The Best Practice for Increasing Telephone Outreach

Abstract

Purpose of Study: Many hospitals established telephone follow-up (TFU) programs to improve care transitions and reduce hospital readmissions. However, there is a lack of knowledge on how to increase the outreach of TFU programs. This integrative review aims to answer the clinical practice question, “What is the best practice for increasing telephone follow-up reach rates post-hospital discharge?” Primary Practice Setting: The primary setting evaluated in this review was hospital-based phone call programs that are conducting post-hospital discharge TFU. Methodology: In this integrative review, we searched studies published between January 2003 and November 2017. We searched 5 electronic databases including PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Cochrane. The Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice model was used to critically analyze and synthesize the selected articles. Results: Nine articles were reviewed, and this study uncovered that pre-hospital face-to-face meeting might increase TFU reach rates. However, most studies calculated reach rates using only frequencies/percentages. This contributed to our low-quality rating on most of the reviewed studies. Implications for Case Management Practice: This review identified that TFU, as a component of a care coordination program, may reduce hospital readmissions and control health care utilization. However, few studies (n = 2) used TFU reach rates as a major study outcome to determine the impact of face-to-face meetings on phone outreach. Therefore, the evidence is limited to inform case management practice to increase phone outreach post-hospital discharge. It is recommended to conduct further research and test different methods that may increase phone outreach.

Telehealth Nursing Research: Adding to the Evidence-base for Healthcare

“…Fourteen reviews (systematic or integrative) and metaanalyses were found in this literature review: 10 systematic/integrative, [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] two meta-analyses, 30,31 and two combined. 32,33 Traditional search methods were used with hundreds, if not thousands, of citations first found, with a range of 66 31 to 14,292.…”

“…The papers evaluated by the 14 studies ranged from 5 (of 185) 29 to 70 (of 3622). 21 Topics addressed in these papers were cardiovascular disease, 27,29,32,33 cancer, 23,31 chronic disease, 21,25 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 30 teledermoscopy, 20 followup after discharge, 28 nurses, 22 apps for quality improvement, 24 and physical activity in elders. 26 A study by Jin et al 32 reported a significant finding, that being telehealth significantly improved cardiovascular risk factors.…”

“…More commonly, authors noted that the studies showed lack of homogeneity, 21,22,31 methodological inconsistencies or limitations, 23 variable quality, 24,29,33 lack of studies, 26 or limited evidence. 20,27,28,30 Descriptive Research Of the 55 descriptive research papers, 28 reported studies of availability, acceptability, perceptions, and attitudes of the study targets (patients, people in various age groups, people with various diseases, caregivers in the home or community, and nurses). This set consisted of 12 papers targeting people with diseases or conditions.…”

Perspectives of ESCAPE-Pain Programme for Older People With Knee Osteoarthritis in the Community Setting

“…Continuous encouragement from the staff and the involvement of family members and friends may have kept the patients engaged with the programme. Increased engagement provided opportunities for patients to ask questions about health promotion and disease prevention (38). Healthcare professionals needed to personalize the advice, including support for the individual's needs, according to their current symptoms and their consequences on their activities of daily living (39).…”

Face-to-Face Meetings with Neurosurgical Patients Before Hospital Discharge: Impact on Telephone Outreach, Emergency Department Visits, and Hospital Readmissions

“…Most studies focused on medical patients. 6,7 Rates of telephone outreach were unknown for neurosurgical patients. Also, there were few recent studies linking TFU to subsequent emergency department (ED) visits and 30-day hospital readmissions.…”