Using a Communication Passport within a Multidisciplinary Genetics Clinic

Multiple clinic models for Down syndrome exist; one model is the multidisciplinary, specialty clinic, such as the Massachusetts General Hospital Down Syndrome Program (MGH DSP).

Intrateam communication was identified as an area for improvement. Our team developed an intervention, the Passport, a paper-based communication tool passed by parents between clinical teams who evaluated the same patients in different locations. Metrics included an electronic survey of parents and clinicians and tracking the frequency of Passport use. The analysis included the use of Statistical Process Control charts and rules.

The parental suggestions for communication-based interactions improved from 54% (32/60) to 17% (3/18) (P < 0.01). Communication scores within the MGH DSP team and between the team and parents were high at 86% and 96%, respectively. Overall satisfaction with the MGH DSP remained consistently high during our project, with a mean score of 6.49 out of 7. The MGH DSP team members reported communication scores with a mean of 85 out of 100.

Implementation of a paper Passport tool incorporated parents in the real-time, intraclinic communication between our MGH DSP teams, leading to improved communication suggestions and high marks on the other metrics followed. Such a tool could be useful for other multidisciplinary clinics where team members evaluate the same patients at different locations on the same day.