Automated telephone follow‐up programs after hospital discharge: Do older adults engage with these programs?

Abstract

Background Health systems have developed automated telephone call programs to screen and triage patients' post‐hospital discharge issues and concerns. The aims of our study were to determine whether and how older adults engage with automated post‐hospital discharge telephone programs and to describe the prevalence of patient‐reported post‐discharge issues. Methods We identified all telephone calls made by an urban academic medical center as part of a post‐hospital discharge program between May 1, 2018 and April 30, 2019. The program used automated telephone outreach to patients or their caregivers that included 11 distinct steps 3 days post‐discharge. All adults discharged home from the hospital, were included, and we categorized patients into ≤64 years, 65–84 years, and ≥85 years age groups. We then compared call reach rate, completeness of 11‐step calls and patient‐reported issues between age groups. Results Eighteen thousand and seventy six patients were included. More patients 65–84 years old were reached compared to patients ≤64 years old (84.3% vs. 78.9%, AME 5.52%; 95%CI: 3.58%–7.45%). Completion rates of automated calls for those ≥85 years old were also high. Patients ≥85 years old were more likely to have questions about their follow‐up plans and need assistance scheduling appointments compared to those ≤64 years old (19.0% vs. 11.9%, AME 7.0% (95%CI: 2.7%–11.3%). Conclusion Post‐hospital automated telephone calls are feasible and effective at reaching older adults. Future work should focus on improving discharge communication to ensure older adults are aware of their follow‐up plan and appointments.

Impact of standardized, language‐concordant hospital discharge instructions on postdischarge medication questions

“…Our primary outcome was whether patients had questions about their medications (yes/no) collected from July 1, 2017 to April 30, 2019 via an automated 72‐h postdischarge phone call conducted in English, Spanish, or Chinese (Cantonese). This program has been previously described in detail 10,11 . In brief, our institution implemented a hospital‐wide care transition outreach program in March 2017 with the goal of contacting all patients discharged from the hospital to identify and address care transition problems.…”

“…This program has been previously described in detail. 10,11 In brief, our institution implemented a hospital-wide care transition outreach program in March 2017 with the goal of contacting all patients discharged from the hospital to identify and address care transition problems. All patients received an automated phone call through a third-party system (CipherHealth Voice) that delivered a scripted call and recorded patient's entered responses (e.g., 1 = yes, 2 = no).…”