Conducting Patient-Pathway Analysis to Inform Programming of Tuberculosis Services: Methods
Christy L Hanson, Mike Osberg, Jessie Brown, George Durham, Daniel P Chin, Christy L Hanson, Mike Osberg, Jessie Brown, George Durham, Daniel P Chin
Abstract
Patient-centered care is a central pillar of the World Health Organization's End TB Strategy. Understanding where patients access health services is a first step to planning for the placement of services to meet patient needs and preferences. The patient-pathway analysis (PPA) methodology detailed in this article was developed to better understand the alignment between patient care seeking and tuberculosis service availability. A PPA describes the steps that people with tuberculosis take from the initial care visit to cure. The results of a PPA reveal programmatic gaps in care seeking, diagnosis, treatment initiation, and continuity of care. They can be used as inputs to an evidence-based process of identifying and developing interventions to address the gaps in patient care. This paper summarizes the steps to conduct a PPA and serves as the basis for understanding country case studies that profile the use of PPA.
Keywords: care seeking; diagnosis; patient pathway analysis; private sector; tuberculosis.
© The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
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References
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Source: PubMed