The other side of access: service delivery models

As I have written many times in this blog, expanding access to genetic counselors is a top initiative of the NSGC. Many of you realize that there are multiple potential barriers to patients who may benefit from talking with a genetic counselor. We have several initiatives pending to improve coverage of genetic counselors’ services (including the initiative I wrote about July 23, 2010), but we also have a task force dedicated to identifying different ways patients can access genetic counselors. The NSGC “Service Delivery Model Task Force”, led by NSGC member Stephanie Cohen, is attempting to identify existing methods genetic counselors use to communicate with patients, such as face-to-face or telephone counseling.

Although the most common models counselors use to communicate with patients are probably face-to-face and telephone-based genetic counseling, there are other models that exist including videoconferencing, internet-based, and face-to-face group counseling. There may even be some novel methods that most genetic counselors don’t realize are available or effective.

Many genetic counselors prefer to provide face-to-face genetic counseling for a variety of reasons including better communication of complex concepts and ease of psychosocial assessment. However, any genetic counselor who has practiced for a significant amount of time knows that there are always some patients who can’t take advantage of face-to-face genetic counseling. Sometimes patients live in a rural area without a genetics service within reasonable driving distance. Other times, a patient’s work schedule does not allow him or her enough time for an in-person appointment during work hours. Some patients may just simply not understand how a session with a genetic counselor will help them but would be open to an exchange over the phone or email to learn about how they might benefit. All of these are reasons why genetic counselors should consider other methods for delivering their services.

We also need to evaluate delivery models from different points of view. It is obviously important that patients be able to reach genetic counselors through a proposed delivery model, but we also have to think about efficiency. How long do patients have to wait for a particular method of delivery? What factors contribute to that wait time? How are different delivery models reimbursed? These are all critical questions to determine whether a delivery model will truly increase access.

In addition to how genetic counselors communicate to patients, there are also different modes through which patients are referred. Most of us think of the individual physician referring the patient to a local genetic counselor, but some physicians work with genetic counselors in laboratories or at a genetics center to help them triage patients to determine which patients need to meet personally with a genetic counselor. Both referral models and counseling delivery models are important to understand if we want to find efficiently collaborate with other health care providers.

The Service Delivery Model Task Force needs your help! Please take 10 minutes to complete a survey: http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22AYQ94SBFE. The survey includes questions that address all of the points above, and the Task Force can’t start its work without input from NSGC members in the trenches. Please help us move forward on this important initiative.