To improve patient satisfaction with a multidisciplinary neurodevelopmental disorders clinic, increase pediatric to adult healthcare transition readiness, and subsequently develop targeted interventions to address identified challenges.

The multidisciplinary clinic model has been shown to improve health outcomes and decreases mortality in a cost-effective method for patients with complex medical conditions. While multidisciplinary clinics seek to deliver cohesive patient care, these clinics face several barriers, including duration of appointments, access to multidisciplinary clinics, and providing healthcare transition education.

We conducted a mixed quantitative/qualitative survey of patients  and their families who completed multidisciplinary appointments at the Developmental & Cognitive Clinic (DCC) located in a large county hospital. The survey included Likert-scale measures on patient satisfaction and healthcare transition readiness, as well as an open-ended question asking what the clinic can improve upon.

Of the 41 responses, 83-95% participants reported satisfaction with making appointments, accessing their medical information, time spent with providers, seeing multiple specialists in one day, and receiving education about their medical conditions. 14 patients recently transitioned from pediatric to adult care, with 71-100% reported receiving education on the healthcare transition process, differences between pediatric and adult care models, accessing medical information, and contacting their adult physicians. Thematic analysis of qualitative data identified new patient intake, communication between pediatric and adult teams, clinic accessibility, and patient/family education about the clinic model as areas of improvement.

A majority of patients are satisfied with the clinic and do receive aspects of healthcare transition education, however patients seek additional support to better understand the multidisciplinary model, its available services, and discussion of shared health care goals. These findings have guided the development of interventions to increase patient satisfaction and healthcare transition readiness, including pre-clinic team huddles, clinic-specific informational brochures, addition of a dedicated primary care physician, and standardization of the new patient intake process.