Patient feedback identifies “Rheum” to improve clinic visit preparedness

Abstract

Healthcare providers and administrators are incorporating patient feedback to drive local health system improvement. Improvement interventions, including patient feedback, guided a novel approach for rheumatology patient appointment preparedness. We tested the interventions in a single rheumatology clinic. A comprehensive patient questionnaire was developed by assessing patients’ clinic access using patient journey mapping. The questionnaire was administered to a random cohort of 125 rheumatology patients about their feedback on pre-clinic practices. From the responses, modifications were made to existing administrative practices within the clinic. The modified practices were tested with an additional cohort of 10 patients aligned to one rheumatologist, assessing overall patients’ preparedness and clinic visit cycle time. It was identified from the questionnaire that during appointment booking, inconsistent pre-clinic planning information was communicated to patients and the appointment package did not support patient preparedness, resulting in extending clinic visits. Standardization of the appointment phone call script, updating the appointment package, and inclusion of a clinic visit preparation checklist, reduced the clinic visit cycle time by 10 minutes for new patients, and 5 minutes for existing patients. The participating clinic rheumatologist also perceived improved patient preparedness and clinic visit flow based on the modified practices. In this study, patient feedback was used to identify patient-centred interventions to improve patient preparedness at clinic visits. The interventions developed were simple and easy to incorporate into practice. Systematic collection of and strategies based on patient feedback was determined to be a valid, meaningful method for incorporating clinical quality improvement.

Key points

• Structured patient feedback can inform quality improvement practices in a rheumatological clinic setting.

• A patient journey map outlining healthcare clinic access can help to understand patient experiences and needs.

• Simple, patient-centred interventions, such as an appointment package and a consistent telephone reminder script, improved patient preparedness and reduced average clinic cycle time.