"We're on the Same Team": A Qualitative Study on Communication and Care Coordination Surrounding the Requirement to...

Many surgeons require patients to quit smoking prior to elective surgeries to reduce the risk of postoperative complications. Our aim was to qualitatively evaluate the communication and care experiences of patients and clinicians involved in conversations about quitting smoking prior to elective orthopedic surgery.

A qualitative interview study of rural-residing Veterans, primary care providers (PCP), and Veterans Administration (VA) orthopedic surgery staff and pharmacists, who care for rural Veterans. We performed a combination of deductive and inductive approaches to support conventional content analysis using a Patient-centered care (PCC) framework.

Patients appreciated a shared approach with their PCP on the plan and reasons for cessation. Despite not knowing if the motivation for elective surgeries served as a teachable moment to facilitate long-term abstinence, almost all clinicians believed it typically helped in the short term. There was a lack of standardized workflow between primary care and surgery, especially when patients used care delivered outside of the VA.

While clinician-provided information about the reasons behind the requirement to quit smoking preoperatively was beneficial, patients appreciated the opportunity to collaborate with their care teams on developing a plan for cessation and abstinence. Other aspects of PCC need to be leveraged, such as the therapeutic alliance or patient-as-person, to build trust and improve communication surrounding tobacco use treatment. System-level changes may need to be made to improve coordination and connection of clinicians within and across disciplines.

This study included perspectives from patients, primary care teams, and surgical teams and found that, in addition to providing information, clinicians need to address other aspects of PCC such as the therapeutic alliance and patient-as-person domains to promote patient engagement in tobacco use treatment. This, in turn, could enhance the potential of surgery as a teachable moment and patient success in quitting smoking.