Postoperative follow-up: is a phone call enough?

Area of Science:

• Surgical Nursing
• Patient Care Management
• Healthcare Delivery Models

Background:

• Selected operative procedures at our institution utilize a telephone follow-up protocol managed by surgical specialty nurses.
• This protocol serves as an alternative to traditional postoperative clinic visits.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the safety and patient preference of telephone follow-up compared to routine postoperative clinic visits.
• To determine the efficacy of a structured telephone follow-up protocol in managing surgical patients post-discharge.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective review of patient records (telephone follow-up forms, clinic notes, ED records) over a 6-month period.
• Evaluation focused on patient postoperative course and outcomes following telephone follow-up.

Main Results:

• Out of 563 patients (601 procedures), 76% were successfully contacted via telephone.
• 90% of contacted families were satisfied with telephone follow-up; only 10 families requested a clinic visit.
• A low complication rate of 1.6% (9 interventions) was observed following 43 clinic or ED evaluations.

Conclusions:

• Telephone follow-up by surgical nurses is a safe alternative to routine clinic visits for selected procedures.
• Patient families prefer telephone follow-up, indicating its acceptance and effectiveness.