An Electronic Health Record-Based Automated Self-Rescheduling Tool to Improve Patient Access: Retrospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: In many large health centers, patients face long appointment wait times and difficulties accessing care. Last-minute cancellations and patient no-shows leave unfilled slots in a clinician's schedule, exacerbating delays in care from poor access. The mismatch between the supply of outpatient appointments and patient demand has led health systems to adopt many tools and strategies to minimize appointment no-show rates and fill open slots left by patient cancellations. OBJECTIVE: We evaluated an electronic health record (EHR)-based self-scheduling tool, Fast Pass, at a large academic medical center to understand the impacts of the tool on the ability to fill cancelled appointment slots, patient access to earlier appointments, and clinical revenue from visits that may otherwise have gone unscheduled. METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, we extracted Fast Pass appointment offers and scheduling data, including patient demographics, from the EHR between June 18, 2022, and March 9, 2023. We analyzed the outcomes of Fast Pass offers (accepted, declined, expired, and unavailable) and the outcomes of scheduled appointments resulting from accepted Fast Pass offers (completed, canceled, and no-show). We stratified outcomes based on appointment specialty. For each specialty, the patient service revenue from appointments filled by Fast Pass was calculated using the visit slots filled, the payer mix of the appointments, and the contribution margin by payer. RESULTS: From June 18 to March 9, 2023, there were a total of 60,660 Fast Pass offers sent to patients for 21,978 available appointments. Of these offers, 6603 (11%) were accepted across all departments, and 5399 (8.9%) visits were completed. Patients were seen a median (IQR) of 14 (4-33) days sooner for their appointments. In a multivariate logistic regression model with primary outcome Fast Pass offer acceptance, patients who were aged 65 years or older (vs 20-40 years; P=.005 odds ratio [OR] 0.86, 95% CI 0.78-0.96), other ethnicity (vs White; P<.001, OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.77-0.91), primarily Chinese speakers (P<.001; OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.49-0.79), and other language speakers (vs English speakers; P=.001; OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.57-0.87) were less likely to accept an offer. Fast Pass added 2576 patient service hours to the clinical schedule, with a median (IQR) of 251 (216-322) hours per month. The estimated value of physician fees from these visits scheduled through 9 months of Fast Pass scheduling in professional fees at our institution was US $3 million. CONCLUSIONS: Self-scheduling tools that provide patients with an opportunity to schedule into cancelled or unfilled appointment slots have the potential to improve patient access and efficiently capture additional revenue from filling unfilled slots. The demographics of the patients accepting these offers suggest that such digital tools may exacerbate inequities in access.

Impact of an automated peri-procedural digital health intervention on rates of emergency department visits and readmissions.

BACKGROUND: Providing timely peri-procedural education, reminders, and check-ins can improve patient adherence and clinical outcomes. We sought to retrospectively evaluate the impact of a peri-procedural digital health tool on emergency department (ED) visits and readmissions. METHODS: A digital health tool for peri-procedural care engaged patients at scheduled intervals, resulting in an overall engagement score. Multivariate models determined predictors of tool engagement and post-procedural 30- and 90-day rehospitalizations and ED visits. RESULTS: 11,737 unique completed procedures were analyzed from 10,438 patients. Patients of Black and Latinx race/ethnicity (vs White), those with Medicare and Medicaid insurance (vs commercial), and those with non-activated patient portals (vs activated) were less likely to engage. After adjustment for confounders, higher engagement with the tool was associated with lower rates of 30-day hospitalizations (OR 0.64), 90-day hospitalizations (OR 0.65), and 90-day ED visits (OR 0.77). CONCLUSIONS: Highly engaged patients had fewer 30-day and 90-day ED visit and readmissions, even after adjustment for key confounders. Engagement, and thus the resulting benefits, were not equitably distributed.

Training Physicians in the Digital Health Era: How to Leverage the Residency Elective.

Digital health is an expanding field and is fundamentally changing the ways health care can be delivered to patients. Despite the changing landscape of health care delivery, medical trainees are not routinely exposed to digital health during training. In this viewpoint, we argue that thoughtfully implemented immersive elective internships with digital health organizations, including start-ups, during residency are valuable for residents, residency programs, and digital health companies. This viewpoint represents the opinions of the authors based on their experience as resident physicians working as interns within a start-up health navigation and telehealth company. First, residents were able to apply their expertise beyond the traditional clinical environment, use creativity to solve health care problems, and learn from different disciplines not typically encountered by most physicians in traditional clinical practice. Second, residency programs were able to strengthen their program's educational offerings and better meet the needs of a heterogenous group of residents who are increasingly seeking nontraditional ways to learn more about care delivery transformation. Third, digital health companies were able to expand their clinical team and receive new insights from physicians in training. We believe that immersive elective internships for physicians in training provide opportunities for experiential learning in a fast-paced environment within a field that is rapidly evolving. By creating similar experiences for other resident physicians, residency programs and digital health companies have a key opportunity to influence future physician-leaders and health care innovators.

Impact of patient portal-based self-scheduling of diagnostic imaging studies on health disparities.

While many case studies have described the implementation of self-scheduling tools, which allow patients to schedule visits and imaging studies asynchronously online, none have explored the impact of self-scheduling on equitable access to care.1 Using an electronic health record patient portal, University of California San Francisco deployed a self-scheduling tool that allowed patients to self-schedule diagnostic imaging studies. We analyzed electronic health record data for the imaging modalities with the option to be self-scheduled from January 1, 2021 to September 1, 2021. We used descriptive statistics to compare demographic characteristics and created a multivariable logistic regression model to identify predictors of patient self-scheduling utilization. Among all active patient portal users, Latinx, Black/African American, and non-English speaking patients were less likely to self-schedule studies. Patients with Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program, and Medicare insurance were also less likely to self-schedule when compared with commercially insured patients. Efforts to facilitate use of patient portal-based applications are necessary to increase equitability and decrease disparities in access.

