@Article{info:doi/10.2196/14094,
author="Balakrishnan, Ashwin S
and Nguyen, Hao G
and Shinohara, Katsuto
and Au Yeung, Reuben
and Carroll, Peter R
and Odisho, Anobel Y",
title="A Mobile Health Intervention for Prostate Biopsy Patients Reduces Appointment Cancellations: Cohort Study",
journal="J Med Internet Res",
year="2019",
month="Jun",
day="2",
volume="21",
number="6",
pages="e14094",
keywords="text messaging; appointments and schedules; mHealth; quality improvement; urology; prostate neoplasm",
abstract="Background: Inadequate patient education and preparation for office-based procedures often leads to delayed care, poor patient satisfaction, and increased costs to the health care system. We developed and deployed a mobile health (mHealth) reminder and education program for patients scheduled for transrectal prostate biopsy. Objective: We aimed to evaluate the impact of an mHealth reminder and education program on appointment cancellation rates, communication frequency, and patient satisfaction. Methods: We developed a text message (SMS, short message service)--based program with seven reminders containing links to Web-based content and surveys sent over an 18-day period (14 days before through 3 days after prostate biopsy). Messages contained educational content, reminders, and readiness questionnaires. Demographic information, appointment cancellations or change data, and patient/provider communication events were collected for 6 months before and after launching the intervention. Patient satisfaction was evaluated in the postintervention cohort. Results: The preintervention (n=473) and postintervention (n=359) cohorts were composed of men of similar median age and racial/ethnic distribution living a similar distance from clinic. The postintervention cohort had significantly fewer canceled or rescheduled appointments (33.8{\%} vs 21.2{\%}, P<.001) and fewer same-day cancellations (3.8{\%} vs 0.5{\%}, P<.001). There was a significant increase in preprocedural telephone calls (0.6 vs 0.8 calls per patient, P=.02) in the postintervention cohort, but not a detectable change in postprocedural calls. The mean satisfaction with the program was 4.5 out of 5 (SD 0.9). Conclusions: An mHealth periprocedural outreach program significantly lowered appointment cancellation and rescheduling and was associated with high patient satisfaction scores with a slight increase in preprocedural telephone calls. This led to fewer underused procedure appointments and high patient satisfaction. ",
issn="1438-8871",
doi="10.2196/14094",
url="https://www.jmir.org/2019/6/e14094/",
url="https://doi.org/10.2196/14094",
url="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31199294"
}