News in K-APAT

2022

Completed work areas including a short summary of results and reference to new publications
The evaluation of quantitative patient data on satisfaction with APAT was completed. In addition to the high satisfaction with the form of therapy, the data also shows that the patients’ quality of life is higher after completion of therapy than at the beginning of therapy. Thus, APAT contributes to an improvement in quality of life. The survey data were subsequently linked to the patients’ medical data and further analyses were carried out.

Current processes / preparations
Currently, the results and final report are being prepared. Contents of these reports are, for example, the project goals, the project implementation, the methodology and the results of the surveys. Meetings are held at regular intervals with all project participants to exchange information and agree on the content of the reports. 

Outlook on the next steps
At the beginning of August, a joint workshop of all project participants will take place to review the various results. The aim of the workshop is to draw a synthesis from the various data and to formulate practical recommendations for action. These will be published as part of the results report and thus made available to the public.

Completed work areas including a short summary of results and reference to new publications
The processing of the data from the patient survey has been completed. First evaluations show a high level of satisfaction with the APAT, for example regarding information and training on handling and the overall organization. The medical data of the included patients have also been processed and are available for evaluation.

Current processes /preparations
Currently, further analysis of the patient survey data is being carried out. In addition, the medical data are currently being linked with the survey data and then cross-sectional evaluations are being carried out.
Data from the general practiotioner survey is currently being transcribed for the final report.

Outlook on the next steps
Once the survey data and medical data are linked, they will be analyzed. Subsequently, the analyses will be written up for the final report. Overall, the focus in the near future will be on writing the final report in close cooperation with all project participants.

2021

Completed work areas including a short summary of results and reference to new publications
The screening and inclusion of patients in the project was completed. A total of 100 patients were screened in the participating clinics. Of these, 79 were enrolled in K-APAT and treated with the care modality of outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy. With the end of inclusion, the quantitative survey of these patients also ended. Thus, the survey phase in the project is now completed and we have a variety of data:

  • Quantitative survey data from the included patients
  • Qualitative data from interviews with 12 of the included patients
  • Medical data of the included patients on health status and clinical parameters
  • Quantitative survey data from primary care physicians
  • Qualitative data from interviews & a focus group with clinicians, general practitioners, and pharmacy service providers

The analysis of the qualitative data has already been completed.

Our project K-APAT has won the special award for more patient autonomy at the 10th MSD Health Award! We are very happy about this great award. Congratulations to all the other winning projects. More information and this year’s winners can be found here.

Current processes / preparations
Currently, the data of the patient survey are being processed and the first analyses are being carried out. The medical data of the included patients will be linked with the survey data in a timely manner in order to gain even deeper insights into the patient’s course of therapy. This data linkage is currently being prepared.
The evaluated qualitative data are currently being written up for the final report.

Outlook on the next steps
As soon as the preparation for linking the survey data and the medical data has been completed, this can be carried out. Subsequently, the data can be analyzed accordingly. Furthermore, the final report and the final report as well as publications from the different work packages will be written.

Completed work areas including a short summary of results and reference to new publications
The focus group of general practitioners and clinicians from the Cologne Infectious Diseases Network was conducted online and resulted in an exciting discussion in which various aspects were critically considered and discussed. In addition to the focus group, we conducted further provider interviews – besides clinicians and general practitioners, representatives of pharmacy service companies were also interviewed. This provided further new and exciting insights into APAT. In addition, the last patient interviews were conducted. Thus, the data collection of the qualitative part of the project could be successfully completed on the patient side. The qualitative data collection on the provider side will be completed soon.

New publication: K-APAT (2021). Fact-Sheet: Ergebnisse der Befragung von Hausärzt:innen zur
Evaluation der hausärztlichen Versorgung an der ambulantstationären Schnittstelle im Regierungsbezirk Köln. Köln: Veröffentlichungsreihe des Instituts für Medizinsoziologie, Versorgungsforschung und Rehabilitationswissenschaft (IMVR) der Universität zu Köln
.

Current processes / preparations
The evaluations of the focus group and the completed interviews with health care providers are currently being conducted. In addition, the evaluation of the patient interviews is in progress.

Further evaluations are being implemented as part of three master’s theses: one on the general practitioners survey (quantitative), one on the physician focus group (qualitative), and another on the interviews with patients (qualitative).

Patient inclusion is currently increasing. A majority of the included patients have now completed the survey.

Outlook on the next steps
First results on the general practitioners survey have been submitted to the DKVF and DGMP/DGMS Congress and will be presented this year. After the end of the patient inclusion period in autumn, the quantitative patient survey will be evaluated.

Completed work areas including a short summary of results and reference to new publications
Key findings on the attitudes of general practitioners regarding APAT were prepared and clearly presented in a fact sheet which should be discussed in a focus group.

Current processes /preparations
The survey of the general practitioners in Cologne and the administrative district will continue to be evaluated, taking into account many different aspects, e.g. the advantages as well as the risks of the therapy.

Currently, we are in the final preparations of the focus group, which consists of general practitioners and clinicians from the Infectiology Network. Due to the pandemic, the focus group will be conducted online. This necessitated a rescheduling and additional definition of some points for implementation. The focus group will follow later this month at a network meeting. We are excited about the discussion and look forward to the new insights.

Patient inclusion is increasing slightly again. We were also able to continue with the qualitative patient interviews. At this time, a total of ten patient interviews have been conducted, which have given us interesting and instructive insights into APAT. We are looking forward to further interviews and thank the patients for their exciting insights.

