Shared medical appointments beneficial to patients, physicians

Findings from a review published in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association suggest primary care physicians and osteopathic doctors that use a shared medical appointment model to treat patients who are obese, overweight or have diabetes would improve patients’ satisfaction, outcomes, as well as office workflow and productivity.

“The proposed benefit of the [shared medical appointment (SMA)] approach is twofold: (1) SMAs can positively alter the course of a patient’s body weight and overall health; and (2) SMAs can offer a medically supervised social support mechanism,” Kristi H. Trickett, DO, of the College of Osteopathic Medicine, Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences, and colleagues wrote. “This combination has a domino effect on the obesity-related comorbidities of prediabetes, [type 2 diabetes] and cardiovascular disease.”Trickett and colleagues conducted a review of eight studies found through PubMed that referenced SMAs, health care professional and patient feedback, patient experiences,  improved weight loss in patients with diabetes, and lowered costs and increased efficiency of health care professionals.

Researchers reported health care workers found the SMA experience provided better productivity in chronic care and also improved availability and interactions with patients.

Patients said they had practically all their questions answered appropriately. Many of them reported decreases in loneliness and depression, as well as an improved quality of life. Patients in SMAs also reported decreases in weight, fasting blood glucose levels, HbA1c levels, BP, body fat and waist circumference and BMI.

“These … illustrate that SMAs can be an effective adjunct to behavior change approaches that target adults as well as children and adolescents, with overweight or obesity, and in some cases, lead to improved management of diabetes,” researchers wrote.

In addition, according to researchers, patients with individual, 60-minute SMAs fared just as well as those with 90-minute SMAs shared with six to eight patients. Another study found SMAs lowered long-term cost of care and improved clinical goals.

Overall, researchers wrote, though SMAs can be beneficial, they should not be seen as a substitute for individual courses that teach patients how to manage their condition.

“Although not intended to replace self-management education classes, the SMA format can offer practices a way to reduce costs, improve efficiency, improve patient care and outcomes, and lead to greater patient satisfaction,” Trickett and colleagues wrote. “As part of the philosophy of osteopathic medicine, physicians seek to help the body to heal itself, and SMAs incorporate many aspects of a person’s being — social, relational, analytical, emotional — thus providing the impetus to jump start the body (the person) to make lifestyle changes to improve health. To make an effective change as big as altering the course of obesity and diabetes requires a paradigm shift that can be fostered through SMAs.” – by Janel Miller

Disclosure: The researchers reported no relevant financial disclosures.