Contextual Conditions and Performance Improvement in Primary Care

Although organizational context can affect the implementation of quality initiatives, we know less about the influence of contextual conditions on quality outcomes. We examined organizational features of primary care clinics that achieved greatest performance improvements after implementing Lean redesigns.

We used operational data and baseline (ie, pre-Lean implementation) surveys of 1333 physicians and staff in 43 primary care clinics located across a large ambulatory care system. Segmented regression with interrupted time series analysis was used to identify clinics with highest improvements in workflow efficiency, physician productivity, and patient satisfaction following Lean redesign. We conducted independent-samples t tests to identify contextual features of clinics that showed greatest improvements in performance outcomes.

Clinics with highest increases in efficiency had most prior experience with quality improvement, compared with all other clinics. Efficiency gains were also found in clinics reporting highest levels of burnout and work stress prior to redesign. Highest improvements in physician productivity were associated with a history of change, staff participation, and leadership support for redesigns. Greatest improvements in patient satisfaction occurred in least stressful environments with highest levels of teamwork, staff engagement/efficacy, and leadership support.

Our findings encourage careful evaluation of clinic characteristics and capacity to effectively implement redesigns. Such evaluations may help leaders select interventions most appropriate for certain clinics, while identifying others that may need extra support with implementing change.