Experiences of practice facilitators working on the Improved Delivery of Cardiovascular Care project: Retrospective case study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the barriers to and facilitators of practice facilitation experienced by participants in the Improving Delivery of Cardiovascular Care (IDOCC) project.
DESIGN: Case studies of practice facilitators' narrative reports.
SETTING: Eastern Ontario. PARTICIPANTS: Primary care practices that participated in the IDOCC project. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Cases were identified by calculating sum scores in order to determine practices' performance relative to their peers. Two case exemplars were selected that scored within ± 1 SD of the total mean score, and a qualitative analysis of practice facilitators' narrative reports was conducted using a 5-factor implementation framework to identify barriers and facilitators. Narratives were divided into 3 phases: planning, implementation, and sustainability.
RESULTS: Barriers and facilitators fluctuated over the intervention's 3 phases. Site A reported more barriers (n = 47) than facilitators (n = 38), while site B reported a roughly equal number of barriers (n = 144) and facilitators (n = 136). In both sites, the most common barriers involved organizational and provider factors and the most common facilitators were associated with innovation and structural factors.
CONCLUSION: Both practices encountered various barriers and facilitators throughout the IDOCC's 3 phases. The case studies reveal the complex interactions of these factors over time, and provide insight into the implementation of practice facilitation programs. Copyright© the College of Family Physicians of Canada.