Improving the Outpatient Referral Process With Electronic Communications

• Sponsor: Brigham and Women's Hospital (Other)
• Overall Status: Completed
• CT.gov ID: NCT00129064
• Collaborator: The Commonwealth Fund (Other)
• Enrollment: 200
• Location: 1
• Duration (Months): 15.9
• Patients Per Site Per Month: 12.6

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

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.

Condition or Disease	Intervention/Treatment	Phase
Communication; Interprofessional Relations	Behavioral: Electronic referral system	N/A

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 Design

• Study Type: Interventional
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)
• Official Title: Improving the Outpatient Referral Process With Electronic Communications
• Study Start Date: Nov 1, 2005
• Study Completion Date: Mar 1, 2007

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

1. Percentage of referral requests with complete information []

2. Percentage of referrals with timely information exchanged []

Secondary Outcome Measures

1. Physician satisfaction []

2. Patient satisfaction []

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 Years and Older
• Sexes Eligible for Study: All
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

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

Contacts and Locations

Locations

	Site	City	State	Country	Postal Code
1	Brigham and Women's	Boston	Massachusetts	United States	02115

Sponsors and Collaborators

• Brigham and Women's Hospital
• The Commonwealth Fund

Investigators

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

Study Documents (Full-Text)

None provided.

More Information

Publications

None provided.

• ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00129064
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2004-P-000710; 20010373
• First Posted: Aug 11, 2005
• Last Update Posted: Apr 24, 2007
• Last Verified: Apr 1, 2007

• Keywords provided by , ,: Referrals; Quality of care; Ambulatory care; Electronic medical record; Referral communication

Study Results

No Results Posted as of Apr 24, 2007