title: Improving Follow-Up Adherence in a Primary Eye Care Setting.
abstract: Lack of patient adherence with eye appointments can decrease ocular outcomes. This prospective, randomized, single-blinded controlled study assessed the effectiveness of multiple interventions in improving follow-up adherence to recommended eye appointments. Patients due for follow-up appointments were randomly assigned to usual care, automated intervention, or personal intervention. Automated-intervention patients and personal-intervention patients received a call one month prior to the recommended follow-up date, and a mailed appointment reminder letter. The call was automated for automated-intervention patients and personalized for personal-intervention patients. The primary outcome was adherence to the follow-up appointment. The secondary outcome was rate of appointment scheduling. Patients in the personal-intervention group had greater adherence to follow-up recommendations (38%) than patients in the usual care group (28%) and the automated-intervention group (30%). Personal intervention significantly increased appointment scheduling (51%) over usual care (32%) and automated intervention (36%). These results support systems-level changes to improve patient follow-up adherence in urban primary eye care settings.
authors.affiliation: 1 Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, PA.
authors.forename: Catherine E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Callinan
authors.affiliation: 1 Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, PA.
authors.forename: Brianna
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kenney
authors.affiliation: 1 Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, PA.|2 Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA.
authors.forename: Lisa A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Hark
authors.affiliation: 1 Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, PA.|2 Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA.
authors.forename: Ann P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Murchison
authors.affiliation: 1 Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, PA.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.affiliation: 2 Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA.
authors.forename: Benjamin E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Leiby
authors.affiliation: 1 Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, PA.
authors.forename: Eileen L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Mayro
authors.affiliation: 2 Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bilson
authors.affiliation: 1 Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, PA.|2 Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA.
authors.forename: Julia A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Haller
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D057286:Electronic Health Records; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009885:Ophthalmology / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D017010:Reminder Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: appointment scheduling; ocular outcomes; patient adherence; personalized intervention