Facility-level conditions leading to higher reach: a configurational analysis of national VA weight management programming

BACKGROUND: While the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) MOVE! weight management program is effective in helping patients lose weight and is available at every VHA medical center across the United States, reaching patients to engage them in treatment remains a challenge. Facility-based MOVE! programs vary in structures, processes of programming, and levels of reach, with no single factor explaining variation in reach. Configurational analysis, based on Boolean algebra and set theory, represents a mathematical approach to data analysis well-suited for discerning how conditions interact and identifying multiple pathways leading to the same outcome. We applied configurational analysis to identify facility-level obesity treatment program arrangements that directly linked to higher reach. METHODS: A national survey was fielded in March 2017 to elicit information about more than 75 different components of obesity treatment programming in all VHA medical centers. This survey data was linked to reach scores available through administrative data. Reach scores were calculated by dividing the total number of Veterans who are candidates for obesity treatment by the number of “new” MOVE! visits in 2017 for each program and then multiplied by 1000. Programs with the top 40 % highest reach scores (n = 51) were compared to those in the lowest 40 % (n = 51). Configurational analysis was applied to identify specific combinations of conditions linked to reach rates. RESULTS: One hundred twenty-seven MOVE! program representatives responded to the survey and had complete reach data. The final solution consisted of 5 distinct pathways comprising combinations of program components related to pharmacotherapy, bariatric surgery, and comprehensive lifestyle intervention; 3 of the 5 pathways depended on the size/complexity of medical center. The 5 pathways explained 78 % (40/51) of the facilities in the higher-reach group with 85 % consistency (40/47). CONCLUSIONS: Specific combinations of facility-level conditions identified through configurational analysis uniquely distinguished facilities with higher reach from those with lower reach. Solutions demonstrated the importance of how local context plus specific program components linked together to account for a key implementation outcome. These findings will guide system recommendations about optimal program structures to maximize reach to patients who would benefit from obesity treatment such as the MOVE! program. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12913-021-06774-w.