ArticleANZ journal of surgery2022
Changing the routine: a move to patient initiated follow up to improve surgical outpatient clinic.
Article in ANZ journal of surgery, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Patient-initiated follow-up in surgical specialties: meta-analysis and meta-regression.BJS open · 2026Pooled it
- Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease and steatohepatitis-associated hepatocarcinoma preclinical models.Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionPatient initiated follow up (PIFU) allows patients to initiate a hospital follow up appointment on an 'as required' basis in contrast to the traditional physician-initiated model. We present a clinical pathway for patients referred with rectal bleeding at a large tertiary public hospital in South Auckland, New Zealand and demonstrate the utility of PIFU and its impact on reducing follow up appointments.
methodThe purpose of the pathway was to allow standardized care by the clinicians and allow for PIFU. Two separate protocols were developed - 'Painful PR bleeding' and 'Painless PR bleeding'. A new clinic (NC) was started following these protocols, and this was compared to historical controls (HC). The primary outcome was the rate of follow up appointments.
resultsThere were 133 patients in the NC and 135 in the HC, with significantly less follow ups in the NC (6% versus 45%, p < 0.0001). A small percentage of patients in the NC group were directly discharged (10%) whilst 70% of patients were discharged with a PIFU card. Thirty phone calls were made using PIFU, with 10 patients returning to clinic and 20 requiring advice and reassurance only. At 5 year follow up, there was a single colorectal malignancy found in both groups.
conclusionInitiating a protocol that includes patient initiated follow up vastly reduces the need for routine return to clinic for the majority of patients, without sacrificing patient care. A protocolised approach to clinic for other areas in general surgery should be considered.
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