Select to download PDF (96.13 KB). Followup is the act of making contact with a patient or caregiver at a later,
specified date to check on the patient's progress since his or her last appointment. Appropriate followup can help you to identify misunderstandings and answer questions, or make further assessments and adjust treatments. In addition, followup helps to promote a good working relationship between you and your patients. Who follows up depends on the purpose of the communication:Overview
Action
Decide on the reasons for followup.
Ask patients to record information.
Identify who will follow up with patients.
- Primary Care Clinician. If the followup is complex or sensitive, the primary care clinician may need to follow up.
- Nurse and Medical Assistant. Nurses and Medical Assistants have the training and expertise to follow up with patients to review things like blood pressure and blood glucose values. Nurses can also discuss and encourage specific health behaviors, review medicine adherence, and clarify lab results sent through the mail.
- Pharmacist. A pharmacist, if you have one on site, is an ideal clinician to follow up with patients about their medicines.
- Other office staff. The front desk staff can follow up with patients to schedule appointments, confirm that patients have followed through with referrals, and provide patients with information about community resources.
Choose the ways your office will follow up.
- Phone. Talking on the phone allows patients to ask questions and staff to reiterate important points.
- Secure email. Secure email is part of many patient portals and can be an effective way to communicate with patients. Make sure your emails are easy to understand (e.g., do not use medical jargon), and be sure to tell patients when and how often you check email. Sensitive health and personal information should not be sent through unsecured email.
- Texting. For patients who use text messaging, this approach can be effective for sending patient reminders and answering quick questions. Be sure that patients are willing to be contacted in this manner, as they may be charged for receiving texts from your office.
- Postal mail. Postal mail can be used to share information, such as normal lab results and appointment reminders. This Lab Results Letter provides an example of an easy-to-read letter reporting test results.
- Automated calling system. These types of systems can be used for reminders and to collect information from patients (e.g., blood pressure). You can type "automated calling system" into an Internet search window to find businesses that offer these services.
Initiate and track followup.
- Work with your clinical colleagues to identify the types of patients who would benefit from followup (e.g., patients recently prescribed blood thinners).
- Identify the appropriate schedule for followup (e.g., after a dosage change).
- Establish systems for tracking followup through the electronic health record (EHR) or by using a computer-based calendar.
- Identify the staff members who will update these tracking systems.
Track Your Progress
Select the records of a sample of patients who should have received followup after a recent visit (e.g., patients with heart failure). Count the number of patients who received followup actions that were scheduled in your tracking system. Count the number of followup actions (e.g., phone calls, emails, letters, automated calls) that were performed within the desired time frame. Note what was achieved by the followup contacts: medicine changes, referrals made, clarification of medicine regimens.
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Page last reviewed September 2020
Page originally created February 2015
Internet Citation: Follow Up with Patients: Tool #6. Content last reviewed September 2020. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD.
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