1. The PRIME Study Dr. Komalkirti Apte
Perceived need for chronic Respiratory dIsease ManagErs:
Dr. Komalkirti Apte
Ms. Madhuragauri Shevade, Ms. Sapna Madas, Dr. Sundeep Salvi.
Chest Research Foundation, Pune

2. The need for this study Chronic respiratory diseases
More time per patient
More effort per patient
Additional assistance required for managing these patients
Chronic respiratory diseases
Respiratory practice Rx
to be continued until asked to stop
counseling
additional repeated diagnostic tests
adherence issues
long term follow up and treatment plans
Acute respiratory diseases Rx
x 7 – 14 days

3. Differences in healthcare across the globe
Developed countries
Doctor’s assistant
Asthma Nurse
COPD Nurse
Bronchiectasis Nurse
OAD Counselor
Trained technicians
Developing countries
Junior doctors working as part of their medical curricula
Nurses with no formal training on specialized disease management
Technicians in some instances, albeit without formal training
Quality of care
Quality of care

4. IPCRG Member countries
26 full voting member countries

5. The IPCRG Asset A good global spread
Well developed network of like-minded investigators and research coordinators
Experience of conducting network studies
Answering practically important questions relevant to clinical practice

6. Research Question ??
Do primary care physicians have a qualified assistant to assist them in managing patients of chronic respiratory diseases across the global IPCRG Countries?

7. Research Question ?? If the primary care physician has assistance:
What is the level of qualification of their assistant?
What are the skill sets of these assistants?
Do these assistants meet the expectation of the physician?
Which additional skills training will help the assistant meet the expectation of the physician?

8. Research Question ??
If the primary care physician does not have assistance:
Is there a perceived need for assistance in managing patients of chronic respiratory diseases?
In the opinion of the physician, does the lack of assistance have an impact on the quality of care offered to his/ her patients?
What should be the knowledge base of the assistant?
What skill sets would the physician like an assistant to be trained in?

9. Research Tool Questionnaire based survey: Pattern of patient consults
Availability of assistance in managing patients of chronic respiratory diseases
Level of qualification of the assistance
Skill sets of the assistant
Requirement of competencies in the skills of the assistant

10. National Coordinators
Research Methodology 50 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
National Coordinators
Coordinating center 50
N=1000

11. Research Methodology As a coordinating center:
Develop the final questionnaire through consensus with National Investigators
Develop the online software for data collection
Training National Coordinators
Remote monitoring in conjunction with the National Coordinators
Query generation and resolution
Data analysis with inputs from National Investigators
Report sharing with national investigators

12. National Coordinators trained on the software and questionnaire
Flow of the study
Finalizes the protocol, questionnaire and software for online data capture
National Coordinators trained on the software and questionnaire
National Coordinators maintain a list of recruitment of 50 PCPs from their country
Data cleaning and database lock by CRF, Analyses in consultation with National Investigators
3 months
3 months
1.5 months
3 months

13. Questions to discuss Countries interested in participating
Feasibility of the study?
Will this study help shape up a standard program for training a second tier of healthcare providers?
Could the IPCRG like to take a lead role in creating this much required skilled and qualified resource?
Operational questions?
Countries interested in participating
National Investigator’s list
National Coordinator’s list
Foreseeable challenges in study recruitment
Time lines