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Patient navigation for overactive bladder improves access to care

  • Matthew RohloffEmail author
  • Gregg Peifer
  • Jannah H. Thompson
Original Article
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Abstract

Introduction and hypothesis

Patients with overactive bladder (OAB) become discouraged with medication therapy because of the side effects, minimal subjective improvement and costs of therapy. With the implementation of a patient navigation pathway there is increased communication, subsequently leading to increased patient retention rates and utilization of third-line therapies.

Methods

This was a quality improvement study carried out over a 17-month period comparing utilization of a navigation pathway versus patients without navigation. The data were obtained using an online database (PPS Analytics) to compare medication use, cystoscopy, urodynamic studies, use of third-line therapy, and return visits.

Results

A total of 535 patients were included in the analysis and broken down into two respective groups. Group 1 were those placed on the navigation pathway and able to be reached via telephone (n = 431). Group 2 were those started on the navigation pathway who were not able to be reached via telephone, but were chart reviewed by a navigator (n = 104). Third-line therapy usage for groups 1 and 2 was 24% and 11% respectively. Return visits for additional OAB management for groups 1 and 2 were found to be 71% and 50% respectively.

Conclusion

Patient retention levels and utilization of third-line therapies are significantly improved when utilizing a navigation pathway. With 24% of the patients included in this study opting for third-line therapy, this represents a 600% increase in third-line therapies over national averages.

Keywords

Overactive bladder Patient navigation Care pathway 

Abbreviations

AUA

American Urological Association

FPMRS

Female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery

OAB

Overactive bladder

SUFU

Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine & Urogenital Reconstruction

UDS

Urodynamic studies

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Notes

Compliance with ethical standards

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest in the publication of this article.

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Copyright information

© The International Urogynecological Association 2019

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Metro Health Hospital: University of Michigan Health Department of Urological SurgeryWyomingUSA

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