Challenge
In 2001, a team of experts at the Roger C. Lipitz Center for Integrated Health Care, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, developed a model to improve primary care for older adults coping with chronic diseases and complex health needs. In the program, a nurse in the patient’s primary care office uses an electronic health record to work with physicians, the patient, the patient’s family, and community service organizations to provide coordinated, cost-effective care. By 2004, results from a one-year pilot study suggested that the program, called Guided Care, improved quality of care and reduced healthcare costs for participating patients.

With the cost of care for chronic diseases rapidly rising to unmanageable levels, Chad Boult, MD, MPH, MBA, Guided Care program leader and director of the Lipitz Center, knew time was of the essence. Waiting until randomized clinical trials were completed to begin disseminating the program could mean multi-year delays before Guided Care would be available to patients. With this in mind, Dr. Boult asked SCP to partner with his team at the Lipitz Center to develop a strategic marketing plan that would allow the Guided Care program to leave the gate as soon as the final data came in.

Approach
Working closely with the Guided Care team, SCP initiated communications research and development, leveraging our findings into a full spectrum of marketing campaign strategies that included:

• Conducting qualitative interviews and market research to identify opportunities and challenges around communications and diffusion efforts;
• Logo and brand development;
• Developing a series of messages for key audiences, including policymakers, payers, physicians, nurses, and other caregivers;
• Creation of an associated Web site, www.guidedcare.org;
• An ongoing media campaign to keep both the medical community and the public at large informed about ongoing research news regarding the Guided Care model;
• Writing and production of a series of video clips that describe the benefits of the program from the point of view of patients, doctors, and nurses; and
• Production of a series of promotional videos [link to a video on SCP website] that describe the program for key audiences, such as doctors, nurses, and payers.

Results/Impact
As positive data from the randomized trial accumulates, SCP continues to help Guided Care prepare for dissemination. Our tools and approaches thus far have helped Dr. Boult gain recognition as an expert in care management, including quotes in the New York Times, the New Yorker, and other key mainstream media. Because of the Lipitz Center’s perceived expertise in this area, the John A. Hartford Foundation granted it $1.7 million to provide information, education, and technical support to 400 medical practices in eight states selected for participation in the Medicare Medical Home Demonstration, beginning in 2010. This demonstration represents the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ effort to respond to the national cost crisis in chronic care. Participating practices can use the MedHomeInfo Web site, created by SCP, to choose ideas from Guided Care and other available chronic care models.