RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Engaging Primary Care Practices in Studies of Improvement: Did You Budget Enough for Practice Recruitment?
JF The Annals of Family Medicine
JO Ann Fam Med
FD American Academy of Family Physicians
SP S72
OP S79
DO 10.1370/afm.2199
VO 16
IS Suppl 1
A1 Lyle J. Fagnan
A1 Theresa L. Walunas
A1 Michael L. Parchman
A1 Caitlin L. Dickinson
A1 Katrina M. Murphy
A1 Ross Howell
A1 Kathryn L. Jackson
A1 Margaret B. Madden
A1 James R. Ciesla
A1 Kathryn D. Mazurek
A1 Abel N. Kho
A1 Leif I. Solberg
YR 2018
UL http://www.annfammed.org/content/16/Suppl_1/S72.abstract
AB PURPOSE The methods and costs to enroll small primary care practices in large, regional quality improvement initiatives are unknown. We describe the recruitment approach, cost, and resources required to recruit and enroll 500 practices in the Northwest and Midwest regional cooperatives participating in the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)-funded initiative, EvidenceNOW: Advancing Heart Health in Primary Care.METHODS The project management team of each cooperative tracked data on recruitment methods used for identifying and connecting with practices. We developed a cost-of-recruitment template and used it to record personnel time and associated costs of travel and communication materials.RESULTS A total of 3,669 practices were contacted during the 14- to 18-month recruitment period, resulting in 484 enrolled practices across the 6 states served by the 2 cooperatives. The average number of interactions per enrolled practice was 7, with a total of 29,100 hours and a total cost of $2.675 million, or $5,529 per enrolled practice. Prior partnerships predicted recruiting almost 1 in 3 of these practices as contrasted to 1 in 20 practices without a previous relationship or warm hand-off.CONCLUSIONS Recruitment of practices for large-scale practice quality improvement transformation initiatives is difficult and costly. The cost of recruiting practices without existing partnerships is expensive, costing 7 times more than reaching out to familiar practices. Investigators initiating and studying practice quality improvement initiatives should budget adequate funds to support high-touch recruitment strategies, including building trusted relationships over a long time frame, for a year or more.