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BACKGROUND: Text messaging has emerged as a popular strategy to engage patients after hospital discharge. Little is known about how patients use these programs and what types of needs are addressed through this approach. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to describe the types and timing of postdischarge needs identified during a 30-day automated texting program. METHODS: The program ran from January to August 2021 at a primary care practice in Philadelphia. In this mixed-methods study, two reviewers conducted a directed content analysis of patient needs expressed during the program, categorizing them along a well-known transitional care framework. We describe the frequency of need categories and their timing relative to discharge. RESULTS: A total of 405 individuals were enrolled; the mean (SD) age was 62.7 (16.2); 64.2% were female; 47.4% were Black; and 49.9% had Medicare insurance. Of this population, 178 (44.0%) expressed at least one need during the 30-day program. The most frequent needs addressed were related to symptoms (26.8%), coordinating follow-up care (20.4%), and medication issues (15.7%). The mean (SD) number of days from discharge to need was 10.8 (7.9); there were no significant differences in timing based on need category. CONCLUSIONS: The needs identified via an automated texting program were concentrated in three areas relevant to primary care practice and within nursing scope of practice. This program can serve as a model for health systems looking to support transitions through an operationally efficient approach, and the findings of this analysis can inform future iterations of this type of program.
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Importance: Postdischarge outreach from the primary care practice is an important component of transitional care support. The most common method of contact is via telephone call, but calls are labor intensive and therefore limited in scope. Objective: To test whether a 30-day automated texting program to support primary care patients after hospital discharge reduces acute care revisits. Design, Setting, and Participants: A 2-arm randomized clinical trial was conducted from March 29, 2022, through January 5, 2023, at 30 primary care practices within a single academic health system in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Patients were followed up for 60 days after discharge. Investigators were blinded to assignment, but patients and practice staff were not. Participants included established patients of the study practices who were aged 18 years or older, discharged from an acute care hospitalization, and considered medium to high risk for adverse health events by a health system risk score. All analyses were conducted using an intention-to-treat approach. Intervention: Patients in the intervention group received automated check-in text messages from their primary care practice on a tapering schedule for 30 days following discharge. Any needs identified by the automated messaging platform were escalated to practice staff for follow-up via an electronic medical record inbox. Patients in the control group received a standard transitional care management telephone call from their practice within 2 business days of discharge. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary study outcome was any acute care revisit (readmission or emergency department visit) within 30 days of discharge. Results: Of the 4736 participants, 2824 (59.6%) were female; the mean (SD) age was 65.4 (16.5) years. The mean (SD) length of index hospital stay was 5.5 (7.9) days. A total of 2352 patients were randomized to the intervention arm and 2384 were randomized to the control arm. There were 557 (23.4%) acute care revisits in the control group and 561 (23.9%) in the intervention group within 30 days of discharge (risk ratio, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.92-1.13). Among the patients in the intervention arm, 79.5% answered at least 1 message and 41.9% had at least 1 need identified. Conclusions and Relevance: In this randomized clinical trial of a 30-day postdischarge automated texting program, there was no significant reduction in acute care revisits. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05245773.
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Alta do Paciente , Envio de Mensagens de Texto , Humanos , Feminino , Masculino , Assistência ao Convalescente , Atenção à Saúde , Hospitais , PhiladelphiaRESUMO
Tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) is a novel prodrug that reduces tenofovir plasma levels by 90% compared to tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF), resulting in decreased bone mineral density (BMD) loss and renal toxicity. We aimed to study changes in BMD and markers of renal function of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients previously treated with TDF who were switched to TAF in as early as 12 weeks. This was a prospective single-arm open-label study of 75 CHB patients treated with TDF 300 mg daily who were switched to TAF 25 mg daily and followed for 24 weeks. All patients had been treated with TDF for at least 12 months and had HBV DNA <21 IU/mL at the time of switch. BMD and markers of renal function were taken on the day of switch and repeated after 12 and 24 weeks of TAF treatment. Hip and spine bone mineral density significantly increased from baseline to week 12 (+12.9% and +2.4%, respectively, P < 0.01). There were significant decreases in urinary beta-2-microglobulin to creatinine and retinol-binding protein to creatinine ratios by week 12 (P < 0.01 for both). Mean estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) did not change. Tubular reabsorption of phosphate was decreased at week 24 (P < 0.05). In conclusion, CHB patients previously treated with TDF experienced significant improvement in bone density and some markers of renal tubular function and as early as 12 weeks after switching to TAF. Bone density changes associated with TDF may not be entirely related to renal handling of phosphate.