Care Coordination and the prosthetic clinic: A clinical outcomes and program evaluation project

Care Coordination is the health care delivery model that has been implemented in the prosthetic clinic at the Shriners Hospital for Children - Canada. In delivering comprehensive, family-centered services, it is important to evaluate the extent to which patients and families perceive coordinated care to occur.

To evaluate the delivery of Care Coordination services to our patients and families in the prosthetic clinic, and to identify strengths and areas for improvement. The time required to provide coordinated care was also evaluated.

The MPOC-20 was administered to the parents of 23 lower extremity deficiency or amputee patients seen in the prosthetic clinic over a 14-month period.

Providing coordinated and comprehensive care related to involving families as part of the team was the most frequently reported strength of the prosthetic clinic Care Coordination. Providing information to families about their child's progress and having information and resources available were areas identified as needing improvement by approximately 30% of respondents. Those with complex health needs required five times the amount of Care Coordination devoted time than the average patient.

The MPOC-20 proved to be a useful tool to highlight areas for improvement in the prosthetic clinic and to validate aspects of care coordination that were appreciated by families.