Integrating Online Weight Management With Primary Care Support (PROPS)

Focus Groups and Key Informant Interviews:

Focus groups will be conducted with 5 to 7 patients at the beginning of the study to obtain their feedback about an online program and the population health management support strategy. To be eligible for the focus groups, patients must have a Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) primary care clinician, be between ages 20-70 years old, and have a recent BMI (in the past year) between approximately 27 and 40 kg/m2. They should also be interested in weight management and/or motivated to lose weight.

Phone interviews will be conducted at the end of the study to solicit feedback on the BMIQ program and the population health management intervention. Patients in the PROPS Study who are assigned to the online program or combined intervention arm, reach the 18-month timepoint, and complete the final study survey are eligible and will be invited to participate.

Key Informant Interviews will be conducted at the beginning and the end of the study. To be eligible, the key informants must be clinicians or other staff who provide services to patients at one of the participating BWH primary care practices. There are a total of 165 clinicians in these practices, including staff physicians, residents or fellows, and nurse practitioners or physician assistants. Approximately 7 clinicians at each timepoint will be recruited as key informants and will also be asked to complete electronic surveys during the trial.

After adapting the online weight management program and integrating it with the population management support strategy based on our focus groups and key informant interviews, investigators will conduct a three-arm cluster-randomized trial to compare the effectiveness of the combined intervention (online weight management program plus population management support) with the stand-alone online weight management program and with usual care. This will be a pragmatic clinical trial conducted in approximately 14 BWH primary care practices. To be eligible for the trial, patients must have an upcoming scheduled visit at a BWH primary care practice, BMI between 27 and 39.9 kg/m2 at enrollment, and a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes or hypertension. They also must be between ages 20 and 70 (inclusive) at enrollment, speak English or Spanish, and have access the Internet using a computer, tablet, or smart phone. Finally, patients must be motivated to lose weight. Investigators plan to recruit a total of 840 patients for the study (280 per arm). Patients who enroll in the trial will attend regular primary care visits at their practices and also will complete surveys by e-mail, regular mail, or phone.