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Impact of Telephone Follow-Up on Patient Satisfaction in a Pediatric Neurosurgery Clinic
Erica Blanco1, Shenae Samuels2, Rebekah Kimball3
1College of Nursing, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Insights
A simple telephone follow-up call significantly improved patient satisfaction in pediatric neurosurgery. This initiative enhanced physician ratings and communication quality, demonstrating a clinically meaningful impact on patient experience.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Neurosurgery
- Health Services Research
- Patient Experience
Background:
- Patient satisfaction is a critical healthcare quality indicator, yet less understood in pediatrics.
- Pediatric neurosurgery outpatient clinics require effective methods to assess and improve patient satisfaction.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of standardized telephone follow-up on patient satisfaction.
- To determine if post-visit calls influence patient-reported outcomes in pediatric neurosurgery.
Main Methods:
- Implemented standardized telephone follow-up calls within one week of pediatric neurosurgery clinic visits.
- Utilized Pearson's chi-squared or Fisher's exact tests to analyze changes in patient satisfaction metrics.
- Compared satisfaction data before and after the telephone follow-up initiative.
Main Results:
- A statistically significant increase in overall "top-box" physician ratings from 85.5% to 95.6% (P = .04).
- Observed a positive, though not statistically significant, trend in provider recommendations and communication quality.
- Reported improvements in pediatric patient satisfaction scores following telephone follow-up.
Conclusions:
- Standardized telephone follow-up calls can significantly enhance patient satisfaction in pediatric neurosurgery.
- This simple intervention leads to clinically meaningful improvements in patient-reported outcomes.
- Telephone follow-up is a valuable tool for quality improvement in pediatric healthcare settings.
Abstract:
Patient satisfaction is a key metric used to measure quality in health care. However, patient satisfaction measures in the pediatric population are less studied and understood than in the adult population. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of telephone follow-up on patient satisfaction in an outpatient pediatric neurosurgery clinic. A standardized telephone follow-up call was performed within 1 week of a child's clinic visit. Pearson's χ2 or Fisher's exact tests were used to assess changes in patient satisfaction measures after implementation of the telephone follow-up call initiative. The proportion of overall "top-box" physician rating significantly increased from 85.5% in 2017 to 95.6% in 2018 (P = .04). There was also a nonsignificant upward trend in the proportion of respondents noting that they would recommend this provider, as well as in all measures of physician communication quality and office staff quality. A simple telephone call to new patients after an outpatient pediatric neurosurgery clinic visit resulted in statistically significant and clinically meaningful changes in patient satisfaction scores.
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