Measuring Patient Preferences and Clinic Follow-Up Utilizing an Embedded Discharge Appointment Scheduler: A Pilot...

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Patient Discharge Process
• Healthcare Administration

Background:

• Timely outpatient follow-up appointments are crucial for high-quality hospital discharge.
• Current practices often involve residents and hospitalists scheduling appointments without patient input due to time constraints.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of a dedicated discharge scheduler on appointment scheduling and attendance.
• To incorporate patient preferences into the follow-up appointment scheduling process.
• To reduce the administrative workload for medical residents.

Main Methods:

• A needs assessment quantified clinician time and identified scheduling barriers.
• A four-week pilot intervention embedded a discharge scheduler within five house staff teams.
• Statistical analyses (chi-square, Fisher's exact tests) were used to evaluate outcomes.

Main Results:

• Successfully scheduled appointments increased significantly (66.7% to 87.7%).
• Follow-up appointment attendance improved significantly (43.9% to 62.9%).
• Rescheduled appointments decreased significantly (16.7% to 4.9%), with no significant change in no-show rates.

Conclusions:

• A dedicated discharge scheduler enhances patient preference alignment in the discharge process.
• This role offers value to residents, hospitalists, and the healthcare system.
• The pilot demonstrates a potential improvement in care coordination and patient outcomes.