Provider reminder tool can improve screening rates

(HealthDay)—A care coordinator and clinical reminder tool can enhance providers' ordering of preventive health screenings, according to a study published in the September/October issue of the Journal for Healthcare Quality.

Crystal Wilkinson, D.N.P., R.N., from the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Nursing in Lubbock, and colleagues evaluated a quality improvement initiative, conducted from January through December 2011, designed to increase clinical prevention performance rates in 11 Austin Regional Clinic primary care facilities as part of an accountable care initiative. The intervention included use of a care coordinator to call and remind patients about needed care and implementation of a care gap summary tool, which generated care gap summary reports that identified needed screening.

Based on aggregate organizational data, the researchers found that the interventions correlated with improvement in clinical prevention performance rates.

"This initiative demonstrates that quality improvement initiatives including care gap summaries, workflow changes, and provider feedback can increase performance rates for clinical preventive services," the authors conclude.