This Strategies for Success program was a quality-focused experience supporting team-based learning and centered on an intervention designed to address obesity-related care. Clinicians reviewed guideline recommendations and primary care best practices for weight, diet and exercise counseling for overweight and obese patients, and evaluated clinical evidence on the benefits, limitations and patient-selection criteria for recent and emerging pharmacotherapies for this population.
NCQA developed an online activity to review the causes of obesity; the impact and after-effects of weight loss; the role of metabolic rate and the brain; and best practices for treating overweight and obese patients. The goal was that participants would integrate knowledge gained from the activity into the practice setting. Learning gains were assessed through multiple-choice questions administered to clinicians pre- and post-activity.
The program encouraged engaged learning that enhanced primary care teams’ ability to achieve a patient-centered model that would improve management of obesity. Learning activities reviewed obesity and PCMH guidelines, and how practitioners can implement systems to operationalize lessons learned. The result was sizeable gains in provider knowledge, documented through post-course assessments, with an estimated patient impact of over 63,000 individuals who are either obese or at an unhealthy weight.