Improving the Outpatient Referral Process With Electronic Communications

April 23, 2007 updated by: Brigham and Women's Hospital
An electronic referral application will be developed and integrated into the existing outpatient information system. The primary goal of this software is to improve the quality and coordination of patient care by increasing physician-to-physician communication. The investigators anticipate that improved communications will also enhance physician and patient satisfaction and provide cost savings. These outcomes will be formally evaluated following implementation of the application.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

A trial will be performed to test and quantify the benefits of electronic referrals. Primary care physicians (PCPs) from 2 community-based clinics will be recruited for enrollment. The control group will initiate referrals using the pre-existing paper forms; physician-to-physician communication can occur by e-mail, phone, or mail at the discretion of the referring physician as is currently the standard. Physicians randomized to the intervention arm will be asked to use the electronic application for every referral during the study period. For 6 months, every new referral initiated within the study groups will be assessed for the completeness of patient information and timing of feedback to the referring physician via physician surveys. In addition, a subgroup of patients in the control and intervention arms will be surveyed to assess the impact of the intervention on patient satisfaction with the referral process.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment

200

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Massachusetts
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02115
        • Brigham and Women's

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Any referral initiated by a PCP at the study sites for a patient to go to a specialist for the first time

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Referrals for repeat specialist visits or referrals not initiated by a PCP

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Percentage of referral requests with complete information
Percentage of referrals with timely information exchanged

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Patient satisfaction
Physician satisfaction

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Brigham and Women's Hospital

Collaborators

The Commonwealth Fund

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Tejal K Gandhi, MD, Brigham and Women's Hospital

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

November 1, 2005

Study Completion

March 1, 2007

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 9, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 9, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

August 11, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

April 24, 2007

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 23, 2007

Last Verified

April 1, 2007

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2004-P-000710
  • 20010373

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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