An example of our partnership work with the local NHS in NW London, is the evaluation of the Integrated Care Pilot (ICP) is a program designed to improve the coordination of care for people with diabetes and people over 75 years in Inner North West London. The aims of this pilot are to:

  • Improve outcomes for patients;
  • Create access to better, more integrated care outside of hospital;
  • Reduce unnecessary hospital admissions; and
  • Enable effective working of professionals across provider boundaries.

The pilot has been undertaken within a context of growing financial constraints in the NHS and it hopes to deliver financial savings through reduced duplication of care and hospital utilisation. The key components of the pilot include:

  • patient risk stratification (specifically, risk of unplanned hospitalisation),
  • proactive care planning
  • proactive case management by newly developed multidisciplinary groups,
  • improved sharing of medical information on between service providers using an
  • innovative information technology tool

天美传媒, working in collaboration with the , is undertaking an evaluation of the North West London Integrated Care Pilot. The evaluation included three streams combining quantitative and qualitative methods:

  1. Understanding the pilot's position within the broader integrated care agenda: A qualitative analysis looking at the strategic nature of the pilot, including the type of integration produced, analysis within the national policy context and understanding the higher level decision-making processes involved.
  2. Service utilisation and costs: Measuring service usage patterns in relation to secondary and social care, using a propensity-matched case control model, allowing cost changes to be understood.
  3. Clinical outcomes and quality of care: Using a mixture of clinical process and outcome measures to observe service quality, both in primary and secondary care. Patient and professional experience: A mixed methods approach to capture both professional and patient experiences of the integrated care process.

Publications

Harris M, Greaves F, Patterson S, Jones J, Pappas Y, Majeed A, Car J. . J Ambul Care Manage. 2012 Jul-Sep;35(3):216-25.