Within the framework of K-APAT, various student qualification theses as well as a scientific project report are being written. We are pleased about the interest of students in the project and the related topics

Outlook on the next steps
The first results of the general practitioners survey will be presented at various congresses in the current year. Abstracts will be prepared for submission.

2020

Completed work areas including a short summary of results and reference to new publications
The physician survey of Cologne GPs and those of the administrative district has been successfully completed with a response rate of 20%, which is in line with our expectations. The questionnaires received have been read in, the data set has been labelled and is now ready for analysis. The survey is intended to provide information, for example, about GPs’ assessments of the suitability of patient groups, about the risks and implementation requirements of APAT, as well as about the GP role in the context of APAT.
In the meantime, nine interviews with patients have been conducted. So the number of in-depth patient interviews conducted exceeds the target of the application. Further interviews are planned in order to gain comprehensive insights for the study. From the evaluations so far, it can be concluded that patient satisfaction is high. The master’s thesis for this work package is in full swing.

Current processes /preparations
The data from the GP survey are currently being analysed and prepared for publication. In addition, more in-depth analyses are being carried out as part of a master’s thesis.
Patient inclusion via the University Hospital Cologne is still ongoing. At the end of the year, there were fewer patients than expected in the project plan. By conducting the GP survey, we hope for greater awareness of the project and thus more patients taking up the option of outpatient therapy. Especially in view of the current high utilisation of inpatient capacities, APAT can contribute both to relieving the hospitals and to the satisfaction of the patients by allowing them to remain in their familiar surroundings.

Outlook on the next steps
The planned focus groups had to be postponed again due to the regulations on contact restrictions in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The focus groups are now planned for the second quarter of 2021 and will be conducted on the basis of the results of the GP survey. The focus groups are composed of doctors from the outpatient and inpatient sector who examine the current care situation and thus the relevance of APAT.

Due to the current situation caused by the corona pandemic, the planned meeting in March to prepare the patient inclusion in the other clinics of the Network Infectiology Cologne could not take place. Therefore, patient inclusion in the other hospitals is still pending.  We are therefore pleased that inclusion at the University Hospital of Cologne can continue and that the associated patient survey is also proceeding according to plan.

The already conducted individual interviews with patients have been transcribed and the evaluation has started. A master’s thesis is currently being planned.

The planned focus groups with hospital doctors and general practitioners cannot be carried out at present either. Since the preparations, such as the development of guidelines, have already been completed, we will make up for the focus groups at a later date.

We are currently preparing our large general practitioner survey, which we will start with after the summer holidays. For this purpose, we are currently developing a questionnaire based on literature and based on the patient survey and interviews. One of the aims of the survey is to find out what general practitioners think about outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy. This is intended to identify possible implementation hurdles, e.g. in outpatient-inpatient cooperation.

With the ethics vote of the North Rhine Medical Association, we have fulfilled the prerequisite for the inclusion of patients in the network Infectiology Cologne in addition to the already included university hospital. In addition, doctors in private practice from the network should also be able to take over the visits and aftercare of patients. In preparation for this important step, a network meeting is planned to discuss the exact procedure and to bring the participating project partners up to the same state.

We are very satisfied with the patient inclusion in the University Hospital and are pleased that other departments besides infectiology are increasingly becoming aware of the project and the form of care. We are also delighted that the patient survey is proceeding well and that the response to the questionnaires is satisfactory. Here we are very curious about the first results.

We have already prepared a literature-based guideline for the upcoming focus groups in May with hospital doctors and doctors in private practice. The focus groups will discuss possible barriers and support factors at the organisational, financial and patient level from the doctors’ point of view. For further preparation, we have started recruiting possible participants. Two master theses are currently being planned for the focus groups.


Outlook
In the autumn we will conduct a quantitative survey of all general practitioners in Cologne in order to find out the perspective of those involved who are important for this form of care. We are currently already preparing for this. We have prepared information flyers for the survey. The questionnaire will be developed on the basis of the results from the focus groups.

2019

The project “Ambulatory parenteral antibiotic therapy in the Cologne Metropolitan Region” (K-APAT) started in April 2019. Since then, some small but also big steps have taken place.

The positive ethics vote (vote number: 19-1284) from the Ethics Commission of the University of Cologne represented a first milestone. The vote is a confirmation that both data protection and ethical-moral aspects are taken into account in the interviews with patients and care providers.

In the regular meetings of the project staff and network meetings with the project partners and study physicians, helpful findings were gained to continuously improve the study design.

In order to inform patients and doctors about the project and to make the form of ambulatory intravenous antibiotic therapy better known, target-group-specific flyers were designed.

We developed three questionnaires for the survey of patients at three points in time regarding their satisfaction and the course of treatment. For this purpose, both validated instruments and self-developed scales were used. The comprehensibility and logic of the questionnaires were checked within the framework of presets and reviewed accordingly.

In November, patient inclusion at the University Hospital started successfully with the aim of including at least 120 patients in the study. At the same time, the survey was started and we are pleased with the questionnaires that have already been received. The patients are interviewed before, during and after treatment. The aim is to document comprehensive experiences of the patients in the ambulatory environment with antibiotic therapy in order to be able to draw important findings from it.

In addition, the preparation of the qualitative evaluation was started. Within this framework, focus groups with clinic and general practitioners as well as interviews with patients will take place. We are currently still in the process of developing guidelines for both survey forms.

Outlook
The ethics vote of the North Rhine-Westphalian Medical Association is still pending, but is expected soon. We are looking forward to presenting K-APAT at the CoRe-Net Symposium on January 15, 2020 and to exchanging ideas with people from health services research and practice.