Effect of an Outbound Scheduling Team on the Timeliness of Scheduling Referrals to Pediatric Otolaryngology
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View abstract on PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.Implementing an ambulatory outbound scheduling team significantly reduced referral wait times for pediatric otolaryngology. This intervention also eliminated access disparities for families preferring non-English communication, improving timely care for all.
Area Of Science
- Health Services Research
- Patient Access to Care
- Healthcare Disparities
Background
- Families preferring non-English communication often face barriers accessing healthcare services.
- Timeliness of specialist appointments is crucial for effective patient care and outcomes.
- Existing referral processes may contribute to disparities in healthcare access.
Purpose Of The Study
- To evaluate the impact of an ambulatory outbound scheduling team on referral scheduling timeliness.
- To determine if this intervention could reduce disparities in care access for language-other-than-English families.
- To improve access to pediatric otolaryngology services.
Main Methods
- Retrospective cohort analysis of 7675 referrals to pediatric otolaryngology over three years.
- Implementation of an outbound scheduling team to contact patients within one business day of referral receipt.
- Comparison of referral lag (time from referral to scheduling) before and after the intervention using log-transformed linear regression models.
Main Results
- Median referral lag decreased from 6 days preintervention to 1 day postintervention (P < .001).
- Preintervention, language-other-than-English families experienced 1.27 times longer referral lag compared to English-speaking families (P < .001).
- Postintervention, referral lag for language-other-than-English families was reduced to a median of 1 day, eliminating the disparity (P = .131).
Conclusions
- An outbound ambulatory scheduling process effectively reduces overall referral lag.
- This intervention successfully eliminated disparities in scheduling timeliness for language-other-than-English families.
- Implementing proactive scheduling improves healthcare access and equity.
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