Abstract

The "GVM" has emerged as an alternative to traditional individualized appointments in the ambulatory care setting. We hypothesized that group visits could successfully be utilized in a PHtx clinic. Seven patients, ages 1-18 yr old, and their families participated in a total of 11 group visits in lieu of individualized appointments. Patients were divided into two groups based on whether they were greater or less than one yr post-transplant. Patient/provider satisfaction, medication adherence, and content retention were ascertained via questionnaires and free-response tests. Total clinic throughput time, including per-patient clinic utilization time, was compared to historical data. Six of seven patients completed the study with one dropout. Overall satisfaction ratings were 3.98 of 4 with all patients reporting that they would "strongly recommend" group visits to others. Health information retention tests demonstrated improvement between pre- and post-tests in eight of nine (89%) of the group visits. Overall clinic utilization decreased by nearly 50% while providing 70 min of face-to-face time with the provider. Medication adherence neared 100% for all patients. The GVM can be successfully applied to the PHtx population with high patient and provider satisfaction, more face-to-face time, excellent content retention, and greatly improved clinic efficiency.

View details for DOI 10.1111/petr.12574

View details for Web of Science ID 000362580100018

View details for PubMedID 26250489