Telephone consultation appears to reduce the number of surgery contacts and out-of-hours visits by general practitioners. However, questions remain about its affect on service use and further rigorous evaluation is needed with emphasis on service use, safety, cost and patient satisfaction.
Effectiveness of an ambulatory care telephone service in reducing drop-in visits and improving satisfaction with care.
The purpose of this research was to determine whether a specialized telephone service could cut down on unscheduled visits to ambulatory care and improve satisfaction with care. Patients who were to receive care (N = 561) were assigned randomly to a specialized telephone service or a control group. They were measured with regard to satisfaction with care before being assigned and 6 months later. The number of scheduled and unscheduled visits also were monitored for a 1-year follow-up period. The telephone service, which provided a triage system for referrals as well as a source of central contact for scheduling or for complaints, helped to improve satisfaction and reduce the number of unscheduled visits within 6 months. Such a service also may have application in other problem areas in the delivery of quality ambulatory care.