Use of reminders for preventive procedures in family medicine.

OBJECTIVE

To compare the effectiveness of three computerized reminder systems in the delivery of five preventive procedures in family practice.

DESIGN

Prospective, randomized, controlled study.

SETTING

Ottawa Civic Hospital Family Medicine Centre.

PARTICIPANTS

Of 8502 patients 15 years of age or more who were not in a hospital or institution 5883 were randomly assigned, by family, to a control group, a physician reminder group (passive) or a telephone or letter reminder group (active). The remaining 2619 patients were not included in the randomized portion of the study but were monitored.

INTERVENTION

During 1 year the patients in the active reminder groups received a telephone call or letter reminding them of any overdue preventive procedures; for those in the passive reminder group the physician was reminded at an office visit to provide any overdue service.

OUTCOME MEASURE

Rates of completion of the preventive procedures required.

MAIN RESULTS

All three reminder systems significantly improved the delivery of preventive services (p less than 0.001). The procedure completion rates were 42.0% in the letter reminder group, 42.0% in the telephone reminder group, 33.7% in the physician reminder group and 14.1% in the randomized control group. The use of a letter was more cost-effective than the telephone system, but the physician reminder system was the most cost-effective.

CONCLUSION

Computerized reminder systems do improve the delivery of preventive services in family practice.