Utility of routine postoperative visit after appendectomy and cholecystectomy with evaluation of mobile technology access in an urban safety net population

In-Person Clinic Visits After Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy: Lessons Learned From COVID-19 Pandemic

INTRODUCTION

The utility of routine in-person clinic appointments after laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is uncertain, especially after the increase of telehealth visits during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility of routine in-person follow-up for patients undergoing LC prior to changes implemented during the pandemic and to determine whether a return to routine in-person follow-up is warranted.

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed follow-up encounters for all patients undergoing LC from April 2018 to February 2020. All patients were routinely scheduled for in-person postoperative clinic follow-up 2-4 wk after discharge. Follow-up was considered nonroutine if new studies or medications were ordered, the patient was referred to the emergency department or readmitted, or malignancy was identified on pathology review.

RESULTS

Of 661 patients undergoing LC, 449 (68%) attended their scheduled in-person postoperative appointment and 212 (32%) did not. The postoperative appointment was nonroutine for 39 patients (9% of clinic attenders). Readmission occurred in 42 patients, with no differences between clinic attenders and nonattenders (P = 0.12). Furthermore, attending a postoperative clinic visit did not affect odds of readmission (odds ratio: 0.705, 95% confidence interval: 0.368, 1.351; P = 0.29). Readmission occurred on median day 9 after discharge in both groups.

CONCLUSIONS

The incidence of nonroutine follow-up after LC is low, and attendance at follow-up clinic was not associated with reduced readmissions. A return to routinely scheduling in-person follow-up 2-4 wk after discharge may not be warranted. Telehealth visits within 1 wk of discharge after LC should be considered.

Preoperative history and physical update visits offer limited clinical value in colorectal surgery

BACKGROUND

United States regulations require a history and physical (H&P) ≤30 days before planned procedures. We evaluated the impact of H&P update visits in colorectal surgery.

METHODS

Preoperative H&P update visits conducted in colorectal clinics at our institution during 2019 were identified. Two independent reviewers assessed whether update visits identified interval changes to history, exam, or operative plan. Secondary outcomes included visit times, estimated travel times and distances.

RESULTS

For 132 visits, interval changes were identified in 39% of histories, but only 4.2% of exams and 6.8% of operative plans. When plans changed, visit goals could have been accomplished via telehealth in 77.8%. Median clinic and round-trip driving time were 61.5 and 62.2 min, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

H&P update visits conducted to satisfy the 30-day regulation rarely result in clinically relevant changes yet impose time and travel burdens on patients. Regulations should be revised to provide flexibility in H&P update modalities.

Innovations and Implementation of Telemedicine in Surgical Clinics Beyond COVID-19: A Narrative Review

Introduction: Telemedicine has emerged as a powerful tool in the delivery of health care to surgical patients and innovations are developing to address challenges in the technology, enhancing consumer-provider encounters while located remotely. Our study aims at collating and commenting on the published evidence for how current challenges in telemedicine for surgical clinics are met by innovations currently in development. We also comment on the implementation and monitoring strategies for telemedicine. Methods: Databases searched included: PubMed, OVID Medline, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and review of reference lists. Key words used were "telemedicine"; "telehealth"; "videoconference"; "outpatient"; and "surgical clinic." For inclusion, articles required to be in English, published between 2000 and 2021, were in an outpatient surgical setting, and if they had a focus during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: Three hundred forty-five articles were identified and screened, so that 73 articles were included in the review. Almost all articles were from Western countries (n = 69), mostly in surgical journals (n = 39) and from a range of sub-specialties, but pre-dominantly orthopedics (n = 12) and general surgery (n = 9). The majority were original comparative studies, with 31 studies directly comparing telemedicine with in-person appointments and 22 articles focused on implementation during COVID-19. Discussion/Conclusion: Advanced telecommunication technology has enabled telemedicine to become an effective and safe form of health care delivery, with high consumer and provider satisfaction. Innovative protocol and technology developments have addressed the limitations of telemedicine. Sophisticated and familiar medical software integrates with electronic medical records to automate and streamline documentation, consent, and billing processes. Surgical clinics are investing in telehealth workflow co-ordination and information technology support to troubleshoot any technical difficulties as well as education for providers and consumers to address technology illiteracy. As health care services continue to transition their systems to an online network, further research is required to understand the ability and assess the feasibility of telemedicine to fully integrate.

