A telephone needs assessment for potential high utilizers

Background and Objectives: We conducted a telephone needs assessment of pat ients at risk for high utilization of health services to determine the type of intervention that might be most responsive to their needs. Methods: Fam ily practice patients who were classified as at high risk based on self-rep orted health-related quality of life (HRQOL), age, and gender received a st ructured telephone interview To ask about their health problems, difficulti es with their health care, and types of help programs that might be useful to them. Results: Of 867 adult patients randomly selected as eligible for t he study 352 completed the Duke Health Profile to measure HRQOL, 122 were c lassified at risk for high utilization, and 104 were interviewed by telepho ne. Patient-reported health problems were similar to provider-reported prob lems. High-risk patients reported difficulties receiving help from the clin ic on issues of communication and logistics (43.9%), limitations of clinic facilities and services (26.3%), and financial concerns (26.3%). Of the hig hest risk patients, 45.8% expressed willingness to participate in help prog rams conducted over the telephone. Conclusions: Many high-risk patients mig ht benefit from participation in a telephone intervention program. A future study is needed to measure the effectiveness of such a program to improve utilization of health services.