How do patients respond when confronted with telephone access barriers to care

OBJECTIVE: To gain an in-depth understanding of patient barriers to accessing telephone care, subsequent responses to telephone access issues and recommendations for system improvement within a large integrated health-care system. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional qualitative focus group study. METHODS: One focus group was conducted at each of 17 Veterans Affairs facilities with a total of 123 Veteran users of VA health care. All facilities followed a focus group discussion guide, and purposively sampled patients receiving care at their VA facility in primary and/or specialty care. Focus groups' recordings were sent to the authors' independent evaluation centre, transcribed verbatim and analysed using qualitative content analysis methodology. RESULTS: Participants described many issues with the phone system that resulted in delays to care needs being addressed, including difficulty getting someone to answer the phone, out-dated phone directories, frequent disconnections and incorrect transfers. Participants most frequently responded to access issues by doing nothing or waiting to contact at a later time, or seeking unscheduled in-person care in the emergency department or primary care clinic. Participants offered recommendations for improving telephone care, including access to direct extensions, and upgrades to the telephone system. CONCLUSIONS: Telephone access issues could result in increased patient harm and/or increased wait times for in-person primary care or emergency services. Periodic evaluation of telephone systems is necessary to ensure telephone systems adequately meet patient needs while using resources efficiently to optimize the delivery of high quality, safe health care

Internet privacy · MEDLINE · Patient satisfaction · Political science · Computer Science · Electronic Health Records Systems · Emergency and Acute Care Studies · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Telemedicine and Telehealth Implementation

• Understanding rural women's preferences for telephone call engagement with primary health care providers in Nigeria

  Open Access•Nasir Umar, Zelee Hill et al.•BMJ Global Health•2023

  Add to list

• Disparities in the Timeliness of Addressing Patient-Initiated Telephone Calls in a Primary Care Clinic

  Laura Porterfield, Mythili Ram et al.•Health Communication•2025

  Add to list

• Opportunity or Burden? A Behavioral Framework for Patient Engagement

  Rachel Kimerling, Eleanor T Lewis et al.•Medical Care•2020

  Add to list

• The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers

  Johnny Saldaña•The Coding Manual for Qualitative…•2025

  Add to list

• Patients’ experiences and views of an emergency and urgent care system

  Open Access•Emma Knowles, Alicia O’cathain et al.•Health Expectations•2012

  Add to list