Improving Follow-Up Adherence in a Primary Eye Care Setting.

Publication/Presentation Date

1-1-2017

Abstract

Lack of patient adherence with eye appointments can decrease ocular outcomes. This prospective, randomized, single-blinded controlled study assessed the effectiveness of multiple interventions in improving follow-up adherence to recommended eye appointments. Patients due for follow-up appointments were randomly assigned to usual care, automated intervention, or personal intervention. Automated-intervention patients and personal-intervention patients received a call one month prior to the recommended follow-up date, and a mailed appointment reminder letter. The call was automated for automated-intervention patients and personalized for personal-intervention patients. The primary outcome was adherence to the follow-up appointment. The secondary outcome was rate of appointment scheduling. Patients in the personal-intervention group had greater adherence to follow-up recommendations (38%) than patients in the usual care group (28%) and the automated-intervention group (30%). Personal intervention significantly increased appointment scheduling (51%) over usual care (32%) and automated intervention (36%). These results support systems-level changes to improve patient follow-up adherence in urban primary eye care settings.

Volume

32

Issue

1

First Page

73

Last Page

79

ISSN

1555-824X

Disciplines

Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Health and Medical Administration | Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods

PubMedID

26656245

Department(s)

Administration and Leadership

Document Type

Article

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