176 Chapter 6 METHODS Study design Semi-structured interviews were held to understand the patients perspective related to the implementation of a generic quality of life questionnaire and the changes in the structure and schedule of the consultations at the HIV outpatient clinic of the Erasmus MC, an academic tertiary hospital in the Netherlands. The study was reviewed and determined to be exempt by Medical Ethical Research Committee of the Erasmus MC, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Setting and intervention The HIV outpatient clinic at the Erasmus MC, the Netherlands consists of a team of ten infectious diseases (ID) specialists, three nurse consultants, and one nurse practitioner. All ID specialists are responsible for the outpatient clinic for half a day and are supported by one nurse consultant/practitioner. Together the ID specialist and nurse consultant/practitioner provide care to approximately 2300 patients. The majority of these patients are male (76,4 %) and approximately 50 percent are originally from the Netherlands. The care provision at the HIV outpatient clinic of the Erasmus MC was very diverse before the changes were implemented. The number of consultations per year and with whom the consultation took place, the ID specialist and/or nurse consultant/practitioner, could differ per patient. The interventions implemented at the HIV outpatient clinic of the Erasmus MC consisted of three different elements. The first element, the implementation of the generic quality of life questionnaire is part of the wider Erasmus MC intervention to transition towards a VBHC way of working. This generic quality of life questionnaire consisted of the patient-reported outcomes measurement information system (PROMIS) Global Health which assesses an individual’s health on five domains (physical function, pain, fatigue, emotional distress, social health) as well as general health perception 9. This questionnaire was supplemented with one additional question asking patients what they wish to discuss with the healthcare professional. Subsequently, the HIV outpatient clinic changed the schedule and structure of their consultations. Firstly, instead of patients having to visit the outpatient
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