Table 3.

Summary of the Emergent Themes from the Interviews of Primary Care Providers

ThemeCategories and Examples of Corresponding Codes
Typology of errors of omissionPatient teaching
    Health maintenance
    Medication education
    Review of tests and diagnostics with patient
    Diet education
    Healthy lifestyle education
    Physical activity recommendations
    Weight management
    Preprocedural education
Patient Followup
    Followup about test results
    Followup about referrals
    Followup on provider recommendations
Emotional support
    Family and caregiver support
    Review of patient coping mechanisms
    Social wellbeing
Mental health needs
    Depression screening
“Mental health not part of primary care”
Factors leading to omissionsTime Constraints
    Overbooking of appointments
    Time spent on documentation
    Increased complexity of patient visits
    Time spent on phone with insurance companies to gain approvals for diagnostic testing
Unplanned patient visits and emergencies
    Urgent change in patient medical status
    Unstable patient
    Patient volume
    Unexpected patient emergencies
    Open scheduling
Administrative burden
    Lack of support staff
    Influx of telephone messages to answer
Omission safeguardsOrganizational support and infrastructure
    Designated time allotted for administrative work (eg, answering patient phone calls; paperwork)
    Enough patient care resources (eg, exam rooms; support staff)
    Adequate staffing
Effective teamwork and communication
    Effective team communication
    Respect for team members
Preparation for the patient encounter
    Easy access to patient history and plan of care
    Review of patient care documentation