Act Code - Emergency Clinical Trial
Official title:
You Have Got Got Mail....and Need Follow Up
The purpose of this study is to see if patients who receive an email reinforcing their discharge instructions after being discharged from the emergency department will have an affect on follow-up care with their primary physician.
When a patient is treated in the emergency department (ED), they experience a whirlwind of care involving multiple diagnostics and treatments. They are often discharged home with instructions to follow up with their primary care physician. This follow up care is crucial to ensuring optimal patient outcomes and re-establishing continuity of care. Despite efforts to communicate clearly and effectively, ED patients often have difficulty understanding their follow-up care instructions. Several different methods have been employed to attempt to improve the follow-up rates after emergency department care, including providing patients with an easily read, printed copy of discharge instructions, having a nurse or mid-level provider call patients days after discharge from the ED to ensure that they understood discharge instructions. One medium for communication that has become increasingly relevant in recent years is electronic mail (email). Because of its pervasiveness and relative ease of use, email offers a potentially valuable resource for augmenting and improving communication between physicians and patients. This study will assess whether an email reminder with follow up instructions one day after ED visit occurs will increase follow up rates and timely follow up rates. ;
Allocation: Randomized, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Double Blind (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor), Primary Purpose: Supportive Care