Evaluation of Patient Experience from Telemedicine Use for an Anesthesiology Pain Division: Time, Cost, and Patient Satisfaction Analysis (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laleh Jalilian ◽  
Irene Wu ◽  
Jakun Ing ◽  
Xuezhi Dong ◽  
George Pan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Patient Satisfaction ◽  
Pain Management ◽  
Travel Time ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
Academic Medical Center ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Travel Distance ◽  
Patient Cost ◽  
Academic Medical ◽  
Pain Patients

BACKGROUND An increasing number of patients require outpatient and interventional pain management. To help meet the rising demand for anesthesia pain subspecialty care in rural and metropolitan areas, healthcare providers have utilized telemedicine for pain management of both interventional and chronic pain patients. OBJECTIVE This study describes telemedicine implementation for pain management at an academic pain division in a large metropolitan area. The study estimates patient cost savings from telemedicine, before and after the California COVID-19 "Safer at Home" directive, and patient satisfaction with telemedicine for pain management care. METHODS This was a retrospective, observational case series study of telemedicine use in a pain division at an urban academic medical center. From August 2019 to June 2020, we evaluated 1,398 patients and conducted 2,948 video visits for remote pain management care. We utilize publicly available IRS Statistics of Income data to estimate hourly earnings by zip code in order to estimate patient cost savings. We estimate median travel time, travel distance, direct cost of travel, and time-based opportunity savings and report patient satisfaction scores. RESULTS Telemedicine patients avoided an estimated median roundtrip driving distance of 26 miles and a median travel time of 69 minutes during afternoon traffic conditions. Within sample, the median hourly earnings was $28/hr. Patients saved a median of $22 on gas and parking and a total of $52 per telemedicine visit based on estimated hourly earnings and travel time. Patients evaluated serially with telemedicine for medication management saved a median of $156 over three visits. 91% of patients surveyed (n = 313) were satisfied with their telemedicine experience. CONCLUSIONS Telemedicine use for pain management reduced travel distance, travel time, and travel and time-based opportunity costs for pain patients. We achieved the successful implementation of telemedicine across a pain division in an urban academic medical center with high patient satisfaction and patient cost savings.

scholarly journals Evaluation of an Outpatient Pharmacist Consult Service at a Large Academic Medical Center

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Melanie Berry ◽  
Amy Gustafson ◽  
Maya Wai ◽  
Alex J. Luli
Keyword(s):  
Medical Record ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
Academic Medical Center ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Acceptance Rate ◽  
Demographic Information ◽  
Consult Service ◽  
Descriptive Data ◽  
Academic Medical ◽  
Patient Demographic Information

Objective: To evaluate a novel outpatient pharmacist consult service in a large academic medical center. Setting: Four outpatient pharmacies that are part of a large academic medical center Methods: An outpatient pharmacist consult order was created and embedded in the electronic medical record (EMR). Medical center providers utilized this consult order when identifying patients in need of specific services provided by outpatient pharmacists. Descriptive data about each individual consult was collected including number completed, type of service, and duration. Rate of accepted pharmacy recommendations and patient cost savings were also evaluated. A survey was administered at the completion of the study period to assess provider and pharmacist satisfaction with the service.  Patient demographic information was collected for those who had a documented completed consult. Results: A total of 193 consults were completed: 137 immunizations, 37 care affordability, 15 education, 3 polypharmacy and 1 OTC recommendation. 89% of completed consults took pharmacists 20 minutes or less to complete. Of completed care affordability consults (n=31), 55% of patients saved between $100 - $500 per medication fill. Of providers who completed a survey and utilized the service (n=12), 83.3% were extremely satisfied and 16.7% were satisfied with it. The provider acceptance rate of pharmacist’s recommendations was 74%. Conclusion: Implementation of an outpatient pharmacist consult service provided an alternative method for the utilization of pharmacist provided MTM services in outpatient pharmacies at a large academic medical center. The service was well received by both providers and pharmacists.