Efficacy and satisfaction of asynchronous TeleHealth care compared to in-person visits following colorectal surgical resection

BACKGROUND

The feasibility of remote visits following abdominal colorectal surgery has not been studied in relation to efficacy, patient satisfaction, and surgeon satisfaction. This study aims to assess reliability and satisfaction with a web-based questionnaire for post-operative visits following abdominal colorectal surgery.

METHODS

This was a prospective single-arm cohort study at single-tertiary care center during admission for abdominal colorectal surgery. Using a web-based patient portal, patients completed a questionnaire 48 h prior to their scheduled in-person follow-up visits and submitted photographs of their incisions. Surgeons reviewed patient-entered data and responded within 24 h. Following the subsequent in-person visit, surgeons completed questionnaires to compare the accuracy of the web-based vs. in-person evaluations. Lastly, patients and surgeons completed separate satisfaction surveys after the in-person visits.

RESULTS

A total of 33 patients were enrolled, of which 30 (90.9%) successfully completed the web questionnaire. Providers reported the online questionnaire to be concordant with the in-person visit in 90% of cases. Of the patients who completed the study, only half found the survey alone to be acceptable for follow-up. Patients spent significantly less time completing the online questionnaire (≤ 10 min) than in-person visits, including travel time (75 min, IQR 50-100). Only 12 patients (40%) uploaded photographs of their incisions. During in-person visits, management changes were employed in four patients (13.3%), of which 3 required treatment of superficial surgical site infections (10%).

CONCLUSION

This asynchronous web-based visit format was acceptable to colorectal surgeons but was only embraced by half of patients, despite considerable time savings. While patients preferred in-person visits, there may be opportunities to expand TeleHealth acceptance that focus on patient selection and education.

CLINICALTRIALS

gov: NCT05084131.

Text Messaging, Telephone, or In-Person Outpatient Visit to the Surgical Clinic: A Randomized Trial

INTRODUCTION

Routine outpatient follow-up visits for surgical patients are a source of strain on health-care resources and patients. With the COVID-19 pandemic adding a new urgency to finding the safest follow-up arrangement, text message follow-up might prove an acceptable alternative to a phone call or an in-person clinic visit.

METHODS

An open-label, three-arm, parallel randomized trial was conducted. The interventions were traditional in-person appointment, a telephone call, or a text message. The primary outcome was the number of postdischarge complications identified. The secondary outcomes were patient satisfaction with follow-up, future preference, default to follow-up, and preference to receiving medical information by text message.

RESULTS

Two hundred eight patients underwent randomization: 50 in the in-person group, 80 in the telephone group, and 78 in the text message group. There was no difference in the number of reported complications: 5 (10%) patients in the in-person group, 7 (9%) patients in the text group, and 11 (14%) patients in the telephone group (P = 0.613). The preferred method of follow-up was by telephone (106, 61.6%). The least preferred was the in-person follow-up (15, 8.7%, P = 0.002), which also had the highest default rate (44%).

CONCLUSIONS

There was no evidence that text messages and telephone calls are unsafe and ineffective methods of follow-up. Although most patients are happy to receive results by text message, the majority of patients would prefer a telephone follow-up and are less likely to default by this method. Health-care systems should develop telehealth initiatives when planning health-care services in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Promoting patient engagement during care transitions after surgery using mobile technology: Lessons learned from the MobiMD pilot study

BACKGROUND

Poorly coordinated transitions of care in complex abdominal surgery patients contribute to frequent hospital readmissions and inflated healthcare spending. Mobile health (mHealth) transitional care technologies may reduce surgical readmissions yet remain understudied in high-risk surgical populations.

