School of Medicine and Health Sciences Poster Presentations
Introducing Patient-Centered Documentation of Treatment Plans During Clinic Visits
Document Type
Poster
Keywords
Quality Improvement; Patient-Centered; Treatment Planning; Communication
Publication Date
Spring 2017
Abstract
Background:
When improving patient outcomes, an important tenant is ensuring patient understanding of the treatment plan. However, up to 40-80% of information provided by practitioners is immediately forgotten by the patient. One important method of ensuring patients’ comprehension is the “teach back” method. The purpose of our study is to increase the number of patient-centered treatment plans by providing a form that engages patients while incorporating the “teach back” method.
Methods:
The “My Visit” form was placed in resident clinic rooms before each clinic day. Forms were counted at the end of the week to calculate the number of forms used and the number of patients seen each week was determined retrospectively. Multiple interventions were used to increase use of the form, including adding a colorful element to the clipboard, placing “primer” sheets in the waiting room, and attaching pens to the clipboards.
Results:
Initial introduction of “My Visit” forms resulted in 17.6% use, with additional interventions leading to 19.4% and 18.9% use.
Discussion:
After introduction of the “My Visit” form, the rate of patient-centered documentation during clinic visits remained stable. Despite new interventions introduced each cycle, these did not significantly increase in the percent of patients using the form.
The series of interventions were aimed at better exposing patients to the “My Visit” form, as well as facilitating ease of use. Because the rate of patient-centered documentation remained stable with each added element, it is evident that the increased exposure did not lead to increased acceptance of this new procedure. Nevertheless, it is important to note that nearly one-fifth of patients consistently used the visit forms during the course of this project. This suggests that “My Visit” forms may be a reliable method to engage a subset of patients and that alternative methods for patient engagement should be explored.
The ultimate goal of this project is to improve patients' experiences and personal health literacy. By encouraging patients to create their own record of the visit, resident physicians can actively engage patients and assess their understanding of the treatment plan. This facilitates communication and allows the patient to ask further questions, as well as provides patients with a detailed note to serve as a reminder of the plan between clinic visits.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Open Access
1
Introducing Patient-Centered Documentation of Treatment Plans During Clinic Visits
Background:
When improving patient outcomes, an important tenant is ensuring patient understanding of the treatment plan. However, up to 40-80% of information provided by practitioners is immediately forgotten by the patient. One important method of ensuring patients’ comprehension is the “teach back” method. The purpose of our study is to increase the number of patient-centered treatment plans by providing a form that engages patients while incorporating the “teach back” method.
Methods:
The “My Visit” form was placed in resident clinic rooms before each clinic day. Forms were counted at the end of the week to calculate the number of forms used and the number of patients seen each week was determined retrospectively. Multiple interventions were used to increase use of the form, including adding a colorful element to the clipboard, placing “primer” sheets in the waiting room, and attaching pens to the clipboards.
Results:
Initial introduction of “My Visit” forms resulted in 17.6% use, with additional interventions leading to 19.4% and 18.9% use.
Discussion:
After introduction of the “My Visit” form, the rate of patient-centered documentation during clinic visits remained stable. Despite new interventions introduced each cycle, these did not significantly increase in the percent of patients using the form.
The series of interventions were aimed at better exposing patients to the “My Visit” form, as well as facilitating ease of use. Because the rate of patient-centered documentation remained stable with each added element, it is evident that the increased exposure did not lead to increased acceptance of this new procedure. Nevertheless, it is important to note that nearly one-fifth of patients consistently used the visit forms during the course of this project. This suggests that “My Visit” forms may be a reliable method to engage a subset of patients and that alternative methods for patient engagement should be explored.
The ultimate goal of this project is to improve patients' experiences and personal health literacy. By encouraging patients to create their own record of the visit, resident physicians can actively engage patients and assess their understanding of the treatment plan. This facilitates communication and allows the patient to ask further questions, as well as provides patients with a detailed note to serve as a reminder of the plan between clinic visits.
Comments
Poster to be presented at GW Annual Research Days 2017.