Cluster-randomized implementation trial of two facilitation strategies to implement a novel information and communications technology at the Veterans Health Administration

Background Information and communication technologies (ICTs) improve quality and efficiency of healthcare, but effective practices for implementing new ICTs are unknown. From 2019 to 2021, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) implemented FLOW3, an ICT that facilitates prosthetic limb care. The goal of this study was to compare the impact of two facilitation strategies on FLOW3 adoption, implementation, and sustainment. Methods FLOW3 is a computerized workflow management system comprised of three applications that facilitate the three steps for prosthesis authorization. During VHA’s implementation of FLOW3, we randomized 60 VHA sites to basic or enhanced facilitation groups. Basic facilitation included a manualized training toolkit and office hours. Enhanced facilitation included basic facilitation plus monthly learning collaboratives and site-specific performance reports. Outcomes included time to adoption of FLOW3 and complete FLOW3 utilization rates during implementation and sustainment periods. We compared outcomes between sites assigned to basic versus enhanced facilitation groups. Results were calculated using both intent-to-treat (ITT) and dose–response analyses. The dose–response analysis used a per-protocol approach and required sites in the enhanced facilitation group to join two of six learning collaboratives; sites that attended fewer were reassigned to the basic group. Results Randomization assigned 30 sites to enhanced facilitation and 30 to basic. Eighteen of 30 randomized sites were included in the enhanced facilitation group for dose–response analysis. During the implementation period, enhanced facilitation sites were significantly more likely to completely utilize FLOW3 than basic facilitation sites ( HR : 0.17; 95% CI : 1.18, 4.53, p = 0.02) based on ITT analysis. In the dose–response analysis, the enhanced group was 2.32 (95% CI : 1.18, 4.53) times more likely to adopt FLOW3 than basic group ( p = 0.014). Conclusions Enhanced facilitation including a learning collaborative and customized feedback demonstrated greater likelihood for sites to complete a prosthetics consult using FLOW3 throughout our study. We identified statistically significant differences in likelihood of adoption using the dose–response analysis and complete utilization rate using ITT analysis during the implementation period. All sites that implemented FLOW3 demonstrated improvement in completion rate during the sustainment period, but the difference between facilitation groups was not statistically significant. Further study to understand sustainability is warranted.