Silvia, R., Plum, M., & Dufresne, R. (2020). Efficiencies and outcomes of depression treatment by a psychiatric pharmacist in a primary care clinic compared with treatment within a behavioral health clinic. 3 Journal of the American Pharmacists Association.

In the article, the authors compared the increase in the access to care and efficiency by a psychiatric pharmacist when there is incorporation into the primary care when compared to behavioral health clinic prescribers for depression treatment. The article compared the pharmacist practice based on the primary care clinics that are in an urban community area. The authors look at how the psychiatric pharmacists are utilized in the clinical settings in urban communities. The primary care providers are referring their patients to the PP for treatment of depression. The PPs have been used as providers of psychiatric treatment although not in the primary care settings. The PP can be integrated with in the primary care setting so that patients are able to access a faster individualized treatment for their mental health problems. The authors in this article screen the records of adults who have been treated in the community hospitals with a primary diagnosis of depression when it is referred for antidepressant management. There was comparison among the two groups where the pharmacist’s patients were treatment over a period of 2 months with a satisfaction survey at the end. The results of the study showed that PP incorporation into primary led to positive outcomes and there was improvement of depression treatment access for the patients. The results showed that PP utilization when it comes to primary care is viable when it comes to treatment of depression. The article is useful in understanding how change of such a clinical system can improve the lives of patients.

Patel, S., Sutlief, S., Dennis, K., Parikh, S., & Turner, L. (2020). A service line approach: Using whiteboard analytics to improve time efficiency in radiation oncology. Medical Dosimetry.

In this article, the authors have worked in implementing and developed a custom electronic workflow management tool so as to improve the efficiency in the labor resources in the health facility. The authors look at methods of maximization the labor resources and leveraging on interoperability among the staff. The authors tracked the work of clinicians and administrators in five oncology clinics. There was tracking of the clinical workflow together with its analysis. There was collection of the real time data for a period of 3 months. There was comparisons of the time and process data from one month to the next in period of more than 5 months. There was quantification of the data over the period of time to determine how efficient the clinical process steps are. There was a variation of the clinical process efficiency in the radiation oncology service line where it was at 73%. The study is important as it leaves room for future studies to improve on the process. The workflow management tool has been presented as a tool which is useful in data tracking and improving the opportunities that are there among the labor forces at the clinic. There is an improvement in the workflow decision making in the clinic when such a system is used. An overall improvement was noted in this setting and this shows that technology can be utilized in increasing the efficiency and interoperability of the staff.

Alfano, C. M., Mayer, D. K., Bhatia, S., Maher, J., Scott, J. M., Nekhlyudov, L.,. & Henderson, T. O. (2019). 4 Implementing personalized pathways for cancer follow‐up care in the United States: Proceedings from an American Cancer Society–American Society of Clinical Oncology summit. CA: a cancer journal for clinicians, 69(3), 234-247.

The authors in this article discuss a new approach in cancer follow up care in meeting the needs that are there among cancer survivors. There is an increase in the volume of patients while providers are less. There are also knowledge gaps and costs continue to increase when it comes to the patients as well as the healthcare systems. The authors propose the use of a system which will triage the pathway for personalized follow up depending on the resources which are required and the type of patient. These systems have been showing to be more efficient and to cut on the costs by the patients as well as the healthcare providers. The authors propose four key strategies which can eb used moving forward. The first one is the development of a candidate model for delivery of care. 4 The second strategy is to build the case for implementation through the conducting of studies which model the effects of personalized pathways for following up care on the outcomes of the patients, the health care resources, as well as costs and their utilization. The next strategy is the creation of guidelines that will direct the delivery of personalized care pathways. The final strategy is the identification and filling of research gaps so that there is development and implementation of the care changes. These strategies are important for healthcare settings to make sure there is improvement of the systems. Implementation of such strategies can improve on the welfare of cancer survivors.

Machta, R. 5 M., Maurer, K. A., Jones, D. 6 J., Furukawa, M. 5 F., & Rich, E. C. (2019). 7 A systematic review of vertical integration and quality of care, efficiency, and patient-centered outcomes. 5 Health care management review, 44(2), 159-173.

8 The authors in this article look at how the small independent practices have been increasingly brought in affiliations between the hospital systems and the provider organizations. There are several ways that the vertically integrated health system can improve the quality of care as well as lower the costs. There are some concerns on how the integrated systems can end up increasing the cost of healthcare without the necessary improvements when it comes to outcomes and the quality. The authors have done this to look at how the joint management compared to those organizations which are not integrated. The authors look at several articles and how the performance of the health systems in when it comes to efficiency, the quality of care, and the patient centered outcomes. The vertical integration according to the results has been associated with a better quality where there is a better quality of care. There are no differences or inefficiencies when it comes to spending, prices, as well as utilization of the resources. 8 There are less studies which had evaluated the patient centered outcome. These studies that the authors have directed are observational and they have not looked at the issue of selection bias. There is the likelihood of increase in vertical integration and it is important to look at whether there is improvement of healthcare as a result. The integration of the physician practices is not enough in achieving higher value care and more information is required in the long term. This study is relevant in understanding the recent trends when it comes to healthcare systems.