Economic Evaluation of a Pharmacist-Led 5-Day Therapeutic Hold of IV Levothyroxine at an Academic Medical Center

2020 ◽  
pp. 001857872097045
Author(s):  
Blake T. Barlow ◽  
Russel J. Roberts ◽  
Kelly Newman ◽  
Sarah K. Harrison ◽  
Jonathan H. Sin
Keyword(s):  
Medical Center ◽  
Financial Burden ◽  
Academic Medical Center ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Surgical Trauma ◽  
Implementation Phase ◽  
Academic Medical ◽  
Pharmacokinetic Properties ◽  
Utilization Data ◽  
Surgical Icu

Objective: Providers often admit patients with active outpatient prescriptions for levothyroxine. During an inpatient admission, providers may instruct critically ill patients to take nothing by mouth, or nil per os (NPO). Thus, they may prescribe the intravenous (IV) formulation of levothyroxine during this period. However, levothyroxine possesses a prolonged half-life of up to 7 days; therefore, immediate transition to IV levothyroxine may not be clinically necessary in the acute NPO setting. Intravenous levothyroxine is significantly more expensive than equivalent oral doses and may prove to be a financial burden for an institution. By understanding the pharmacokinetic properties of levothyroxine, we implemented a cost-saving initiative involving a 5-day therapeutic hold of IV levothyroxine. Methods: This was a retrospective evaluation in 2 intensive care units (ICU): a 20-bed surgical/trauma ICU and an 18-bed mixed medical/surgical ICU. Patient data, utilization data, and documented pharmacist interventions were collected for 6 months prior to implementation of the 5-day IV levothyroxine therapeutic hold and for 6 months post-implementation. All patients prescribed IV levothyroxine during these timeframes were included. Results: During the 6-month pre-implementation phase, 674 doses (691 vials) of IV levothyroxine for 77 unique patients were dispensed from the 2 ICUs. During the 6-month post-implementation phase, 168 doses (188 vials) of IV levothyroxine were dispensed for 44 unique patients. Of the 44 patients (48 orders) who still received IV levothyroxine, 22.9% of orders were deemed clinically necessary by the pharmacist and were not recommended to be held under the protocol, 64.6% were due to the verifying pharmacist being unaware of the protocol, 8.3% of orders were due to protocol non-compliance, and 4.2% were verified after the 5-day hold was complete as the patient remained NPO. This pharmacy-led initiative resulted in a 75% decrease in usage post-implementation and an estimated annualized savings of $80,000. Conclusion: A pharmacy-led initiative comprised of a 5-day therapeutic hold of IV levothyroxine was feasible and led to a 75% reduction in usage and cost over a 6-month period in 2 ICU’s. Future steps include additional staff education for improved protocol adherence and expanding the protocol institution-wide for an even greater cost-savings potential.

Improving the Quality of Cancer Pain Management in an Academic Medical Center Emergency Department

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 626-629 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young Hwa Won ◽  
Yun Jung Choi ◽  
Shin Ahn ◽  
Jae-Lyun Lee ◽  
Jeong Yun Park ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Pain Management ◽  
Cancer Pain ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
Academic Medical Center ◽  
Cancer Pain Management ◽  
Academic Medical

scholarly journals Assessment of Patient Satisfaction With Dermatology Clinics According to Clinic Type: Mixed Methods Study (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Costigan ◽  
Sue S Feldman ◽  
Mark Lemak
Keyword(s):  
Patient Satisfaction ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
Academic Medical Center ◽  
University Of Alabama ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Rapid Access ◽  
Academic Medical ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
The University

BACKGROUND Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) survey responses are considered significant indicators of the quality of care and patient satisfaction. There is a pressing need to improve patient satisfaction rates as CAHPS survey responses are considered when determining the amount a facility will be reimbursed by the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid each year. Low overall CAHPS scores for an academic medical center’s dermatology clinics were anecdotally attributed to clinic type. However, it was unclear whether clinic type was contributing to the low scores or whether there were other factors. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to determine where the efforts of patient satisfaction improvement should be focused for two different types of dermatology clinics (private and rapid access clinics). METHODS This study used a concurrent mixed methods design. Secondary data derived from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital’s Press Ganey website were analyzed for clinic type comparisons and unstructured data were qualitatively analyzed to further enrich the quantitative findings. The University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital is an academic medical center. The data were analyzed to determine the contributors responsible for each clinic not meeting national benchmarks. Thereafter, a review of these contributing factors was further performed to assess the difference in CAHPS scores between the private and rapid access clinics to determine if clinic type was a contributing factor to the overall scores. RESULTS The data sample included 821 responses from May 2017 to May 2018. Overall, when both private clinics and rapid access clinics were viewed collectively, majority of the patients reported stewardship of patient resources as the most poorly rated factor (367/549, 66.8%) and physician communication quality as the most positively rated factor (581/638, 91.0%). However, when private clinics and rapid access clinics were viewed individually, rapid access clinics contributed slightly to the overall lower dermatology scores at the academic medical center. CONCLUSIONS This study determined that different factors were responsible for lower CAHPS scores for the two different dermatology clinics. Some of the contributing factors were associated with the mission of the clinic. It was suspected that the mission had not been properly communicated to patients, leading to misaligned expectations of care at each clinic.