Clinical Outcomes and Qualitative Perceptions of In-person, Hybrid, and Virtual Cardiac Rehabilitation.

PURPOSE: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is evolving to include both in-person and virtual delivery. Our objective was to compare, in CR patients, the association of in-person, hybrid, and virtual CR with change in performance on the 6-min walk test (6MWT) between enrollment and completion. METHODS: Patients enrolled in CR between October 22, 2019, and May 10, 2021, were categorized into in-person, hybrid, or virtual groups by number of in-person and virtual visits. All patients received individualized exercise training and health behavior counseling. Cardiac rehabilitation was delivered to patients in the hybrid and virtual cohorts using synchronous video exercise and/or asynchronous telephone visits. Measurements at CR enrollment and completion included the 6MWT, blood pressure (BP), depression, anxiety, waist-to-hip ratio, and cardiac self-efficacy. RESULTS: Of 187 CR patients, 37/97 (38.1%) were in-person patients and 58/90 (64.4%) were hybrid/virtual patients ( P = .001). Compared to in-person (51.5 ± 59.4 m) improvement in the 6MWT was similar in hybrid (63.4 ± 55.6; P = .46) and virtual (63.2 ± 59.6; P = .55) compared with in-person (51.5 ± 59.4). Hybrid and virtual patients experienced similar improvements in BP control and anxiety. Virtual patients experienced less improvement in depression symptoms. There were no statistically significant changes in waist-to-hip ratio or cardiac self-efficacy. Qualitative themes included the adaptability of virtual CR, importance of relationships between patients and CR staff, and need for training and organizational adjustments to adopt virtual CR. CONCLUSIONS: Hybrid and virtual CR were associated with similar improvements in functional capacity to in-person. Virtual and hybrid CR have the potential to expand availability without compromising outcomes.

Impact of a resident and student-led video visitation navigation program.

BACKGROUND: Many institutions implemented telehealth initiatives to provide social support for patients during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic. Little is known about the impact of these programs on patient support persons and the trainees who facilitated them. OBJECTIVE: To assess perceptions of a resident physician and medical student-driven video visit program. METHODS: We designed and implemented a trainee-led video visit navigation program across three affiliated urban hospitals to facilitate video visits between patients and their support persons. We used descriptive statistics to understand the patient population served by the program and employed surveys for support persons and trainees to assess attitudes on the program. RESULTS: From April to June 2020, a total of 443 video visits were completed. Surveys were conducted for 101 out of 184 (54.9%) support persons and 39 out of 65 (60.0%) of medical trainees. Surveys demonstrated that video visits helped alleviate the stress and anxiety of support persons having a hospitalized loved one they could not visit. For trainees, facilitating these connections helped mitigate stress and provided a mechanism to contribute to the pandemic response. CONCLUSION: Telehealth navigation programs provide high levels of connection for patients and their support persons during the COVID-19 pandemic and potentially beyond. Residents and medical students involved in these initiatives mobilized telehealth modalities to improve experiences with care delivery.

Reimagining the inpatient palliative care consult: lessons from COVID-19.

As the number of inpatients with advanced age and chronic conditions rises, so too does the need for inpatient palliative care (PC). Despite the strong evidence base for PC, less than 50% of all inpatient PC needs are met by inpatient consults. Over the past several months in epicenters of the COVID-19 pandemic, PC providers have responded to the increased need for PC services through innovative digital programs including telepalliative care programs. In this article, we explore how PC innovations during COVID-19 could transform the PC consult to address workforce shortages and expand access to PC services during and beyond the pandemic. We propose a 3-pronged strategy of bolstering inpatient telepalliative care services, expanding electronic consults, and increasing training and educational tools for providers to help meet the increased need for PC services in the future.

The Effect of Price Information on the Ordering of Images and Procedures.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Ordering rates for imaging studies and procedures may change if clinicians are shown the prices of those tests while they are ordering. We studied the effect of 2 forms of paid price information, single median price and paired internal/external median prices, on how often pediatric-focused and adult-oriented clinicians (most frequently general pediatricians and adult specialists caring for pediatric-aged patients, respectively) order imaging studies and procedures for 0- to 21-year-olds. METHODS: In January 2014, we randomized 227 pediatric-focused and 279 adult-oriented clinicians to 1 of 3 study arms: Control (no price display), Single Median Price, or Paired Internal/External Median Prices (both with price display in the ordering screen of electronic health record). We used 1-way analysis of variance and paired t tests to examine how frequently clinicians (1) placed orders and (2) designated tests to be completed internally within an accountable care organization. RESULTS: For pediatric-focused clinicians, there was no significant difference in the rates at which orders were placed or designated to be completed internally across the study arms. For adult-oriented clinicians caring for children and adolescents, however, those in the Single Price and Paired Price arms placed orders at significantly higher rates than those in the Control group (Control 3.2 [SD 4.8], Single Price 6.2 [SD 6.8], P < .001 and Paired Prices 5.2 [SD 7.9], P = .04). The rate at which adult-oriented clinicians designated tests to be completed internally was not significantly different across arms. CONCLUSIONS: The effect of price information on ordering rates appears to depend on whether the clinician is pediatric-focused or adult-oriented.