METHODS

We conducted a single-group, prepost study of a mHealth transitional care app in 50 complex surgical patients. Eligible patients were adults undergoing complex abdominal surgery in the divisions of Surgical Oncology and Colorectal Surgery. The main outcome was app engagement, calculated by notification response rate (number of participant-entered datapoints divided by the total number of app-requested datapoints) over the 30-day postoperative period. Secondary outcomes included changes in engagement over time and by individual app feature.

RESULTS

A total of 85% (50/59) of eligible patients enrolled. Most participants were male (58%, n = 29), and mean age was 50 years (range 24-80 years). Overall notification response rate was 28%. Among the 58% of participants (29/50) who engaged with the app at least once after discharge (app users), the average notification response rate was 45%. The mean notification response rate among app users decreased over time from 50% to 32% between weeks 1 and 4 after hospital discharge. Engagement with individual app features ranged from 48-81%, with highest engagement for symptom reports and lowest engagement for wound care instructions.

CONCLUSION

mHealth transitional care is feasible in complex surgical patients using only patients' existing smart devices. Randomized controlled trials are required to determine the impact on hospital readmissions, surgical outcomes, patient satisfaction, and overall resource utilization.

Patient and Provider Preferences for Monitoring Surgical Wounds Using an mHealth App: A Formative Qualitative Analysis

Background: Surgical site infections complicate approximately 10% of all inpatient operations and account for nearly 20% of surgical re-admissions. Post-operative hospitalizations have become shorter over time, yet limited resources exist for patients to use at their home to communicate surgical wound problems with their medical providers. This study evaluated the attitudes of patients and providers towards using a remote wound monitoring application. Methods: This formative descriptive qualitative study reports the result of analysis of the interview content of five patients and five providers from a colorectal surgery clinic at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina. Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted in the clinic setting, were recorded, and professionally transcribed. Two of the authors independently reviewed and coded the transcribed interviews to identify themes across all 10 interviews. After independent coding, authors reviewed findings to reconcile and streamline the primary themes representing attitudes of patients and providers toward remote wound monitoring. Results: Five primary codes were found across our interviews: current barriers, infection types, workflow, interest in surgical site infection (SSI) monitoring, application considerations, and requested application features. We subcoded "symptom clarification" and "positive anticipation" under "interest in SSI monitoring," as well as "anticipated issues" and "application features" under "application considerations." From these codes, we synthesized findings into three overarching themes: smartphone app for remote wound monitoring has potential to improve patient-provider communication, specific wound evaluation processes are acceptable to patients and providers, and new collaboration with telehealth service is a welcome addition for interdisciplinary team management. Conclusions: A prospective approach to the development of a remote wound monitoring application enables a user-centric development process. Our analysis shows a readiness from both patients and providers to implement remote wound monitoring for identifying potential SSIs and coordinating surgical wound care within the community.

Protocol for the MobiMD trial: A randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effect of a self-monitoring mobile app on hospital readmissions for complex surgical patients

BACKGROUND

Hospital readmissions are estimated to cost $17.4 billion per year in the Medicare population alone, with readmission rates as high as 30% for patients undergoing complex abdominal surgery. Improved transitional care and self-monitoring may reduce preventable readmissions for such high-risk populations. In this study, we will conduct a single-institution randomized controlled trial (RCT) to assess the effect of a novel transitional care mobile app, MobiMD, on hospital readmission in complex abdominal surgery patients.

