By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    benefits of using protein powder to build muscles
    Protein Powder for Muscle Mass: Everything You Need to Know
    December 12, 2021
    changes brought on by blockchain in healthcare
    Technology In The Healthcare Industry
    March 28, 2022
    What Does Core Body Temperature Say About Health?
    August 17, 2022
    Latest News
    Health Benefits of Taking a Vacation to Reduce Your Stress
    September 27, 2023
    First Aid Training Enhancing Workplace Health and Safety
    September 25, 2023
    Beyond the Clinic: Medical Surveys Are a Roadmap to Passive Income for Doctors
    September 23, 2023
    5 Self-Care Habits to Help You Live an A+ Life
    September 21, 2023
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Why Pilot Projects Don’t Work
    January 4, 2012
    domestic violence program
    DOVE Program at Northwest Hospital Helps Families Overcome Domestic Violence
    April 11, 2013
    Rick Santorum on Health Care: Not Much to Write Home About
    February 9, 2012
    Latest News
    Job Seekers with Disabilities Should at Health Insurance Benefits
    September 12, 2023
    Reasons That Drug Prices Are Rising to Unsustainable Levels
    September 12, 2023
    How Revenue Lifecycle Management Helps Healthcare Providers to Optimize Business Operations
    September 6, 2023
    The Hidden Benefits of Practice Exams for Medical Professionals
    September 6, 2023
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: The Most Important Quality Improvement Measure: Patient Follow-Up
Share
Sign In
Notification Show More
Aa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Aa
Search
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Business > Finance > The Most Important Quality Improvement Measure: Patient Follow-Up
BusinessFinanceHospital Administration

The Most Important Quality Improvement Measure: Patient Follow-Up

Abby Norman
Last updated: 2015/03/09 at 9:00 AM
Abby Norman
Share
6 Min Read
patient follow-up
SHARE

Key Metric: Patient Follow-Up

One of the biggest misconceptions in medicine right now, which also happens to be one of the most costly, is that the patient’s care ends when they are discharged. The truth is, often times it’s what happens (or doesn’t happen) when a patient goes home that determines their outcome.

Contents
Key Metric: Patient Follow-UpKey Metric: Patient Follow-UpMeaningful UsePreference For Contact: To Each Their Own“Lost To Patient Follow-Up” The Big PictureOther roadblocks to patient follow-up? Will Technology Help or Hurt?

Key Metric: Patient Follow-Up

One of the biggest misconceptions in medicine right now, which also happens to be one of the most costly, is that the patient’s care ends when they are discharged. The truth is, often times it’s what happens (or doesn’t happen) when a patient goes home that determines their outcome. Whether they end up readmitted or not, the key metric of 2015 is one that you might not even be aware you’ve been missing.

patient follow-up

Meaningful Use

As healthcare systems embrace the next phase of Meaningful Use, one area that is gaining some much-needed attention this year is patient follow-up. As patient reported data and outcomes become more fully integrated into care plans, physicians and healthcare providers are going to need to utilize technology as a means to stay abreast of patient’s post-hospital condition.

More Read

get a career in medical device sales

What Are the Benefits of Attending Medical Sales College?

Subscription Management Solutions Are Crucial for Telemedicine
Comfort And Safety: 7 Ways Healthcare Organizations Can Create A Better Environment For Their Patients
4 Points to Remember Before You Start Off Your Next Medical Presentation
Best Practices for Healthcare Call Centers Should Follow in 2023

Preference For Contact: To Each Their Own

The first priority of any healthcare provider before discharging a patient from the hospital should be — but often is not — establishing follow-up protocol. Each individual patient and their caretakers may have a different preference for patient follow-up. Some may be content with a phone call or an email. Younger patients may be more willing to text, use patient portals or social media where applicable.

