Therapy-led model of care for simple, diagnostic-defined pediatric hand fractures can maximize service access and improve consumer outcomes: An implementation study of value-based healthcare using mixed-method design

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Pediatric upper limb fractures place high demand on emergency and specialist medical services. PURPOSE: Allied health professionals (ie, therapists) are increasingly becoming sole providers for care of these conditions; however, evidence for the effectiveness, experiences, and outcomes within the pediatric population is lacking. STUDY DESIGN: This quality improvement study used mixed-methods design, informed by the RE-AIM and Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. METHODS: Six diagnostically defined, simple pediatric hand injuries (ie, soft tissue; minimally displaced or angulated fractures) were redirected at the time of referral to therapy-led care. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected, including consumer codesigned value-based healthcare outcome measures (function, pain, and patient experience); a patient-reported outcome measure (PROMIS Pediatric Upper Extremity Short Form 8a); health service delivery performance measures (eg, time to appointment, cost of staffing); and workforce stakeholder survey (feasibility and acceptability). Descriptive or inferential statistics were applied to quantitative data and content analysis to qualitative data. RESULTS: The therapy-led clinic absorbed 20% of the overall new occasions of service to the orthopedic medical fracture clinic with a median wait time of 9 days (IQR = 5), seeing 97 new patients. Patient-reported measures were collected for 3 months. Fifty-three percent (n = 30/57) of eligible families completed the value-based healthcare outcome measures at clinical healing (eg, 4-6 weeks post injury), with all measures exceeding expected performance for function, pain, and health service experience. There was a higher virtual care follow-up in therapy-led vs medical care (82% vs 9%, respectively). Workforce stakeholders indicated a high willingness to continue the therapy-led clinic if adequate workforce resourcing was available. CONCLUSIONS: The application of therapist-led care in pediatric acute hand injuries is safe, effective, and of high value. This model, and the effectiveness of using value-based health care and implementation science frameworks in quality improvement, has high potential for scale and spread within other healthcare settings.