BRIEF REPORT: Factors Affecting Outpatient Follow‐up Compliance of Emergency Department Patients

Background: Emergency department (ED) patients often fail to follow‐up with referrals to outpatient clinics and physicians. Objective: To compare the effects of 2 ED discharge instructional methods on outpatient follow‐up compliance and to evaluate sociodemographic characteristics as possible factor...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of general internal medicine : JGIM 2005-10, Vol.20 (10), p.938-942
Main Authors: Kyriacou, Demetrios N., Handel, Dan, Stein, Adam C., Nelson, Regina R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Compliance
Emergencies
emergency department
Emergency medical care
Emergency medical services
Emergency Service, Hospital - standards
Follow-Up Studies
follow‐up compliance
Government programs
Health care
Humans
Internal medicine
Original
outpatient
Outpatient care facilities
Patient Compliance
Patient Discharge
Patient Education as Topic - methods
Patient Education as Topic - standards
Patients
Physicians
Primary care
Sociodemographics
Statistical analysis
Teaching methods
Treatment Outcome
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background: Emergency department (ED) patients often fail to follow‐up with referrals to outpatient clinics and physicians. Objective: To compare the effects of 2 ED discharge instructional methods on outpatient follow‐up compliance and to evaluate sociodemographic characteristics as possible factors affecting outpatient follow‐up compliance. Design and Participants: Randomized trial of ED patients. At discharge, the intervention group had their follow‐up appointment made and the standard group was given our hospital's referral service phone number to make their own follow‐up appointment. Measurements: Outpatient clinics were called 1 month after each subject's ED discharge to ascertain if they followed‐up. Poisson regression was used to examine the effects of sociodemographic factors on follow‐up compliance. RESULTS: Of 287 eligible subjects, 250 (87%) agreed to participate. Follow‐up rates were 59% for the intervention group and 37% for the standard group (P
ISSN:0884-8734
1525-1497
DOI:10.1111/j.1525-1497.2005.0216_1.x