How an Automated Patient Education Module Improves Patient Outcomes and Informs Quality-of-Care Measures for Providers Within a Minimally Invasive Aesthetic Practice.

Abstract

I conducted a quality improvement project to determine whether providing patient education before consultation and treatment would help meet the needs of aesthetic patients and providers. The project objective was to create an automated patient education module that provided consistent, accurate information to each patient who viewed it and would give the providers additional time to treat the patient and generate revenue. Before and during the 6-week study period, I administered three surveys and reviewed electronic health records metrics indicating patient check-in and check-out times and facility revenue. I used descriptive statistics to examine the demographics of the patients included in the study. I analyzed check-in and check-out times and facility revenue by conducting two-tailed Mann-Whitney U tests. There were a total of 201 patient visits in the 6-week period before the study and a total of 316 patient visits during the study period. Most patients were White, married women, 50- to 59-years-old, with at least some college education. The most common treatments administered were neurotoxin and dermal filler injections. After implementing the preappointment education, I found a significant reduction in the length of patient appointments (p < .001) and a significant increase in facility revenue (p < .037). I concluded that after implementing the education program, patient understanding about the intended treatment was improved. To better correlate how preappointment automated education impacts the amount of time the provider spends with patients and influences practice revenue, I recommend conducting a longer study with a greater number of patients.