Alberta Back Care Pathway (ABCp)

Summary

Every year, the pain, disability, addiction, and expense associated with LBP increase in Alberta. This escalation is largely because most people with LBP seek care from family physicians who are unable to provide effective, guideline-based interventions due to three recognized barriers: 1) a lack of training, 2) a lack of no (or low) cost access to these interventions and 3) a lack of physician time and reimbursement to deliver these interventions. As a result, most LBP care provided in Alberta is "low-value".

With input from Alberta patients, healthcare providers, administrators and international scientists, the Alberta Back Carepathway (ABCp) was designed to overcome these barriers by giving family physicians a common, guideline-based approach to coordinate, assess and manage LBP patients in day-to-day practice.

The ABCp trains family physicians to quickly and easily place patients into 5 categories each having evidence-based interventions that can be provided by physicians at no or low cost to patients and no net cost to the healthcare system. By designing the ABCp to resolve barriers related to training, access and delivery, the ABCp will "pull" rather than "prod" patients and clinicians toward sustained, long-term implementation of this cost-effective solution.

This study is based on a multi-clinic, controlled, non-randomized stepped-wedge study designed for urban and rural primary care networks (PCNs). The primary outcome will be decreased healthcare resource utilization with secondary improvements in quality of life and opioid consumption. Overall, the savings realized through ABCp will create a self-sustaining, scalable solution for LBP care in Alberta.

Conditions

• Low Back Pain

Interventions

OTHER

ABCp

Intervention is a care pathway that helps primary care physicians categorize back pain patients with each category having preferred interventions.

OTHER

Usual Care

Standard of care treatment

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Canadian Chiropractic Research Foundation

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Bone and Joint Health SCN

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• University of Alberta

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Brandyn Powelske, MScPT · University of Alberta

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-03-31

Primary Completion

2027-12-17

Completion

2027-12-17

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations