The study aims to implement social needs screenings in our Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery (MIGS) clinic.

Design:

A quality improvement initiative utilizing Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) cycles. We identified all stakeholders involved in the process of distributing the social needs screening. This included a social worker, clinic manager, medical assistants, nurses, physicians, IT, and patients. We chose the Protocol for Responding to & Assessing Patients’ Assets, Risks & Experiences (PRAPARE) screening tool.

Setting: MIGS outpatient office.

Patients or Participants: New MIGS patients who had an active online healthcare portal.

Interventions:

PRAPARE forms are sent to all new patients to assess for social needs. In the first PDSA cycle, patients were individually messaged via the portal. In the second PDSA cycle started on 12/18/23, automated messages were sent 7 days before the visit. If a patient requests assistance they are referred to social work.

Measurements and Main Results:

In PDSA I, a total of 568 new patients, 368 forms were sent manually via online portals. 192 forms were received, response rate was 33%, and 6% of respondents requested assistance. After automation, there were 192 new appointments, 43 forms were received, response rate was 22%, and 2% of respondents requested assistance.

Conclusion:

Response and assistance request rates dropped slightly after automation. With automation, patients do not receive email notifications unlike with manual messages. The goal of the next phase is to increase the response rate by coordinating with IT to notify patients via email. We plan to increase portal access prior to the first visit, and incorporate screenings for patients in the office without a patient portal. Finding barriers to care is important in our surgical practice as it can delay surgery, post-operative discharge, or prevent proper post-operative recovery.