Common reasons why acne patients call the office

Area of Science:

• Dermatology
• Patient Communication
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Effective physician-patient communication is vital for quality medical care.
• Patients often leave appointments with unresolved questions, leading to clinic callbacks.
• These callbacks disrupt care, delay treatment, and decrease patient satisfaction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze post-visit questions from acne patients.
• To develop interventions for enhanced patient education.
• To reduce the frequency of patient callbacks to dermatology clinics.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of electronic medical records at Wake Forest Baptist Health Dermatology.
• Identification of acne patients from clinic visit notes (October 1-31, 2012).
• Tracking of patient telephone calls to the clinic (October 1, 2012 - March 29, 2013).

Main Results:

• Out of 315 acne patients, 31 (9.8%) made follow-up calls.
• 66.7% of calls concerned isotretinoin, with half related to side effects.
• Other calls focused on topical treatments, acne symptoms, and pharmacy requests.

Conclusions:

• Significant communication gaps exist, particularly concerning oral isotretinoin.
• Addressing these patient questions through targeted interventions can improve care quality.
• Further research should include multi-center studies and capture electronic communication methods.