Impact of organizational interventions on the delivery of patient education in a diabetes clinic

Abstract

Patient education is widely regarded as an essential component of chronic disease care and effective health promotion. Nevertheless, the patient education process is seldom the subject of systematic investigation. In a previous study we determined that only a minimal amount of patients' time was devoted to education in a multidisciplinary diabetes clinic. The present study was designed to assess whether organizational manipulations would influence the delivery of patient education. Nurses' responsibility for management of patient flow was reduced, and an education checklist was included in the medical record. These simple modifications of clinic operation to increase the availability of professional time for patient education and to stimulate educational interactions were successful in significantly increasing patient education time. Time spent in assessing patient need increased by about one half (P less than 0.05) and in instruction by about two thirds (P less than 0.05). The process of patient education can be facilitated at low cost to the facility through targeted attention to organizational issues other than providers' knowledge or interest.