Study: One-third of dialysis facilities completed care coordination training when offered
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Key takeaways:
- Overall, 32% of clinics completed a care coordination module and 4% completed a mental health one.
- Participants had 18% improvement in care coordination knowledge and 13% improvement in mental health knowledge.
Nearly one-third of dialysis clinics completed training on care coordination and care transitions when it was offered, according to a study published in Kidney Medicine.
“For the everyday clinician, our findings underscore the necessity of understanding the pivotal concepts related to care coordination and mental health within the dialysis facility context,” Amber B. Paulus, PhD, RN, CPHQ, CPPS, told Healio. “Properly implementing and understanding these concepts can lead to enhanced patient care and better overall facility operations.”
Paulus and colleagues deployed two training modules in 2022 on the 5-Diamond Patient Safety Program, a virtual education platform that is available to all dialysis clinics in the U.S. One course covered care coordination and care transitions, while the other included training on identifying mental and behavioral health issues.
Overall, 2,541 of dialysis facilities (32%) participated in the care coordination module and 319 facilities (4%) participated in the mental health module; 192 facilities (2%) completed both modules.
“There was a significant difference in engagement between our two modules,” Paulus said. “While 2,500 facilities opted to complete the care coordination model, only 300 chose the mental health model. The stark contrast in numbers was certainly surprising.”
Researchers used pre- and post-test evaluations to identify how much dialysis workers learned from the modules. A technical expert panel identified specific learning objectives to be used in the evaluations and tested participant competency in each objective before and after training.
Participants averaged 65% competency before taking the care coordination module, compared with 83% after the module. Workers averaged 68% competency before taking the mental health module, compared with 81% after the module.
“Leveraging insights from technical expert panels, we developed educational modules, which were embraced by a significant portion of U.S. dialysis facilities,” Paulus said. “Our findings underscore the efficacy of stakeholder-driven educational approaches in enhancing staff knowledge, with the potential to uplift patient outcomes. Our methodology, bridging the gap between research and practical application, suggests a replicable strategy for other clinical settings to adopt evidence-based practices.”
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