Charge nurses are often tasked with following up with patients post-discharge, but they may not have the requisite time or information to help address a specific patient’s concerns. Furthermore, a patient may not even know how to engage them in a discussion about post-hospitalization trouble they may be encountering. To some extent, they may not have been fully educated by staff prior to going home, and thus, may not even know what to be looking for in terms of post-discharge complications. It is for this reason that needless readmissions seem to occur in droves: patients re-enter the hospital, often via the emergency room, either because they were not educated on what their post-hospital course would look like or they ran into a complication and were unable to get in touch with their primary care doctor or the physician who treated them while they were hospitalized.

“Lost To Patient Follow-Up”

When such contact doesn’t occur, it’s said in the healthcare lexicon that the patient has been “lost to follow-up.” It’s not always the provider’s fault that this happened, of course. The best laid plans — when nurses and doctor’s offices have done all that they can to ensure a patient is contacted post-discharge—may not pan out if the patient is not compliant with the follow-up. That’s the next challenge on the agenda for 2015: how do we, as healthcare professionals, ensure that patients allow us to follow-up with them?

The Big Picture

On the population health level, we need to identify which patient populations at the most at-risk for noncompliance and innovate ways to make follow-up more intuitive and convenient. Technology is in our corner here: mobile health, telemed and other current technological innovations completely lend themselves to changing the way we follow-up with patients. Whether we call, video-conference, text or email there are more options for patients and providers than ever before. Hopefully this means that the “lost to patient follow-up” population will continue to narrow.

Other roadblocks to patient follow-up?

It might not seem like shooting off a quick email to a patient would put out most healthcare professionals, but thinking that doesn’t take into consideration what the intention of that email is: to open up and engage in a dialogue with the patient about their aftercare. Sure, it might take less than five minutes for a busy provider to shoot off that follow-up email, and then they can check off the box in the EMR saying that the did so — but that’s not really the point, is it? The follow-up email should be the first step in an ongoing dialogue about the patient’s health. That means that when the patient responds, the provide will need to read and respond to any questions the patient poses, address problems, refill prescriptions, review their chart — all while obliging HIPAA protocols, of course. Which, in the ever-evolving technological landscape is always subject to change.

Will Technology Help or Hurt?

The question is, how can providers and patients fully utilize technology to make patient follow-up relatively quick and painless? Are we closer to understanding what populations would most benefit from these new approaches to follow-up? What populations are likely to continue to be left out of the loop if this method of tracking patients post-discharge becomes commonplace?

In any case, 2015 is apt to be a big year for quality measures — and patient follow-up protocol and innovation is sure to be on everyone’s radar.

Sign Up For Daily Newsletter

Be keep up! Get the latest breaking news delivered straight to your inbox.
By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.
Abby Norman March 9, 2015
Share This Article
Facebook Twitter Copy Link Print
Share
By Abby Norman
My name is Abby Norman and I am a healthcare blogger. With over 10 years of experience in the medical field, I have developed a passion for helping others understand the complexities of healthcare.
Previous Article 4 Tips for Building a Better Hospital Brand
Next Article digital health startups Digital Health Startups and Strategically Integrated Investors

Stay Connected

1.5k Followers Like
4.5k Followers Follow
2.8k Followers Pin
136k Subscribers Subscribe

Latest News

Andropause hormonal decline
The Benefits of TRT for Andropause and Hormonal Decline
Wellness September 28, 2023
Cancer Prevention
The Importance of Lipoma Examination in Cancer Prevention
Cancer September 28, 2023
dental implant
Cost Analysis of Dental Implants in Australia
Dental health September 28, 2023
View,Of,Niagara,Falls,In,Autumn
Health Benefits of Taking a Vacation to Reduce Your Stress
Health September 27, 2023

You Might also Like

medical billing training
Medicare

Navigating Through the Essentials: Medical Billing Training for Beginners

September 12, 2023
healthcare providers
Hospital Administration

How Revenue Lifecycle Management Helps Healthcare Providers to Optimize Business Operations

September 6, 2023
optimize healthcare business
News

Top Tips To Optimize Operations In Your Healthcare Office

June 30, 2023
Endocrinology
Hospital Administration

Improving Endocrinology Revenue Recovery is Crucial

June 14, 2023
Subscribe

Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!

Follow US
© 2008-2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?