Electronic follow up after an emergency department (ED) visit for pain: A pilot study

Background: EDs frequently see patients without access to outpatient care and 42% of ED visits are for complaints of pain. Electronic communication has the potential to allow tracking outcomes of care but it is not known if this communication is feasible and acceptable to ED patients. Methods: Participants with an ED visit for a painful condition were approached for a pilot of electronic follow up (by daily text or email) for one week after their ED visit. No incentives were provided. Patients were asked to respond to two text/email questions both on a scale of 0(none) - 10(worse) regarding their level of pain and the degree to which their pain was interfering with their usual activities. Single group analysis of variance in repeated measures was used to analyze the results. Findings: Out of twenty three patients approached, twenty enrolled (87%); fourteen (70%) responded at least once to a follow-up electronic prompt. Ten participants (50%) completed all follow up prompts. The median number of responses was 6.5. Reductions in the mean reported pain value and improvements in the mean reported functional status value from the reported baseline values became significant at the four day mark. Thirteen patients (65%) provided feedback via phone or email; the majority (95%) indicated that electronic follow-up was sensible and 58% said that they would recommend it to a friend. Conclusions: Electronic follow-up was feasible and acceptable to ED patients and has the potential to provide short term follow up on patient status after an ED visit.