Interventions on the Status Quo: Transforming Communication in the Cardiology Clinic Through Smartphone-Recorded After-Visit Summaries.

BACKGROUND: Outpatient cardiology clinics often fail to implement management because of standard, written after-visit summaries that are vague and ineffective at communicating care. This results in poor patient recall and suboptimal management. PROJECT RATIONALE: Written instructions create a barrier to communication. Using smartphone technology to transform aftercare instructions provides a zero-cost, personalized pathway to narrow avoidable health care disparities. PROJECT SUMMARY: Using the Plan-Do-Study-Act framework, 36 cardiology clinic patients were randomized (1:1) to standard written after-visit summaries or a brief (<5-minute) recorded smartphone video summary (video after-visit summary). A postvisit survey was conducted within 45 days to assess visit retention and the utility of after-visit summaries. Patient-perceived benefit was significantly higher in the video after-visit summary arm (94% vs 61%, P = 0.041), and 89% intended to continue using digital summaries (P < 0.001). TAKE-HOME MESSAGES: Smartphone-based video summaries outperform traditional written summaries. This scalable intervention strengthens the physician-patient connection and enhances patients' perceived benefit of care through accessible video-playback reinforcement.