METHODS

Three hundred patients will be randomized 1:1 to standard of care (SOC) versus SOC plus MobiMD app in a parallel, single-blinded, two-arm RCT. Eligible patients are those who undergo complex abdominal surgery in the division of Surgical Oncology, Colorectal Surgery or Transplant Surgery. The MobiMD app provides push notification reminders directly to the patient's smart device, prompting them to enter clinical data and patient-reported outcomes. Clinical data collected via the MobiMD app include vital signs, red flag symptoms, daily wound and surgical drain images, ostomy output, drain output, medication compliance, and wound care compliance. These data are reviewed daily by a physician. The primary outcome is the proportion of participants readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of surgery. Secondary outcomes are 90-day hospital readmission, emergency department and urgent care visits, complication severity, and total readmission cost.

DISCUSSION

If effective, mobile health apps such as MobiMD could be routinely integrated into surgical transitional care programs to minimize unnecessary hospital readmissions, emergency department visits and healthcare resource utilization. Clinical trials identifier: NCT04540315.

Routine in-person post-operative follow-up for uncomplicated laparoscopic appendectomy does not change management

INTRODUCTION

Eliminating points in the continuum of care that do not change management is a safe strategy for cost containment and workflow efficiency in health systems. As a process improvement initiative, we sought to identify whether routine, outpatient follow-up changes management in laparoscopic appendectomy in a military hospital.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective chart review of adult patients undergoing laparoscopic appendectomy during a one-year period. The primary outcome was identification of a change in management during routine in person follow-up. Secondary outcomes included location of patient presentation with a post-operative event (clinic, emergency department, primary care provider), and if those visits changed management. Events were defined as any deviation from the typical post-operative course within 6 weeks of surgery, including abnormal specimen pathology.

RESULTS

One-hundred and seventy-six appendectomies were performed over one year, and 148 patients met inclusion criteria (median age = 27, 66.9% male). Perforation was identified in 10.1% of patients. Seventeen-point-five percent of patients had a post-operative event, of which persistent pain was the most common. Only 2.0% of all patients saw a change in management at their routine in person follow-up appointment. Eighty percent of patients with any post-operative events sought care outside of their routine in person follow up appointments. No variable was independently associated with a change in management.

CONCLUSION

Routine in-person clinical follow-up for laparoscopic appendectomy almost never changes management. Perforated appendicitis may be an indication for in-person follow-up. Considering a telemedicine model for post-operative follow-up of laparoscopic appendectomy patients will provide a safe and effective alternative to in-person clinic visits, while saving patients time and allowing providers the clinic freedom to prioritize more urgent and new patients.

A look to the future: Pandemic-induced digital technologies in vascular surgery

Like many areas of medicine, vascular surgery has been transformed by the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic. Public health precautions to minimize disease transmission have led to reduced attendance at hospitals and clinics in elective and emergency settings; fewer face-to-face and hands-on clinical interactions; and increased reliance on telemedicine, virtual attendance, investigations, and digital therapeutics. However, a “silver lining” to the COVID-19 pandemic may be the mainstream acceptance and acceleration of telemedicine, remote monitoring, digital health technology, and three-dimensional technologies, such as three-dimensional printing and virtual reality, by connecting health care providers to patients in a safe, reliable, and timely manner, and supplanting face-to-face surgical simulation and training. This review explores the impact of these changes in the delivery of vascular surgical care.

Current and future use of telemedicine in surgical clinics during and beyond COVID-19: A narrative review

Introduction

Telemedicine has emerged as a powerful tool in the delivery of healthcare to surgical patients and enhances clinician-patient encounters during all phases of patient care. Our study aims were: to review the current use and applicability of telemedicine; evaluate its suitability, safety and effectiveness in a surgical outpatient setting, particularly in the era of social distancing restrictions and provide insight into future applications.

