Factors Which Influence Patient Choice When Choosing a Hand Therapist

Background: Orthopedic surgeons often refer patients to hand therapy following orthopedic injury or surgery to facilitate recovery and maximize outcomes. Patients should be a key part of the shared decision-making process when it comes to their rehabilitation. While there is existing literature investigating factors considered by patients when choosing other medical providers, there are currently no studies investigating factors considered by patients when choosing a hand therapist. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to investigate public perception of factors which are important when choosing a hand therapist. Methods: A convenience sample (N = 220) of adults over the age of 18 completed an anonymous online survey using an internet crowdsourcing platform. Respondents were asked to quantitatively rank the importance of 10 predetermined factors related to selecting a hand therapist. Results: Respondents ranked insurance coverage and credentialing as a certified hand therapist as highest in terms of importance. Conclusion: We found that the factors people consider important when selecting a hand therapist are similar to the factors described in the medical literature that are important when selecting a physician or other healthcare provider. The results have implications for physicians when ensuring continuity of care for their patients.

Dynamic appointment scheduling for outpatient clinics with multiple physicians and patient choice

Mitigating the adverse effects of uncertainty in appointment systems,arising from heterogeneous patient needs and preferences,is critical to the effective use of scarce medical resources and patient satisfaction.This study addresses an online scheduling problem with multiple servers and consideration of patient preference for physicians and their appointment times.The receptionist immediately determines whether a request should be accommodated and offers an appointment time slot for each accepted patient request.The patient may reject an undesirable appointment time slot with a certain probability,or may accept it,but the no-show probability will be higher.A stochastic overbooking model is formulated to maximize the expected profit,which is defined as the revenue generated from accepted requests minus the cost incurred by patients waiting and physicians’overtime.A myopic scheduling policy is developed based on certain structural properties of the objective function.This study advances the study of appointment systems by generating a non-unimodal profit evolution.Moreover,both the decision of accommodating more requests for certain slots and the scheduling of appointments depend on the patient choice rather than the patient type.Further,computational experiments and analysis offer valuable insights into performance improvement in outpatient clinics.

What factors are important to new patients when selecting an orthopedic oncologist?

BACKGROUND Understanding how patients choose a provider may improve the overall experience by identifying ways to tailor a clinical practice.AIM To identify factors that patients consider important when choosing an orthopedic oncologist.METHODS New patients presenting to an orthopedic oncology clinic within a tertiary academic medical center from January 2019 to August 2020 were invited to complete an anonymous survey.The questionnaire consisted of 27 items including a Likert-type assessment of the importance of selection factors.RESULTS A total of 101 new patients with a median age of 66 years(range,14 years to 91 years)responded.Most were referred by another doctor(n=63,62.4%),and of the referring providers,the most frequent specialty was orthopedic surgery(n=32,51%).Using a Likert-type scale with 1 representing‘least important’and 5 representing‘most important’,the most important factor was the hospital reputation(mean,4.65;SD,0.85).Additional factors of importance were the number of years in practice(3.87±1.3)and a primary care provider referral(3.71±1.6).Patients younger than 40 years old found social media(P=0.016)and internet presence(P=0.035)of their surgeon to be more important than older patients.In contrast,older patients considered care within an academic center to be of greater importance than younger patients(P=0.014).CONCLUSION This investigation suggests a primary care referral,as well as hospital and physician reputation,are among the most important factors when selecting an orthopedic oncologist.Furthermore,social media utilization appears to be more important for younger patients.