The American Headache Society First Contact—Headache in Primary Care program: Current metrics, knowledge assessments, and direction for future initiatives
Authors: Minen Mia T. , Malhotra Nisha A. , Waire Erin K. , Swiderski Hayley Z. , Riggins Nina Y. , Sprouse‐Blum Adam S. 
Published: November 2024

Objective

This study examines the American Headache Society First Contact—Headache in Primary Care program metrics to date in order to assess the program's reach and provide direction for future initiatives.

Background

Approximately 4 million primary care office visits annually are headache‐specific encounters. Therefore, it is important that primary care providers are knowledgeable about headache management. Recognizing the need, the American Headache Society First Contact designed the comprehensive First Contact—Headache in Primary Care program with input from an advisory board comprised of a diverse group of physicians and advanced practice providers with backgrounds in family and internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, and neurology. This is the first study to assess the reach of the program and critically examine how to best meet the needs of clinicians and patients going forward.

Methods

We report descriptive statistics for the First Contact website metrics from October 2020 to June 2023 and grand rounds program data from May 2020 to December 2023. We also conducted a cross‐sectional analysis of survey data from presentations conducted at two large national family medicine symposia, as well as a thematic analysis of the question: “Please indicate what areas of your practice could be enhanced or improved with additional education?”

Results

The First Contact program homepage was the second most visited page on the American Headache Society website (>100,000 views). A total of 20 podcast episodes were created for the program (>3500 plays). The First Contact program held 99 events (72 institutional grand rounds, 22 State‐level meetings, and five national meetings), reaching >7000 clinicians. The institutional grand rounds and state‐level meetings were held across 27 States and Washington D.C. Only 31.9% (30/94) of First Contact program events (excluding national meetings) occurred in the West census region, which has the fewest headache subspecialists and lowest headache subspecialist density in the United States. When examining survey data of participants who attended the two virtual national family medicine symposia (39.3% response rate, N = 636/1620), 85.7% (544/635) reported being “completely confident” or “very confident” in their ability to recognize and accurately diagnose patients presenting with a primary complaint of headache and 81.5% (517/634) reported being “completely confident” or “very confident” in their ability to develop evidence‐based treatment plans that are tailored to the needs of individual patients. The use of diagnostic tools to recognize patients with migraine (60.4%, 384/636) and translating standards of care to the practice setting (42.5%, 270/636) were the most reported intended changes by participants. Most participants reported that program content was of clinical relevance and would improve their patients’ outcomes (90.5% [571/631] and 90.6% [572/631], respectively). Over three‐quarters (77.8%, 495/636) of participants reported areas of their practice that can be improved by additional education specifically regarding workflow, diagnosis, and management.

Conclusion

This study evaluates one of the first national initiatives for primary care education. Data from the two First Contact Family Medicine national symposia indicate the program is generally well received with most participants reporting improved confidence and intention to implement key changes in practice to improve care for patients with headache; however, there remain areas of exploration for education that could further enhance participant experience and expand the reach of the initiatives. Areas for future programming include continued education on multifactorial approaches to headache treatment and suggestions for addressing cost, insurance, and time constraints. Also, future work may examine where the First Contact program might focus initiatives based on specific areas of need in headache care, such as geographic “desert” areas, racial and ethnic disparities, and uninsured/underinsured populations.