1006 Hot Biliary Telephone Follow-Up Clinic Patient Satisfaction QIP

Abstract

Abstract Aim Current evidence notes associations between gallstone disease and increased hepato-pancreato-biliary complications in the general population, signifying the importance to optimise the services provided for patients in this group; for instance, telephone follow-up hot biliary clinics that cater to relatively healthy patients with gallstone disease. This QIP aims to increase patient satisfaction rates in these clinics. Method A Likert-scale, 13-item questionnaire ranging from 1-5 (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree), was developed to assess patient satisfaction with telephone follow-ups. An average score of 4 across all questionnaire items was fixed as the satisfactory cut-off point. 100 patients who had had telephone follow-ups were then retrospectively identified to fill out the questionnaire. The data was then analysed to identify the overall satisfactory rate, and rates according to sex and age groups. Results On overall, 75% of patients were satisfied with telephone follow-ups. Breakdown of data according to sex revealed that 79.4% of females and 67.6% of males were satisfied by telephone follow-ups (p-value: 0.19). As for age groups, 72.2% of patients below the age of 50, 88.9% of patients between the ages of 50-59, 71.4% of patients between the ages of 60-69 and 72% of patients above the age of 70 were satisfied (p-value: 0.52). Conclusions Despite positive initial findings, these numbers can be improved by implementing measures like providing clinicians with a model teleconsultation template for use in clinics and providing patients the options of choosing either face-to-face appointments or telephone follow-ups.