Methods

Databases searched included: PubMed, OVID Medline, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science and review of reference lists. Key words used were "telemedicine"; "telehealth"; "videoconference"; "outpatient" and "surgical clinic". For inclusion, articles required to be in English, published between 2000 and 2021, were in an outpatient surgical setting and if they had a focus during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results

335 articles were identified and screened, so that 63 articles were included in the review. Almost all articles were from Western countries (n = 60), mostly in surgical journals (n = 35) and from a range of sub-specialities, but pre-dominantly orthopaedics (n = 12) and general surgery (n = 7). The majority were original comparative studies where 31 studies directly compared telemedicine to in-person appointments and 14 papers focused on implementation during COVID-19.

Discussion/conclusions

Telemedicine has been safely used across various phases of surgical outpatient care, with its effectiveness evaluated by clinical outcomes, economics and user/provider satisfaction. Telemedicine has multiple accepted benefits including time efficiency, patient/healthcare cost savings and community access, but with reported limitations of clinical uncertainty, technology infrastructure requirements, cybersecurity vulnerabilities and healthcare regulatory restraints. These limitations are being overcome by accelerated implementation during COVID-19 via fast-tracked practice development. Further work is required via development of research protocols to refine the application of emerging telemedicine technologies and their applicability to different surgical sub-specialties.

Digital tools for ambulatory surgery patient surveillance and beyond…

Management of patients in ambulatory (or short stay) surgery relies on optimal organisation of the health care pathways and specific anesthesiology and surgical protocols. Postoperative medico-surgical complications can occur undetected by traditional hospital surveillance. This article identifies modern digital means that can be adapted to surveillance of patients at home: telephone calls or teleconferences, automatic messaging, mobile phone applications, Web platforms and other e-connected devices. For each, we detail their advantages and their limitations.

Phone follow-up after inguinal hernia repair

BACKGROUND

Typically, in-person follow-up in clinic is utilized after outpatient inguinal hernia repair. Studies have shown that phone follow-up may be successfully used for the detection of postoperative hernia recurrences. However, no studies have evaluated the detection rates of other postoperative complications, such as emergency department visits and readmissions, with the utilization of phone follow-up after inguinal hernia repair. The objective of our study was to investigate the safety of a phone follow-up care pathway following elective, outpatient inguinal hernia repair.

METHODS

In this retrospective cohort study, adult patients who underwent elective, outpatient inguinal hernia repair between 2013 and 2019 at a large academic health system in the Midwest United States were identified from the electronic health record. Patients were categorized by type of postoperative follow-up: in-person or phone follow-up. Baseline demographics, operative, and postoperative data were compared between follow-up groups. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to investigate predictors of having any related emergency department (ED) visit/readmission/reoperation within 90 days.

RESULTS

We included 2009 patients who underwent elective inguinal hernia repair during the study period. 321 patients had in-person follow-up only, while 1,688 patients had phone follow-up. There was a higher rate of laparoscopic repair in the phone follow-up group (85.4% vs. 53.0% for in-person follow-up). There were no differences in rates of related 90-day ED visits, readmissions, and reoperations between the phone and in-person follow-up groups. On multivariable logistic regression, receipt of phone follow-up was not a predictor of having 90-day ED visits, readmissions, or reoperations (OR 1.30, 95% CI [0.83, 2.05]).

CONCLUSIONS

Patients who underwent phone follow-up had similarly low rates of adverse outcomes to those with in-person follow-up. Phone follow-up protocols may be implemented as an alternative for patients and provide a means to decrease healthcare utilization following inguinal hernia repair.

Factors Associated with Increased Risk of Patient No-Show in Telehealth and Traditional Surgery Clinics

Background

With the growing use of telehealth, understanding factors affecting patient follow-up in traditional and telehealth settings is important. Few data exist examining the use of telehealth compared with traditional settings. Bridging this gap is critical to optimizing telehealth use and reducing barriers.

Study Design

This is a retrospective cohort study of return and postoperative (electronic video [eClinic] and traditional) visits from January 2018 to March 2020 at single tertiary care center. There were 12,359 unique first-encounter patients with 903 eClinic and 11,456 traditional visits; 11,547 patients completed visits, while 812 patients did not show up. Multivariable logistic regression modeling was performed to identify factors associated with no-show. County-level mapping was used to identify patterns in no-show rates.

