Patient Satisfaction With Postoperative Communication Modality

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Communication between a surgeon and a patient in the immediate postoperative period is thought to influence patient satisfaction. There is currently no standard of care regarding the optimal form of postoperative communication, nor is there a consensus in our department as to which modality is preferred by patients.The purpose of this study is to determine which form of communication, if any, is preferred by patients. Furthermore, this study aims to evaluate the impact that various forms of communication during the immediate postoperative period have on patient (subject) satisfaction. The study hypothesizes that patient (subject) satisfaction with their surgeon will be highest among those who communicate with their surgeons via videotelephony (i.e., videoconferencing) and that the lowest satisfaction will be among patients (subjects) who did not communicate with their surgeon until their regularly scheduled postoperative office visit. The results of this study may help identify low cost methods for increasing patient satisfaction.

Detailed Description
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This is a prospective, randomized study designed to evaluate the effects of different communication modalities between surgeons and patients (subjects) in the immediate postoperative period. Given the nature of the study, it is not possible for either the surgeons or the subjects to be blinded. To reduce bias that may occur due to each surgeon's personal preference for postoperative communication modality, the surgeons (rather than individual subjects) will be randomized to one of the three communication modality groups (no communication on the day of surgery, voice call, or videoconferencing).

Official Title
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Patient Satisfaction With Postoperative Communication Modality

Conditions
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Surgery

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Voice call
* Behavioral: Video call


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: undergoing surgery at the NYU Langone Orthopedic Center Exclusion Criteria: Under the age of 18 years old

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Other
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| No Intervention: No Communication group<br>Participants will not communicate with their surgeons until the post operative office visit. | |
| Active Comparator: Voice call group<br>Participants will receive voice call from the surgeon after being discharged and before their post operative office visit. | Behavioral: Voice call<br>* Attending surgeons will contact with their patients on the day of surgery after discharge via voice call.<br>|
| Active Comparator: Video call group<br>Participants will receive video call from surgeon after being discharged and before their post operative office visit | Behavioral: Video call<br>* Attending surgeons will contact with their patients on the day of surgery after discharge via video call (video conferencing application such as FaceTime or Skype)<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Percent of participants' satisfaction with surgeon | The first self reported survey is designed specifically for this study to assess participants' satisfaction with their experience and postoperative communication. | post operative office visit (1 week after surgery) | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Percent of participants' satisfaction with hospital experience | The second self reported survey contains questions from the standard HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) survey, which has been validated and used extensively to assess subject satisfaction with hospital experience. | post operative office visit (1 week after surgery) |