Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Improving telephone follow-up for patients discharged from the emergency department: results of a randomized controlled trial.
Reliable telephone follow-up offers physicians a timely method to notify patients of unexpected laboratory and imaging results, clarify discharge instructions, evaluate health status changes, and potentially boost patient satisfaction. This study sought to determine if verifying telephone numbers, obtaining best contact times, and informing patients that they will be contacted would increase the proportion of emergency department (ED) patients contacted at 48 to 72 hours postdischarge. Secondary outcomes included estimating successful postdischarge follow-up across demographic categories. ⋯ Verifying contact information, obtaining best contact times, and notifying patients of impending follow-up calls did not substantially improve postdischarge telephone contact rates.