Discharge Planning for Elderly Patients in the Emergency Department: Use of a Brief Phone Call After Discharge to Improve Medication Utilization and Physician Follow-up

NCT01207180 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 10-0978
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 157
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The investigators hypothesize that the acquisition and correct utilization of medications as well as arranging and attending follow-up appointments will improve as a result of a phone call intervention 1-3 days after elderly patients are discharged from the emergency department (ED).

Conditions

Patient Discharge

Keywords

emergency medicine; primary care physicians

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Whether patient obtained medications prescribed at their discharge from ED

  5-8 days after discharge from ED

• Whether patient is using medications that were prescribed at their ED discharge correctly

  5-8 days after discharge from ED

• Whether the patient arranged a follow-up appointment with their primary care provider

  5-8 days after discharge from ED

• Whether patient attended visit with their primary care provider after discharge from the ED

  30-35 days after discharge from ED

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Patient's satisfaction with ED visit

  5-8 days after discharge from the ED

• Return to the ED within 30 days of initial visit

  30-35 days after discharge from ED

• Cost of the intervention

  35 days after last patient enrolled

Study Arms (3)

Follow-up phone call from Nurse

EXPERIMENTAL

Patients in this are will receive a phone call follow-up from a nurse 1-3 days after their discharge from the ED.

Other: Phone call follow-up

Satisfaction survey

PLACEBO COMPARATOR

This group of patients will receive a phone call from a student who will conduct a brief satisfaction survey of the patient's experience in the ED.

Other: Satisfaction survey

Control group

PLACEBO COMPARATOR

Patients in this group will receive no phone call at 1-3 days.

Other: Control group --- no intervention

Interventions

Phone call follow-up OTHER

A nurse will call the patient to counsel patients on their medications and following up with their primary care provider.

Follow-up phone call from Nurse

Satisfaction survey OTHER

Patients will be given a satisfaction survey.

Satisfaction survey

Control group --- no intervention OTHER

Control group

Control group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 65 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Age 65 or over
• Discharged from the UNC emergency department

You may not qualify if:

• In the hospital at the time of phone call follow-up
• Neither the patient nor their responsible party are able to pass a standardized test to assess cognitive function

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill: lead
• The Duke Endowment: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of North Carolina Emergency Department

Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599, United States

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Biese K, Lamantia M, Shofer F, McCall B, Roberts E, Stearns SC, Principe S, Kizer JS, Cairns CB, Busby-Whitehead J. A randomized trial exploring the effect of a telephone call follow-up on care plan compliance among older adults discharged home from the emergency department. Acad Emerg Med. 2014 Feb;21(2):188-95. doi: 10.1111/acem.12308.

  PMID: 24673675 DERIVED

Study Officials

• Kevin J Biese, MD

  University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: September 13, 2010
• First Posted: September 22, 2010
• Study Start: September 1, 2010
• Primary Completion: November 1, 2010
• Study Completion: November 1, 2010
• Last Updated: November 18, 2011

Record last verified: 2011-11

Locations

US (1)