Good practice interventions relevant to the three disease stages of patients with RA
| Intervention | Definition | Suspected RA | Recently diagnosed with RA | Established RA/structural damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rapid access to care | Fast-track access to care for patients with RA done via online referral form reviewed every 24 hours, hotline leading to appointments within 48 hours for diagnostic services including blood tests and joint imaging | X | X | X |
| Enhanced communication across wider care team | Availability of reliable communication channels (eg, emails, online forms) enabling easy dialogue between specialists and PCPs; and providing and coordinating education programmes to ensure the wider care team are kept up-to-date with developments in best practice care | X | X | X |
| Early arthritic clinic | Clinic dedicated to ensuring timely clinical assessment and diagnosis of patients with suspected RA | X | X | |
| Comprehensive comorbidity assessment | Comorbidity assessment in patient baseline assessment and follow-up of newly diagnosed patients | X | X | X |
| Tailored education to patients and family members | Programmes to increase understanding of diagnosis, treatment plans, and how to live with the disease that is sensitive to individual patient needs | X | ||
| Role of the care coordinator | Care coordinator role to help to manage the burden of navigating contacts across multiple HCPs | X | X | |
| Dedicated comorbidity specialist HCP | Specific role or clinic to support the management of comorbidities in the context of RA | X | X | |
| Enabling self-management | Provision of tools and resources to patients to monitor and manage their RA and reduce dependence on healthcare services | X | X | |
| Enhanced therapy services | Additional care centred around non-physician-led management including care led by therapists to promote rehabilitation and enablement | X | ||
| Day clinic services | The coordination of services enabling provision of stacked outpatient appointments across specialities and disciplines over 1 day or session | X | X | X |
| Virtual engagement with patients | Digital enablement of autonomy, self-management and empowerment by providing a channel of direct communication with attending physicians in addition to online access to education around the disease, networks and peer support | X | X | X |
| Integrating patient registries into daily clinical practice | Employment of evidence-based practice, informed by clinical research and supported by systematic capture and monitoring of data, in order to improve the quality of clinical care delivery and promote evolution of care models | X | X | X |
| Patient-centred care journey | Curation of care processes and physical environment that enables the patient to feel empowered and supported during their journey through care | X | X | X |
| Effectively using the skill mix of the multidisciplinary care team | Enablement of non-physician HCPs to taking on greater responsibility in the assessment and management of patients | X | X | X |
| Integrative and shared care solutions | Ensuring regular communication between all attending physicians and other HCPs as part of a holistic and integrated approach to care | X | X | X |
| Collaborating with PAGs | Increasing communication with local and regional patient advocacy groups through working group sessions, conference attendance, newsletters and patient liaisons | X | X | X |
| Developing care networks | Developing networks with community-based RA services to maintain high-quality ‘joined-up’ care past the point of discharge | X | X | X |
| Quality management programmes | A coordinated approach and a robust system for measuring, tracking and improving the quality of care | X | X | X |
HCPs, healthcare professionals; PAGs, patient advocacy groups; PCPs, primary care professionals; RA, rheumatoid arthritis.