Photo Credit: iStock.com/SDI Productions

A 4-minute educational video reduced clinic visit times by 7 minutes and boosted patient volume and revenue in an ambulatory obesity medicine clinic.

A 4-minute, pre-visit educational video helped reduce visit times and improve efficiency in an obesity medicine clinic, according to a study published in the Journal of Nursing Care Quality.

The intervention, implemented at a medical weight loss center in the Southeastern US, was designed to address the repetitive nature of initial clinic visits. Video education interventions have benefited clinical practice in other areas of medicine, but the researchers noted that data are lacking in the adult obesity medicine ambulatory care setting.

“Previously, the care delivery model involved a 1:1 visit with a physician or advanced practice provider (APP) as the first line of contact between the client and the program. Providers identified that patient visit time could be shortened if basic information about the program and nutrition did not have to be reviewed during the initial clinic visit,” wrote Madalene Drummond, DNP, and Dilan Stacey, BSN, RN. “Reducing clinic visit times could improve access to the clinic.”

A New Education Video

Nurses, APPs, and dietitians at the clinic collaborated to design a new client education video, a nutrition education video, and a 24-hour dietary recall form. The videos were optimized in the electronic health record so clients would automatically receive them when they scheduled an appointment.

The new client education video offered patients information about the clinic’s services, basic nutrition education, guidance for how to request prescription refills, and answers to frequently asked questions. The video, which was 4 minutes in runtime, included a voiceover and was sent to patients alongside the 24-hour dietary recall form, which requested information on meal intake, sleep disturbances related to eating, and water intake.

“If the client was unable to complete the video and dietary recall form prior to the appointment due to limited access to the client portal or late arrival to their scheduled appointment, the video and dietary recall were provided on a tablet upon arrival at the appointment. The client was required to watch the video and complete the dietary recall form before the visit started,” the researchers said.

After the visit, the nutrition education video—which included information on nutrition, emotional eating, food label literacy, proper diet, and adequate food intake to promote weight loss—became available on the patient’s portal.

Clinic Efficiency Improves

After the videos were implemented, the average length of clinic visits was reduced by 7 minutes, from 44 to 37. The researchers noted that 73% of visits took 40 minutes or less at baseline, which increased to 84% after the intervention.

The number of patients that clinicians were able to see also increased, from an average of 10, to 18 per day. Given the uptick in patient load, the administrators and clinicians came to an agreement on an additional time allotment for administrative tasks such as reviewing laboratory test results and handling prescriptions.

“After successful implementation, the clinic saw an increase in revenue of approximately $500,000 compared to the year prior. The revenue increase was later directly attributed to the increase in client volume allowed into the clinic because of this project,” the researchers said.

Implications for Practice

The researchers concluded that pre-visit video education was a sustainable intervention due to its reproducibility. In addition, the videos can help streamline clinical processes and improve patient access by boosting the average number of patients that can be seen on any given day.

“For providers, increasing access to care allowed for optimal follow-up appointment intervals. Additionally, increased monthly client volume increases financial productivity and subsequent financial incentives,” the study authors said.

However, the clinic involved in the study employed four physicians, five APPs, two medical assistants, two dietitians, and one nurse. The researchers noted that their quality improvement project may not be feasible for smaller clinics with fewer resources.

“The video created for this project continues to be utilized in practice and receives verbal praise from clients at follow-up visits,” Dr. Drummond and Mr. Stacy said. “While this project was performed in an obesity-focused ambulatory care setting, this type of intervention could be easily translated to other specialty practices that identify repetitive information and want to increase efficiency.”