Table 2.
Integrated Care Items Included in VARCLUS Analysis
| Hypothesized scale domain | Item number and content | Final scale disposition |
|---|---|---|
| General Coordination | ||
| 6. In the last 12 months, when receiving care for a medical problem, how often did you receive conflicting or disagreeing information from different doctors? | Coordination within and between care teams | |
| 7. In the last 12 months, how often did you have to repeat yourself, or explain your problem again, to different doctors? | Coordination within and between care teams | |
| 8. In the last 12 months, how often were you confused because different doctors told you different things? | Coordination within and between care teams | |
| 73. In the last 12 months, how often have you felt your time was wasted because your care was poorly organized or poorly coordinated? | Coordination within and between care teams | |
| 74. In the last 12 months, how often have you had trouble getting your doctors coordinated? | Coordination within and between care teams | |
| 78. In the last 12 months, how often did you know what the next step for your treatment would be? | Did not scale | |
| Coordination within care team | ||
| 29. In the last 12 months, how often did [your regular doctor/doctors] seem to know the important information about your medical history? | Coordination within and between care teams | |
| 30. When you need care or treatment, how often [does your regular doctor or medical staff/do doctors or their medical staff] you see know important information about your medical history? | Coordination within and between care teams | |
| Continuous and proactive and responsive action between visits | ||
| 24. When you had blood tests, x-rays or other tests, how often did someone call or send you the results of your tests? | Did not scale | |
| 26. In the last 12 months, how often were results from your recent tests available at your doctor’s office at the time of your appointment? | Did not scale | |
| 16. In the last 12 months, when you phoned your regular doctor’s office during regular office hours, how often did you get an answer to your medical question that same day? | Did not scale | |
| 18. In the last 12 months, when you phoned your regular doctor’s office, how often did you get an answer to your medical question as soon as you needed? | Did not scale | |
| Coordination between care teams | ||
| 42. In the last 12 months, how often did you feel the specialists you saw had all the information they needed from your medical history? | Communication between primary care doctor and specialist | |
| 43. In the last 12 months, when you saw a specialist, how often were you given enough information about why you were there by your [regular doctor/doctors]? | Communication between primary care doctor and specialist | |
| 44. In the last 12 months, when seeing the specialists how often did he or she have enough information from your [regular doctor/doctors]? | Communication between primary care doctor and specialist | |
| 5. In the last 12 months, after you saw the specialists how often did your [regular doctor/doctors] know what happened at your visit with the specialist? | Communication between specialist and primary care doctor | |
| 46. In the last 12 months, after you saw the specialists how often did your [regular doctor/doctors] seem informed and up-to-date about the care you got from the specialists? | Communication between specialist and primary care doctor | |
| 48. In the last 12 months, after you saw a specialist, how often did your [regular doctor/doctors] talk with you about what happened at the visit? | Communication between specialist and primary care doctor | |
| Coordination with Community Resources | ||
| 73. When you need care or treatment, how often [does your regular doctor or medical staff/do doctors or their medical staff] discuss with you different places you could go to get help with that problem or concern? | Coordination with community resources | |
| 67. How often [does your regular doctor/do your doctors] help you find additional health related services, if you so choose? | Coordination with community resources | |
| Navigation | ||
| 34. In the past 12 months, how often [does your regular doctor or staff/do doctors or their staff] help schedule your appointments, referrals or tests? | Navigation-Care team arranged appointments and visits | |
| 68. If you needed another visit with your regular doctor, how often did the staff do everything they could to make necessary arrangements or appointments? | Navigation-Care team arranged appointments and visits | |
| 69. If you needed another visit with another doctor, how often did the staff do everything they could to make necessary arrangements or appointments? | Navigation-Care team arranged appointments and visits | |
| 70. If you needed lab or radiology tests scheduled, how often did the staff do everything they could to make necessary arrangements or appointments? | Navigation-Care team arranged appointments and visits | |
| 71. If you needed another visit with your regular or another doctor, how often did the staff do everything they could to make necessary arrangements when you thought you needed it? | Navigation-Care team arranged appointments and visits | |
| 72. If you needed another visit with your regular or another doctor, how often did the staff do everything they could to make necessary arrangements at your preferred location? | Navigation-Care team arranged appointments and visits |
Response categories for each item: 1 = never, 2 = almost never, 3 = sometimes, 4 = usually, 5 = almost always, 6 = always