MD Assist Paperwork Assistant Tool: An Opportunity for Improved Patient Health Literacy and Patient-Provider Communication

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this project was to determine if use of the MD Assist Paperwork Assistant Tool improved patient health literacy and patient-provider communication when compared to other individually designed patient medical test result notification tools. At one large southeastern federal health facility, the primary care outpatient clinics have a variety of locally developed written communication tools used to notify patients by mail. One such tool is the MD Assist Paperwork Assistant Tool. Developed by a physician in the primary care service line in response to the lack of a formal results notification tool, the MD Assist Paperwork Assistant Tool is a computer-based program designed to facilitate communication with patients by providing a concise summary of test results via letter in patient-friendly language. This tool allows clinicians to add comments, to make healthcare recommendations, and to automatically update the medical record signifying that the clinician has reviewed the results, informed the patient of the results, and formulated a plan of care based on the results.