Results

Patients from the eClinic had twice the odds of no-show compared with those from a traditional clinic (p < 0.001). Age was inversely proportional to odds of no-show, with each additional decade associated with a 16% decrease in these odds (p < 0.001). African-American patients had greater odds of no-show compared to Caucasian patients (odds ratio [OR] 2.47; 95% CI 1.95–3.13, p < 0.001). Marital statuses of single and legal separation were associated with higher odds of no-show compared with married marital status (p < 0.001 and p = 0.04, respectively). Minimally invasive and endocrine surgery clinics had lower odds of no-show compared with acute care surgery clinic (p < 0.001 for both). County-level no-show rates demonstrate similar patterns between clinic settings.

Conclusions

Several factors are associated with increased odds of no-show, including the visit being in eClinic. County-level analysis suggests no-show variation is not dependent on geographic location. Understanding these patterns allows for prospective identification of barriers and development of interventions to optimize access and patient care.

An Image-Based Mobile Health App for Postdrainage Monitoring: Usability Study

Background

The application of mobile health (mHealth) platforms to monitor recovery in the postdischarge period has increased in recent years. Despite widespread enthusiasm for mHealth, few studies have evaluated the usability and user experience of mHealth in patients with surgical drainage.

Objective

Our objectives were to (1) develop an image-based smartphone app, SurgCare, for postdrainage monitoring and (2) determine the feasibility and clinical value of the use of SurgCare by patients with drainage.

Methods

We enrolled 80 patients with biliary or peritoneal drainage in this study. A total of 50 patients were assigned to the SurgCare group, who recorded drainage monitoring data with the smartphone app; and 30 patients who manually recorded the data were assigned to the conventional group. The patients continued to record data until drain removal. The primary aim was to validate feasibility for the user, which was defined as the proportion of patients using each element of the system. Moreover, the secondary aim was to evaluate the association of compliance with SurgCare and the occurrence of unexpected events.

Results

The average submission duration was 14.98 days, and the overall daily submission rate was 84.2%. The average system usability scale was 83.7 (SD 3.5). This system met the definition of “definitely feasible” in 34 patients, “possibly feasible” in 10 patients, and “not feasible” in 3 patients. We found that the occurrence rates of complications in the SurgCare group and the conventional group were 6% and 26%, respectively, with statistically significant differences P=.03. The rate of unexpected hospital return was lower in the SurgCare group (6%) than in the conventional groups (26%) (P=.03).

Conclusions

Patients can learn to use a smartphone app for postdischarge drainage monitoring with high levels of user satisfaction. We also identified a high degree of compliance with app-based drainage-recording design features, which is an aspect of mHealth that can improve surgical care.

Telesurgical Assessment: Using Smartphone Messaging to Efficiently Manage Postoperative Wounds

Background: Telemedicine is an evolving field of interactions between physicians and patients remotely. Health care delivery, patient satisfaction, adherence, earlier diagnosis, increased access, and cost reduction are all areas that telemedicine has potential influence. One focus involves the use of photos in wound assessment. Today, many patients' smartphones can capture high-quality digital photographs, which can easily be transmitted. Postoperative patients are an ideal population for this, as they have a certain level of uncertainty with regard to the healing course, which can often lead to patients seeking out care in unnecessarily costly settings. These visits can lead to inefficient use of health care resources, especially when a telesurgical assessment (TSA) could provide appropriate care more efficiently. Objective: We present data collected from a series of patients who received a TSA to demonstrate the potential benefits of incorporating TSA into postoperative wound care. Methods/Clinical Presentation: Patients who underwent a procedure and contacted their surgeon within 2 weeks with concerns received a TSA, which included a discussion as well as photographs through smartphone. Their surgeon then determined further treatment steps, if any. Results: We experienced that 85% of patients did not require emergent treatment for their concerns, 46% were prescribed medications, whereas 39% of patients did not require any intervention. Conclusion: Our results show that TSAs alleviated patient concerns and provide resolutions, while saving resources and increasing satisfaction. Incorporating aspects of telemedicine into outpatient practice could be valuable, especially with postoperative wound checks.

