Trauma return appointment study: a performance improvement initiative

Ensuring that trauma patients will follow up in a clinic after a hospital stay is always a difficult challenge. This was the case for a rural trauma center in north central Pennsylvania serving 31 counties with a patient maximal travel time of 3½ to 4 hours. Performance improvement outcomes found that ensuring follow-up appointments are made is a system challenge. As an outcome of this performance improvement project, educational updates improved appointment scheduling. Scheduling improvement resulted in improved patient compliance for maintaining appointments postdischarge.