Effect of Pre-operative Virtual Visits on Patients With Head and Neck Cancer Undergoing Surgery

Study Overview
=================
Brief Summary
-----------------
Patients with head and neck cancer often undergo complex surgeries requiring significant care post-operatively. This presents considerable psychosocial challenges in addition to their need to physically recover from a large surgery. The study team will interview patients who have undergone virtual visits before their surgical procedures. The study aims to explore patients' experiences, satisfaction, and perceptions of virtual visits for informing and preparing them for surgery and their postoperative care needs. The study team will also analyze the effects of the virtual visits on financial costs and patient outcomes such as length of hospital stay, delayed discharges due to social issues, and whether the virtual visits identified any significant medical concerns, etc. The study team will compare these to a randomly selected cohort of patients who also underwent surgical resection and reconstruction for head and neck cancer that did not get pre-operative virtual visits.

Official Title
-----------------
Effect of Pre-operative Virtual Visits on Care of Patients With Head and Neck Cancer Undergoing Surgery

Conditions
-----------------
Head and Neck Cancer

Intervention / Treatment
-----------------
* Other: Survey


Participation Criteria
=================
Eligibility Criteria
-----------------
Inclusion Criteria (Pre-operative Visit Arm) Patients > 18 years Underwent surgery for head and neck cancer with free flap reconstruction at the University of Michigan Underwent a pre-operative virtual visit. Inclusion Criteria (NO Pre-operative Visit Arm) Patients > 18 years Underwent surgery for head and neck cancer with free flap reconstruction at the University of Michigan Exclusion Criteria (Pre-operative Visit Arm) Patients who died within 60 days of surgery for head and neck cancer with free flap reconstruction at the University of Michigan. Exclusion Criteria (NO Pre-operative Visit Arm) Patients who died within 60 days of surgery for head and neck cancer with free flap reconstruction at the University of Michigan. Patient underwent a pre-operative virtual visit.

Ages Eligible for Study
-----------------
Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
-----------------
All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
-----------------
No

Study Plan
=================
How is the study designed?
-----------------

Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Pre-operative Visit Arm<br>Eligible participants for the interview and surveys will be those who have undergone a virtual visit by the head and neck surgery nurse practitioners before their scheduled surgical procedure. | Other: Survey<br>* For the patients who underwent a pre-operative virtual visit, data will be collected through semi-structured interviews conducted by trained research personnel. The interviews will be conducted in a one-on-one format, either in-person or via telephone, according to the participant's preference.<br>|
| No Pre-operative Visit Arm<br>Patients who also underwent surgical resection for head and neck cancer with free flap reconstruction at the University of Michigan through the Department of Otolaryngology but did NOT receive a pre-operative virtual visit. This cohort is a retrospective chart review study | |

What is the study measuring?
-----------------
Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Effectiveness of virtual visits as determined by satisfaction scores | To examine the satisfaction scores of patients who undergo pre-operative virtual visits. The satisfaction scale is graded on a modified Likert scale. The endpoint for this primary objective is the score given by the patient on the interview-based survey | at time of enrollment | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Comparison in hospitalization between cohorts | To examine if patients who undergo pre-operative virtual visits have reduced hospital length of stay (i.e. number of days hospitalization post-operatively) compared to patients who did not undergo these visits. | up to 60 days after the surgical resection | 
| Comparison in post-operative communication | To examine if patients who undergo pre-operative virtual visits have reduced post-operative communication measured in portal messages and phone calls compared to patients who did not undergo these visits. | up to 60 days after the surgical resection |