P3635 - Assessing the Post-Procedural Communication as a Tool to Reduce the 7-Day Readmission Rate Following Outpatient Colonoscopy: Fellow-Initiated Quality Improvement Project

Dongmin Shin, MD, Harish Patel, MD, Haider Ghazanfar, MD, Bhavna Balar, MD
BronxCare Health System, Bronx, NY

Introduction: The risk-standardized rate of an unplanned hospital visit within 7 days of Colonoscopy is one of the quality indicators for facilities that is reported to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). We aimed to identify factors that can be modified or used to reduce the risk of readmission after an outpatient colonoscopy.

Methods: Our fellows initiated a quality improvement project to enhance post-procedural communication between the patients and the providers for any concerns the patients may have after their colonoscopy. An on-call phone number was provided to all patients in their discharge instructions for better physician accessibility, and we also created "emergent ambulatory follow-up" slots in our clinics to address any post-procedural concerns. We analyzed the post-procedure patient reachability before and after the intervention, and its impact on the 7-day readmission.

Results: We analyzed a total of 473 charts (228 before and 245 after the intervention) retrospectively. We noticed that with our intervention, the post-procedural reachability increased from 57.4% (n=132/230) to 66.5% (n=165/248) (p = < 0.01). However, the post-procedure pain or discomfort was assessed and managed equally in both groups before and after the intervention, 1.3% vs 0.81%, respectively. The number of emergency room visit was low (1/228) prior to the intervention, did not have an impact post-intervention (1/245), and it was often unavoidable.

Discussion: Post-procedure communication with healthcare providers did improve when patients had access to a direct contact number. However, in our quality improvement project, we did not notice its impact on the 7-day post colonoscopy readmission. In addition to the low rate of hospitalization, the study was underpowered to assess the precise impact of our intervention.



Disclosures:


Dongmin Shin, MD, Harish Patel, MD, Haider Ghazanfar, MD, Bhavna Balar, MD. P3635 - Assessing the Post-Procedural Communication as a Tool to Reduce the 7-Day Readmission Rate Following Outpatient Colonoscopy: Fellow-Initiated Quality Improvement Project, ACG 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting Abstracts. Philadelphia, PA: American College of Gastroenterology.