Healthcare Provider Barriers to Family Health History Clinical Decision Support Tools

Date

2015-05-01

Authors

Baria, Victoria R.

ORCID

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Abstract

Family Health History (FHH) is a useful method of identifying patients who are at risk of developing hereditary diseases. This process is conducted by a primary care provider and should be used to assist in the treatment of the patient; however, this does not always occur. Three barriers related to FHH acquisition include: 1) a lack of training among providers and failure to recognize inherited diseases; 2) limited time or resources; and 3) a lack of patient knowledge regarding his/her FHH.[3,4] In an attempt to reduce these barriers, MeTree, an FHH and Clinical Decision Support (CDS) tool, was developed. The University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC) is currently conducting a clinical research trial investigating MeTree implementation in UNTHSC Family Medicine clinics. The significance of such a project is that with the adoption of FHH self-collection tools, FHH collection will improve, and at-risk populations will be identified more accurately, improving patient outcomes. This study aims to accomplish three goals: to determine 1) the barriers to MeTree implementation, 2) the MeTree risk stratification format preferences, and 3) the best method for recruiting healthcare providers to implementation studies. To satisfy the three study aims, qualitative and quantitative data was obtained from providers through group discussion, in-person interviews, and by obtaining consent from Family Medicine providers within UNTHSC. Three barriers to provider enrollment were identified and included issues with patient recruitment, possible MeTree software limitations, and provider involvement and liability. Electronic Medical Record (EMR) integration of the risk report was determined to be the main preference among providers.

Description

Citation