Impact of the Provider and Healthcare team Adherence to Treatment Guidelines (PHAT-G) intervention on adherence to national obesity clinical practice guidelines in a primary care center

Rationale, aims and objectives: Obesity is significantly underdiagnosed and undertreated in primary care settings. The purpose of this clinical practice change project was to increase provider adherence to national clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of obesity in adults.

Methods: Based upon the National Institutes of Health guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of obesity, a clinical change project was implemented. Guided by the theory of planned behaviour, the Provider and Healthcare team Adherence to Treatment Guidelines (PHAT-G) intervention includes education sessions, additional provider resources for patient education, a provider reminder system and provider feedback.

Results: Primary care providers did not significantly increase on documentation of diagnosis and planned management of obesity for patients with body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 30. Medical assistants increased recording of height, weight and BMI in the patient record by 13%, which was significant.

Conclusions: Documentation of accurate BMI should lead to diagnosis of appropriate weight category and subsequent care planning. Future studies will examine barriers to adherence to clinical practice guidelines for obesity. Interventions are needed that include inter-professional team members and may be more successful if delivered separately from routine primary care visits.