UK | Non-UK | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Europe | Canada | Australasia | |||||||||
Wales | NI | Engl | Den | Nor | Swe | Man | Ont | NSW | Vic | NZ | |
Total respondents, n | 226 | 161 | 252 | 257 | 230 | 199 | 228 | 613 | 277 | 203 | 233 |
Follow-up appointments: ‘If you want a patient to return for a follow-up appointment, how do you book this appointment?’ | |||||||||||
Arrange the appointment at the time of the first appointment, %a | 42 | 52 | 41 | 80 | 89 | 93 | 50 | 43 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
Ask the patient to book the appointment at the time of the first appointment, % | 59 | 46 | 65 | 42 | 20 | 13 | 54 | 57 | 78 | 82 | 64 |
Ask the patient to book nearer to the proposed time of the follow-up appointment, % | 28 | 23 | 19 | 13 | 12 | 7 | 14 | 14 | 9 | 9 | 17 |
Leave it to the patient’s discretion, % | 9 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 11 |
Other, % | 10 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 7 |
Test reconciliation: ‘What system do you have to ensure that you receive the result of every test/investigation you order?’ | |||||||||||
No system, % | 19 | 18 | 18 | 23 | 35 | 9 | 23 | 24 | 12 | 15 | 15 |
Automatically or manually record every test that is ordered and reconcile every test when the result is received, %a | 27 | 33 | 23 | 25 | 29 | 69 | 39 | 19 | 53 | 45 | 38 |
Automatically or manually record some tests that are ordered and reconcile them when the results are received, % | 22 | 20 | 21 | 26 | 24 | 14 | 21 | 36 | 23 | 28 | 40 |
Rely on patient to call or make an appointment for result, % | 31 | 31 | 37 | 46 | 14 | 4 | 24 | 29 | 17 | 17 | 10 |
Other, % | 18 | 14 | 18 | 17 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 6 | 9 |
Test communication: ‘What do you normally do to ensure that all tests/investigation results are followed up?’ | |||||||||||
No system, % | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
I receive the results and follow up at my discretion, %a | 65 | 61 | 65 | 61 | 70 | 74 | 68 | 74 | 64 | 67 | 75 |
I ask the patient to call or make an appointment for the result, % | 54 | 55 | 60 | 60 | 16 | 7 | 37 | 38 | 54 | 62 | 20 |
I tell the patient I will contact them only if the result is abnormal, %a | 22 | 22 | 24 | 15 | 64 | 34 | 52 | 45 | 28 | 25 | 46 |
Other, % | 14 | 8 | 4 | 19 | 8 | 25 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 8 | 10 |
Follow-up of non-attenders: ‘If patients do not attend for scheduled follow-up appointments, do you contact them?’ | |||||||||||
Yes, routinely, %a | 6 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 15 | 23 | 17 | 21 | 35 | 25 | 23 |
Yes, selectively, %a | 70 | 65 | 79 | 79 | 78 | 70 | 73 | 70 | 61 | 72 | 73 |
No, % | 24 | 30 | 14 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 5 |
↵a PCP retaining responsibility. Den = Denmark. Engl = England. Man = Manitoba. NI = Northern Ireland. Nor = Norway. NSW = New South Wales. NZ = New Zealand. Ont = Ontario. PCP = primary care practitioner. Swe = Sweden. Vic = Victoria.