Journal of Health Care and Research

Journal of Health Care and Research [ISSN: 2582-8967]

Megan Kalambo^1ID*, Rosalind Candelaria^1ID, Toma S Omofoye^1ID, Thu Nghiem¹, Deralyn Miller^2
1Department of Breast Imaging, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
²Division of Diagnostic Imaging, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Corresponding Author: Megan Kalambo, MD ^{ORCID iD}
Address: Associate Professor, Department of Breast Imaging, Clinical Medical Director, Breast Imaging Houston Area Locations, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1155 Pressler, Unit 1350, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Received date: 07 July 2023; Accepted date: 18 July 2023; Published date: 25 July 2023

Citation: Kalambo M, Candelaria R, Omofoye TS, Nghiem T, Miller D. The Impact of Online Self-Scheduling Platform Optimization on Patient Directed Access to Screening Mammography Appointments During the COVID-19 Pandemic | A Single Institution Experience. J Health Care and Research. 2023 Jul 25;4(2):67-70.

Copyright © 2023 Kalambo M, Candelaria R, Omofoye TS, Nghiem T, Miller D. This is an open-access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium provided the original work is properly cited.

Keywords: Mammography, Breast Cancer, COVID-19 Pandemic, Screening, Self-scheduling, Electronic Health Record

Abstract

Objective: During the COVID-19 pandemic, screening mammography utilization declined nationally by nearly 65% compared to pre-pandemic volumes. This study assessed the impact of online screening mammography self-scheduling platform optimization on patient scheduling, rescheduling and cancellation rates during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: A retrospective review of online SM scheduling utilization between October 1, 2019, and December 31, 2022 was performed. The electronic health record (EHR) was queried to extract the total number of SMs performed, online scheduling, rescheduling and cancellation rates during the busiest screening mammography months of October through December in 2019 and 2022.
Results: October to December online SM scheduling patient activity rose from 57 to 1481 patients when comparing 2019 and 2022 performance, representing a 26-fold increase in online platform utilization after EHR-tethered scheduling integration (p=0.013). This resulted in a concurrent 16x fold reduction in patient access specialist SM scheduling engagement. Concurrently, SM scheduling automation resulted in increases in appointment rescheduling and cancellation rates, from 14% to 22% (p=0.005) and 18% to 38% (p=0.000), respectively.
Discussion: Optimization of our online self-scheduling platform with EHR integration resulted in a 26-fold increase in online self-scheduling patient utilization and a 16x fold reduction in DI-PAS hands on SM scheduling engagement. The rates of OSS patient appointment rescheduling and cancellation also increased but the overall net gain in self-scheduling automation should not deter continued use and implementation of this program.