Exploration of an automated approach for receiving patient feedback after outpatient acute care visits

Abstract

BACKGROUND: To improve and learn from patient outcomes, particularly under new care models such as Accountable Care Organizations and Patient-Centered Medical Homes, requires establishing systems for follow-up and feedback. OBJECTIVE: To provide post-visit feedback to physicians on patient outcomes following acute care visits. DESIGN: A three-phase cross-sectional study [live follow-up call three weeks after acute care visits (baseline), one week post-visit live call, and one week post-visit interactive voice response system (IVRS) call] with three patient cohorts was conducted. A family medicine clinic and an HIV clinic participated in all three phases, and a cerebral palsy clinic participated in the first two phases. Patients answered questions about symptom improvement, medication problems, and interactions with the healthcare system. PATIENTS: A total of 616 patients were included: 142 from Phase 1, 352 from Phase 2 and 122 from Phase 3. MAIN MEASURES: Primary outcomes included: problem resolution, provider satisfaction with the system, and comparison of IVRS with live calls made by research staff. KEY RESULTS: During both live follow-up phases, at least 96 % of patients who were reached completed the call compared to only 48 % for the IVRS phase. At baseline, 98 of 113 (88 %) patients reported improvement, as well as 167 of 196 (85 %) in the live one-week follow-up. In the one-week IVRS phase, 25 of 39 (64 %) reported improvement. In all phases, the majority of patients in both the improved and unimproved groups had not contacted their provider or another provider. While 63 % of providers stated they wanted to receive patient feedback, they varied in the extent to which they used the feedback reports. CONCLUSIONS: Many patients who do not improve as expected do not take action to further address unresolved problems. Systematic follow-up/feedback mechanisms can potentially identify and connect such patients to needed care. © 2014 Society of General Internal Medicine.