Nicola Roberts1, Karen Meade, Martyn Partridge. 1. NHLI Division, Imperial College London, Respiratory Health Services Research Group, Charing Cross Hospital, London, UK.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Patient non-attendance is an area of concern for all health care providers. A randomized controlled trial was undertaken to investigate whether reminder telephone calls improved attendance at respiratory outpatient clinics in the English National Health Service (NHS). METHODS: Patients were randomly allocated into one of two groups, either telephone reminder group or usual care. The telephone reminder group received a reminder telephone call between 9 am and 5 pm during the week prior to their appointment. Attendance and demographic information (age, sex, diagnosis and home postcode) were recorded. RESULTS:A total of 504 patients were recruited, 258 patients were allocated to the control group and 246 patients were allocated to the telephone reminder group. Fifty-eight percent of the patients allocated to the telephone reminder group were not contactable. Within the telephone reminder group, of the 104 patients who could be contacted, 86% attended. There was a significant 15% increase in attendance in the contacted group (n = 104) when compared both with the control group (71%, n = 258) and with the patients who could not be contacted (68%, n = 142) (P = 0.007; P = 0.004). It was estimated that the cost of telephoning 200 patients could be offset by preventing one non-attendance. CONCLUSION: Routine telephoning of outpatients should become standard practice if reducing non-attendance is thought to be desirable, but general practitioner (GP) referral letters and hospital records of current hospital outpatients need to include an up-to-date telephone number. Consideration should be given to 'out-of-hours' reminder calls to maximize the contact rate.
RCT Entities:
INTRODUCTION:Patient non-attendance is an area of concern for all health care providers. A randomized controlled trial was undertaken to investigate whether reminder telephone calls improved attendance at respiratory outpatient clinics in the English National Health Service (NHS). METHODS:Patients were randomly allocated into one of two groups, either telephone reminder group or usual care. The telephone reminder group received a reminder telephone call between 9 am and 5 pm during the week prior to their appointment. Attendance and demographic information (age, sex, diagnosis and home postcode) were recorded. RESULTS: A total of 504 patients were recruited, 258 patients were allocated to the control group and 246 patients were allocated to the telephone reminder group. Fifty-eight percent of the patients allocated to the telephone reminder group were not contactable. Within the telephone reminder group, of the 104 patients who could be contacted, 86% attended. There was a significant 15% increase in attendance in the contacted group (n = 104) when compared both with the control group (71%, n = 258) and with the patients who could not be contacted (68%, n = 142) (P = 0.007; P = 0.004). It was estimated that the cost of telephoning 200 patients could be offset by preventing one non-attendance. CONCLUSION: Routine telephoning of outpatients should become standard practice if reducing non-attendance is thought to be desirable, but general practitioner (GP) referral letters and hospital records of current hospital outpatients need to include an up-to-date telephone number. Consideration should be given to 'out-of-hours' reminder calls to maximize the contact rate.
Authors: Christine A Pace; Katherine Gergen-Barnett; Alysa Veidis; Joanna D'Afflitti; Jason Worcester; Pedro Fernandez; Karen E Lasser Journal: Ann Fam Med Date: 2018-07 Impact factor: 5.166
Authors: Sachin J Shah; Patrick Cronin; Clemens S Hong; Andrew S Hwang; Jeffrey M Ashburner; Benjamin I Bearnot; Calvin A Richardson; Blair W Fosburgh; Alexandra B Kimball Journal: J Gen Intern Med Date: 2016-08-08 Impact factor: 5.128
Authors: Lytt I Gardner; Thomas P Giordano; Gary Marks; Tracey E Wilson; Jason A Craw; Mari-Lynn Drainoni; Jeanne C Keruly; Allan E Rodriguez; Faye Malitz; Richard D Moore; Lucy A Bradley-Springer; Susan Holman; Charles E Rose; Sonali Girde; Meg Sullivan; Lisa R Metsch; Michael Saag; Michael J Mugavero Journal: Clin Infect Dis Date: 2014-05-15 Impact factor: 9.079