Abstract W P347: Correlation Between Follow-up Phone Call Post Discharge and Patient Satisfaction Scores

Abstract

Background/Purpose: Today’s health care systems track patient satisfaction to evaluate care delivery. Traditional quality measures have included mortality and re-admissions, but patient satisfaction is fast becoming an important measure. The stroke program of a large academic center began post discharge phone calls in 2013 on patients who were discharged home after a stroke. The purpose of the phone calls was to assess understanding of the discharge instructions, reinforce the discharge instructions, and care transition post hospitalization to home. Patient satisfaction scores were tracked as a secondary process measure. Methods: Call-backs utilized a standard template that focused on the patient’s understanding of medications, importance of the follow-up visit, signs and symptoms of a stroke, risk factors, and clarification of issues or concerns. The sample included all stroke patients who were discharged home. The call-back occurred within 7 days of discharge and two attempts were made to reach the patient. We reviewed the first two months of call-backs in 2013 and changes were made on the standard work to improve response rate. The changes included: consistent call-back days and times, verification of correct phone number before discharge, and informing patient of the phone call. Results: We attempted to reach 100% of the sample which averaged 45 patients per month. Current completed call-backs represent 58% of the sample. The call-backs resulted in an increase in Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) score in the “top box” care transitions domain by 5.8%. Pre call-back (January-March 2013), care transitions score was 80.7% (<40th percentile in the University HealthSystem Consortium peer group) compared to post call-back (January-March 2014) score of 86.5% (≥95th percentile). The HCAHPS score in the discharge domain during the same time period showed increase in the “top box” discharge domain by 9.8%. Pre call-back, the score was 87.0% (≥60th percentile) compared to post call-back score of 96.8% (≥95th percentile). Conclusion: The data supports a positive correlation between patient call-backs and patient satisfaction scores related to care transitions and discharge domains in the stroke population.