on the time the behavioral health provider was in the patient room and the interventions/consultations he/she provided. Data collection is ongoing. We expect to find the following: the percentage of patients within TCC who utilized some form of behavioral therapy in their TCC visits; the percentage of common interventions that were used; average time spent in each visit; average age of patients; and average number of hospitalizations per patient. We expect that these results will demonstrate how behavioral health providers function on interprofessional TCC teams.
Utility of Incorporating Behavioral Therapy in Transitions of Care Clinics
TCC (Transitions of care clinic) is a specialized clinic visit where patients present to their primary clinic after a hospital stay. TCC deploys an interprofessional team to address a gamult of patient concerns. Traditionally, TCC interprofessional team includes a nurse and a doctor. The nurse calls the patient’s house within 2 days to check up on the patient and then they schedule a clinic visit, usually within 7-14 days. However it has been proposed that addition of team members from other disciplines could contribute to better health outcomes for patients seen in TCC. We studied a TCC model with an interprofessional team of not only physicians and nurses but also pharmacists and behavioral therapists for two months. Our aim was to uncover the utility of having a behavioral health team member in TCC visits. This was a prospective study of patients who attended a TCC clinic in a residency setting. An observer collected data on the time the behavioral health provider was in the patient room and the interventions/consultations he/she provided. Data collection is ongoing. We expect to find the following: the percentage of patients within TCC who utilized some form of behavioral therapy in their TCC visits; the percentage of common interventions that were used; average time spent in each visit; average age of patients; and average number of hospitalizations per patient. We expect that these results will demonstrate how behavioral health providers function on interprofessional TCC teams.