NEJM: Shortened the duration of fertility treatment from more than two months to 41 days

When trying to get pregnant, every second is precious
.
It's easily discouraging: 65 percent of people seeking fertility care end up stopping treatment, most of them due to stress
.
That's why the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine recently established a telemedicine-driven project designed to see patients faster and start treatment
faster 。 A study published in New Jm Catalyst by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania showed that the program, called Fast Track to Fertility, shortened the time between when patients initially sought help and when they first received treatment.
They got them about a month
and a half ahead of their path to becoming parents.

In addition to reducing the average time it takes for new patients to receive their first treatment (from 97 days to 41 days), the program also allows more new patients to access fertility care, a figure that increased by 24 percent
in the year Penn Medicine implemented it as a standard of care.
In the case of 1 in 8 couples in the U.
S.
experiencing infertility, the Fertility Fast Track program has more than 1,000 new patients begin treatment to help them get pregnant
.

"Most people seeking fertility care have been trying to conceive for at least a year, so the emotional risk is high and they really want to start as soon as possible," said Anuja Dokras, senior author of the study and co-founder of Rapid Fertility, MD, professor of obstetrics and gynecology and director of gynecology at
the Women's Health Service Line.
"Our findings suggest that this program can significantly speed up treatment timelines, opening the door
to more people.
" These findings suggest that this way of behaving can make a real difference
in people's lives.
”

The demand for fertility care has been growing steadily since the launch of fertility care, to the point that fertility clinics often have to wait a long time to receive new patients
.
The Innovation Accelerator of the Medical Innovation Center at the Medical College of Pennsylvania has launched the Fast Track to Fertility project, which aims to speed up the process
by deploying a relatively small team of advanced practice providers to make initial telemedicine-based visits to new patients as quickly as possible.
That visit also gave patients the opportunity to sign up for an AI-led text messaging program that helps them complete complex fertility "checks" quickly and with as little as possible
.

"This system allows patients to start their journey once they contact us," said Suneeta Senapati, lead author of the study and co-founder of Rapid Fertility, an assistant professor of
obstetrics and gynecology.
Both spouses are required to complete tests, including blood tests, ultrasounds, X-rays, semen analysis, etc
.
Some of this depends on the menstrual cycle, making it a time-sensitive process, so making it as easy and quick as possible – with minimal clutter – is invaluable
.
”

The initial pilot (using human text messages instead of artificial intelligence to test the system) reduced the wait time for new patients to visit the clinic by 88% from the initial exposure to the practice, bringing the average waiting time to just 4 days
.
In the initial pilot, no patients needed to call the office to determine the next move, compared to a quarter of patients who were not involved in the project
.

In 2021, when the latest analysis is conducted, the fertility fast track is expanded to the standard
of care for the entire Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
In addition to halving treatment time and adding new patients, they also saw appointments "not attend" — including those who accidentally didn't go or needed to postpone appointments — drop from 40 percent to 20 percent, a particularly important measure
.

"At any time, if someone doesn't come, we can't make up the appointment because this care requires a precise time
," Dokras said.
"So at any time we can reduce absences, which means more people can get the care they want and start their families
.
"

Patient satisfaction and advanced practice providers running the system is also high
.
The researchers hope the system will be expanded to support patients throughout the fertility process
.

"These models of care are not a substitute for our clinical staff, as human-to-human interaction remains essential to doctor-patient relationships and care delivery
.
Instead, they have increased efficiency – while maintaining personalized care – for patients and their care teams to accommodate the growing demand for fertility services," Senapati said
.
"Ultimately, this allows me and my colleagues to do more of what we're doing in this space: helping people get pregnant and bring their children home
.
"