Evaluation of a patient-centered after visit summary in primary care.

Federman AD1, Jandorf L2, DeLuca J3, Gover M3, Sanchez Munoz A4, Chen L4, Wolf MS5, Kannry J4.

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To test the impact of a redesigned, patient-centered after visit summary (AVS) on patients' and clinicians' ratings of and experience with the document.

METHODS:

We conducted a difference-in-differences (DiD) evaluation of the impact of the redesigned AVS before and after its introduction in an academic primary care practice compared to a concurrent control practice. Outcomes included ratings of the features of the AVS.

RESULTS:

The intervention site had 118 and 98 patients in the pre- and post-intervention periods and the control site had 99 and 105, respectively. In adjusted DiD analysis, introduction of the patient-centered AVS in the intervention site increased patient reports that the AVS was an effective reminder for taking medications (p = .004) and of receipt of the AVS from clinicians (p = .002). However, they were more likely to perceive it as too long (p = .04). There were no significant changes in overall rating of the AVS by clinicians or their likelihood of providing it to patients.