Annals of emergency medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Physician e-mail and telephone contact after emergency department visit improves patient satisfaction: a crossover trial.
Enhancing emergency department (ED) patient satisfaction has wide-ranging benefits. We seek to determine how postvisit patient-physician contact by e-mail or telephone affects patients' satisfaction with their emergency physician. ⋯ Patient satisfaction was higher when emergency physicians contacted patients briefly after their visit, either by e-mail or by telephone. Higher patient satisfaction was observed equally among patients contacted by e-mail and those contacted by telephone. Postvisit patient-physician contact could be a valuable practice to improve ED patient satisfaction.