Follow-up Visits
Last updated
Last updated
Ideally, when you see a patient for follow-up, take note of when their next follow-up window is. This way, they can schedule the patient within that window during check out.
When this would not work: If the provider wants to see the patient before their next follow-up window, or if the next window is too far away
Otherwise, you will schedule the visit through Epic
Check what labs and imaging need to be ordered for the visit. If any, inbasket message one of our research nurses with the following information, they will let you know if they have any questions, and confirm when the orders have been placed
Who the patient is
The name of the order (you can refer to what they previously had for the exact name)
Name of the study
Physician associated with the order
Research-related orders need to be placed by research nurses, or the investigator themselves.
Orders need to be in before the assessment can be scheduled. (Think of this as a 2 step process.)
Identify which clinic the follow-up visit will be in. Consider these things:
Where they normally see their provider (look at historical notes in the chart)
Whether their usual location is on the IRB approved location list (Cathy does her best to include all our clinics on the IRB approval, but sometimes doctors will go to new clinics, etc. If you want a new location to be added onto the IRB, just let Cathy know.)
Identify the corresponding "pool" of schedulers to send an in-basket message to, to request the appointment
Look for the "front desk" pool for the particular clinic location, or the "call center" pool
For Rex Vascular patients, you can send all appt requests (regardless of clinic location) to the front desk team in Raleigh
Send them a message including the following information:
Who is the patient
Who do they need to see (specify whether it is ok for the patient to see an APP instead of the physician - this varies by study, check the protocol/with the sponsor)
The follow-up visit window
Any associated orders (make sure they are placed by the research nurses first)
You can track the status of messages you’ve sent to schedulers to make sure they are being read. Go to Sent Messages > Staff Message. Open the message you sent and click “History” or “Status”
Remind yourself to check on the status of scheduling and follow up if necessary, to make sure visits are scheduled.
Schedulers usually try to put office visits & imaging studies on the same day to save patients a trip, sometimes that is not feasible and they will be on separate days.
If that is the case, make sure the sonographer has any worksheets/instructions for imaging before the day that the patient is coming in for the imaging appt
Sometimes, patient visits need to be rescheduled due to a provider bump or if the patient cancels for whatever reason.
Try to print the page on Epic that shows the reason of cancellation, to show that you did your due diligence as a coordinator to schedule them within the follow-up window
Provider bump: Usually, the clinic will reschedule them automatically. Look out for Epic notifications - if the visit is "linked" to the study (see below for how to do this), you will get a notification.
Patient cancellation:
Send a message to front desk staff with relevant info and ask them to reschedule the patient
If they have trouble reaching the patient, try to call the patient yourself and explain to them that it is important they come in for the visit, etc. You can tell them to look out for a call from the clinic to schedule; or
I have given them the clinic number to call to schedule themselves. I encourage them to do that by saying that way they can lock in the time that works best for them.
Call 919-786-2300 for Rex Vascular; 919-784-5830 for NCHV Cardiology
Day before the visit:
Double check time and location on the visit
Optional - give the patient a call as a friendly reminder
Send worksheets to the sonographer, if applicable. Look in the "Source Docs & Subject Materials" subfolder of the study in the shared drive.
For Rex Vascular, send worksheet to Stull, Brian Brian.Stull@unchealth.unc.edu
For NCHV in the MOB Raleigh, send to Schmanke, Dave David.Schmanke@unchealth.unc.edu
For other locations, check the diagnostic calendar (sent out monthly), or ask Kyle/Allie
If you forget, it is not dire. You just have to contact them back and ask them to fill one out retroactively and send it to you.
The day of, keep an eye on the patient’s appointment status. Normally, they say “scheduled”. When a patient arrives, the status will change to “arrived”. When they begin an imaging exam, the status will change to “in testing or procedure”. Once I see that the patient is in testing, I go to the clinic. You can also track these using the clinic’s schedule. They sometimes have more information in their status column (time that testing started, etc).
As soon as the patient is roomed and the nurse has seen them (status will change to “in with nurse” and after they are done, “provider ready”), ask the nurse if they are finished and give the patient their questionnaires (you can see their room number on the clinic schedule). This way the patient can work on them while they are waiting.
Let the physician know who you are there to see and what the physician needs to know about the patient (study, what they need to assess at this visit and put in their note, etc).
When to go in? Depends on provider, but most of the times they are ok with you going in first. Some want you to come in with them, and rarely, go afterwards. During your visit with patient, besides study-specific assessments, ask patient any questions you need (have you had any adverse events – hospitalizations, emergency room visits, etc? have you had any medication changes (especially anticoagulants like aspirin etc)? do you have any questions for me?).
Let the patient know when their Clincard will be filled, if applicable.
Inform them of their next study timepoint. Accompany patient to scheduling desk to schedule their next appointment. Have their study window written on a sticky note to give to scheduling so they will schedule it in window.
