Impact of an electronic medical record-based appointment order on outpatient cardiology follow-up after hospital discharge

Abstract Outpatient follow-up after hospital discharge improves continuity of care and reduces readmissions, but rates of follow-up remain low. It is not known whether electronic medical record (EMR)-based tools improve follow-up. The aim of this study was to determine if an EMR-based order to secure cardiology follow-up appointments at hospital discharge would improve follow-up rates and hospital readmission rates. A pre-post interventional study was conducted and evaluated 39,209 cardiovascular medicine discharges within an academic center between 2012 and 2017. Follow-up rates and readmission rates were compared during 2 years prior to EMR-order implementation (pre-order era 2012–2013, n = 12,852) and 4 years after implementation (EMR-order era 2014–2017, n = 26,357). The primary endpoint was 90-day cardiovascular follow-up rates within our health system. In the overall cohort, the mean age of patients was 69.3 years [SD 14.7] and 60.7% (n = 23,827) were male. In the pre-order era, 90-day follow-up was 56.7 ± 0.4% (7286 of 12,852) and increased to 67.9 ± 0.3% (17,888 of 26,357, P