Overweight and obesity has become an epidemic which warrants more aggressive treatment. However, few primary care physicians (PCPs) address this issue or do not possess adequate education regarding treatment modalities such as nutrition counseling or bariatric surgery. The primary goal of this study will be to determine whether the referrals for weight management can be influenced through obesity education.
Evaluation of educational interventions focusing on the treatment of obesity will include in person CME sessions, interactive game/virtual patient computer software and two 30 minute DVD/Web-based CME opportunities that the physicians can review at their leisure. These educational interventions were not completed as part of this research. A control group will be comprised of those healthcare professionals who did not complete the CME survey. Completion of the post education survey would be completed even if there was no study. The reward given to PCP's (free enrollment in CME session and either lab coat or $40 CME credit) was given for clinical purposes only and not for research. The study consists of the collection of PCP referral rates prior to the educational opportunity and then after the CME looking for a change to referral rates. In June of 2009, an Obesity Educational Intervention Summit was attended by PCPs. This research seeks approval to perform data pulls consisting of referrals from their practice to the GI/Nutrition Clinic for potential bariatric surgery evaluation. The information to be collected regarding the primary care providers' referral rates will be collected by a CDIS data pull by a data broker. The biostatistician will link survey responses to referral patterns and education type and will be true, only individual to have access to direct identifiers and in turn will provide PI and study team with de-identified summary data.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
289
Geisinger Health System
Danville, Pennsylvania, United States
Correlation of weight management referral rates and attitudes/barriers towards obesity
Referral rates to a weight management clinic will be evaluated and correlated with clinicians attitudes towards treatment of obesity (as assessed by questionnaire).
Time frame: Referral rates are calculated over the course of one year
Change in referral rate by Continuing Medical Education and change in referral rate by clinician characteristic
Compare change in Weight Management clinic referral rates between clinicians that attend in-person Continuing Medical Education versus those that complete an innovative gaming system Continuing Medical Education versus those that complete a web-based Continuing Medical Education and evaluate the correlation between changing Weight Management clinic referral rates and clinician characteristics such as attitudes towards obesity, clinician age/gender, number of patients, age/gender of patients, and percent of patients that are obese.
Time frame: Compare rates of referral in year prior to Continuing Medical Education versus one year after Continuing Medical Education and compare rates of referral in consecutive years
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