Evaluation of inpatient cancer pain management at an academic medical center.

2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (34_suppl) ◽  
pp. 128-128
Author(s):  
Michael Mearis ◽  
Joseph Shega ◽  
Randall Knoebel
Keyword(s):  
Pain Management ◽  
Cancer Pain ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
Academic Medical Center ◽  
Cancer Pain Management ◽  
Nccn Guidelines ◽  
Academic Medical ◽  
Number Of Patients ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Cancer Network

128 Background: The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines on cancer pain management were developed to direct pain assessment and management. The purpose of this study was to assess whether adherence to guidelines was associated with improved outcomes. Methods: One-hundred and nine patients admitted to the inpatient hematology oncology service that received at least one dose of morphine, oxycodone, or hydromorphone were evaluated and allocated into groups based on adherence to the NCCN guidelines. Safety and achievement of analgesia (pain score ≤ 4) at 24-hours after opioid initiation were compared between the two groups. A multivariate analysis was performed to identify predictors of opioid regimens non-adherent to guidelines. Results: Sixty-four percent of patients were initiated on regimens adherent to the NCCN guidelines. 63% of patients initiated on regimens adherent to NCCN guidelines reached the endpoint of analgesia at 24 hours compared to 41% of those who were not (p = 0.028). Adverse events were infrequent (p > 0.5). Opioid tolerance was the variable most predictive of being initiated on regimens non-adherent to guideline recommendations (OR 3.1, 95% confidence interval 1.24-7.82). Conclusions: A significant number of patients presenting with cancer pain are initiated on regimens non-adherent to NCCN guidelines, leading to reduced attainment of adequate analgesia. Opioid tolerant patients are at an increased risk of inadequate analgesia, and should be identified and initiated on proper pain regimens taking home opioid usage into consideration.

scholarly journals Data-Driven Identification of Risk Factors of Patient Satisfaction at a Large Urban Academic Medical Center

PLoS ONE ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. e0156076 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Li ◽  
Nathan J. Lee ◽  
Benjamin S. Glicksberg ◽  
Brian D. Radbill ◽  
Joel T. Dudley
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Patient Satisfaction ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
Academic Medical Center ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Academic Medical

scholarly journals Implementing video visits into an orthopedic hip arthroscopy practice: a case study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Wickman ◽  
Colleen Ferlotti ◽  
Justin Ferrell ◽  
Carolyn Hutyra ◽  
Donna Phinney ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Patient Satisfaction ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
Quality Care ◽  
Academic Medical Center ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Level Of Evidence ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Academic Medical ◽  
Clinic Visits

Abstract Telehealth videoconferencing has been shown to be feasible, cost-effective and safe in numerous fields of medicine. In an effort to increase access and improve the quality of care offered to patients we implemented a telehealth initiative allowing for remote orthopedic clinic visits at a major academic medical center. Here we report on our experience and early outcomes. A telehealth platform was launched for a single fellowship trained orthopedic surgeon at a major academic hospital in August 2018. New patients residing outside the metro area, all return patients and patients with an uncomplicated post-operative course were offered the option to complete patient encounters remotely via a telehealth platform. Each patient was offered a Patient Satisfaction Survey following video visit. Patient zip codes were used to estimate patient commutes. Ninety-six percent of patients agreed/strongly agreed with the statement ‘I was satisfied with my Telehealth experience’ while 51% agreed/strongly agreed with the statement ‘This visit was just as good as a face to face visit’. In all, 94% of patients agreed/strongly agreed with the statement ‘Having a telehealth visit made receiving care more accessible for me’. The median miles saved on commutes were 123.3 miles. The no show rate for telehealth visits was 8.2% versus 3.2% for in-person (P < 0.001). Telehealth video visits provided patients with a modality for completing orthopedic clinic visits while maintaining a high-quality care and patient satisfaction. Patient convenience was optimized with video visits with elimination of long commutes. Level of evidence: IV.

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