The Research Process
The PCSIP will investigate the impact of different types of community based health care on the management of three chronic conditions: obesity, diabetes type 2, and depression.
The project will occur in four phases.
Phase 1: Practice recruitment
This phase involves the recruitment of 16 General Practices in the Adelaide Northern Division of General Practice (ANDGP). Each practice will be categorised into one of three types, based on characteristics such as the use of a Practice Nurse.
Phase 2: Patient identification and recruitment
Within each practice, we plan to recruit a minimum of 15 patients diagnosed with one or more of the three study conditions (i.e. a minimum of 45 patients per practice).
Phase 3: Data collection
The project will request patient consent to access the following data sources: electronic medical records held at the practice and the ANDGP (if the patient has received services there), Medicare and Pharmaceutical Benefits (PBS) records and hospitalisation data from the SA Department of Health. Participants will also be asked to complete a short survey document during the 1 year follow-up period (optional). Data will be collected for the period between the 1st of October 2007 to the 1st of October 2010. The information collected for each patient will include some socio-demographic characteristics (such as age), use of health services, and clinical measures (such as HbA1C in patients with diabetes and BMI in patients with obesity).
Phase 4: Data analysis
From the information we have collected, we will identify differences between patients in the treatment, management and progression of their condition. After taking into account variations in the characteristics of patients, we will isolate the effect of the type of practice on the management of the condition. We will combine this information with data from other sources to estimate the long term benefits and costs associated with each type of practice.
The research process has been summarised in figure 1.
