Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37632927›Full record

ArticleJMIR dermatology2023

Evolution of a Project to Improve Inpatient-to-Outpatient Dermatology Care Transitions: Mixed Methods Evaluation.

Samantha M R Kling, Maria A Aleshin, Erika A Saliba-Gustafsson, Donn W Garvert, Cati G Brown-Johnson, Alexis Amano, Bernice Y Kwong, Ana Calugar, Jonathan G Shaw, Justin M Ko and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JMIR dermatology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Samantha M R Kling *Division of Primary Care and Population Health, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9169-763X
Maria A Aleshin *Department of Dermatology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8893-9212
Erika A Saliba-GustafssonDivision of Primary Care and Population Health, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1587-9591
Donn W GarvertDivision of Primary Care and Population Health, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0827-9611
Cati G Brown-JohnsonDivision of Primary Care and Population Health, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5415-3665
Alexis AmanoDivision of Primary Care and Population Health, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7136-2197
Bernice Y KwongDepartment of Dermatology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9677-9332
Ana CalugarAmbulatory Quality Department, Stanford Health Care, Stanford, CA, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0288-3375
Jonathan G ShawDivision of Primary Care and Population Health, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7884-3604
Justin M KoDepartment of Dermatology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4232-5906
Marcy WingetDivision of Primary Care and Population Health, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5893-280X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIn-hospital dermatological care has shifted from dedicated dermatology wards to consultation services, and some consulted patients may require postdischarge follow-up in outpatient dermatology. Safe and timely care transitions from inpatient-to-outpatient specialty care are critical for patient health, but communication around these transitions can be disjointed, and workflows can be complex.

objectiveIn this 3-phase quality improvement effort, we developed and evaluated an intervention that leveraged an electronic health record (EHR) feature, known as SmartPhrase, to enable a new workflow to improve transitions from inpatient care to outpatient dermatology.

methodsPhase 1 (February-March 2021) included interviews with patients and process mapping with key stakeholders to identify gaps and inform an intervention: a SmartPhrase table and associated workflow to promote collection of patient information needed for scheduling follow-up and closed-loop communication between dermatology and scheduling teams. In phase 2 (April-May 2021), semistructured interviews-with dermatologists (n=5), dermatology residents (n=5), and schedulers (n=6)-identified pain points and refinements. In phase 3, the intervention was evaluated by triangulating data from these interviews with measured changes in scheduling efficiency, visit completion, and messaging volume preimplementation (January-February 2021) and postimplementation (April-May 2021).

resultsPreintervention pain points included unclear workflow for care transitions, limited patient input in follow-up planning, multiple messaging channels (eg, EHR based, email, and phone messages), and time-inefficient patient tracking. The intervention addressed most pain points; interviewees reported the intervention was easy to adopt and improved scheduling efficiency, workload, and patient involvement. More visits were completed within the desired timeframe of 14 days after discharge during the postimplementation period (21/47, 45%) than the preimplementation period (28/41, 68%; P=.03). The messaging workload also decreased from 88 scheduling-related messages sent for 25 patients before implementation to 30 messages for 8 patients after implementation.

conclusionsInpatient-to-outpatient specialty care transitions are complex and involve multiple stakeholders, thus requiring multifaceted solutions. With deliberate evaluation, broad stakeholder input, and iteration, we designed and implemented a successful solution using a standard EHR feature, SmartPhrase, integrated into a standardized workflow to improve the timeliness of posthospital specialty care and reduce workload.

Indexed as

care transitionconsultative dermatologydermatologydischarge planningfollow-upinpatientoutpatientteledermatology

Identifiers

PMID37632927
PMCPMC10335331

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.