Another preferred to provide his own individualized postoperative instructions for his patients. A series of interviews with office administrators and nurses last summer by the Academy's department of communications found that many have developed their own printed material which matched the protocols of the physicians more closely than the generic brochures in the marketplace. In some cases, the nurses compiled a list of the most frequently asked questions from patients and created a handout for patients. The Academy's Committee on Public Education is studying the development of handouts on treatments that can be personalized by orthopaedic practices. Although some orthopaedic surgeons said they didn't hand out printed material, orthopaedic office managers and patients made it clear in the focus group sessions that they believed that brochures or booklets should always be given to the patient to take home.
Patients are most interested in postoperative information.
They want to know how long they'll have to wait before returning to normal activities. They want specific, pertinent information. Orthopaedic surgeons and patients were less enthusiastic about the use of videotapes for patient education. Some orthopaedists talked about the expense and the need for a room to show the video and patients either were afraid they were going to see an actual surgery or that the video would be too general to explain the particular circumstances of their condition.