Telephone Follow-Up for Emergency General Surgery Procedures: Safety and Implication for Health Resource Use

BACKGROUND

It is unknown whether replacing clinic follow-up visits with telephone follow-up for low-risk core emergency general surgery (cEGS) procedures is safe. We measured the efficacy of telephone follow-up to determine if it could safely reduce the need for routine postoperative clinic visits in this population.

STUDY DESIGN

Low-risk nonelective laparoscopic appendectomy, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, umbilical hernia, and inguinal hernia repair patients received telephone follow-up for symptoms concerning for surgical complication within 10 days of discharge. Clinic appointments were made if critical thresholds were reached. Outcomes of interest included rates of completed telephone screens, clinic visits avoided, and missed complications at 30 days postoperatively.

RESULTS

Of 402 patients screened, 62 (15.4%) were scheduled for a clinic visit due to threshold responses and 27 (6.7%) were scheduled per patient request, while 275 (68.4%) patients screened negative and did not attend a clinic visit. One hundred sixty-three (59.3%) of the negative screen cohort were contacted after 30 days. Nine (5.5%) patients in this cohort were diagnosed with low-grade complications; no high-grade (Clavien-Dindo ≥ 3) complications were missed by telephone screening. Twenty surgery-related complications were identified in the full patient population; early telephone screening successfully identified the single high-grade complication.

CONCLUSIONS

Post-discharge telephone follow-up in cEGS patients reduced the need for clinic follow-up visits by 68%. Missed complications were infrequent and low grade; telephone screening identified the single high-grade complication. Telephone follow-up for low-risk EGS patients is safe and increases efficiency of postoperative resource use.

Impact of Social Media on Community Consultation in Exception From Informed Consent Clinical Trials

BACKGROUND

Exception from informed consent (EFIC) allows clinician scientists to perform much needed emergency research. Obtaining this exception, however, requires many meetings with community groups for consultation, which can make the process time-consuming and expensive. We aim to determine the impact of using social media in lieu of some community meetings in an effort to obtain an EFIC.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

An economic analysis of four randomized clinical trials was performed. Costs were conservatively estimated using personnel costs, social media costs, and adjusted to 2016 US dollars. People were considered reached if they attended a community meeting or were directed to the study website by social media and spent ≥1 min.

RESULTS

The Early Whole Blood study required 14 meetings, reached 272 people, and cost $8260 ($30/person reached). The Pragmatic, Randomized Optimal Platelet and Plasma Ratios study required 14 meetings, reached 260 people, and cost $7479 overall ($29/person reached). The Prehospital Tranexamic Acid Use for Traumatic Brain Injury study required 12 meetings, reached 198 people, and cost $6340 ($32/person reached). Only the damage control laparotomy trial utilized social media in lieu of some community meetings. The damage control laparotomy trial required six meetings at which 137 people were reached. The $1000 social media campaign reached 229 people. The cost was $3977 overall and $11/person reached.

CONCLUSIONS

Including a social media campaign during the EFIC process increased the number of potential patients reached and reduced total and per person costs reached costs. Obtaining an EFIC for future emergency clinical trials may be facilitated by the inclusion of a social media campaign.

Postoperative care via smartphone following carpal tunnel release

Introduction

This study explores a novel smartphone application for postoperative care following carpal tunnel release (CTR). We hypothesized that a software-based ‘virtual visit’ for CTR could be safe, effective and convenient for the patient.

Methods

Our group developed the software application utilized in this study. Interactive steps with video instructions enabled patients to complete dressing and suture removal, capture a wound photo, answer a question about median nerve symptoms and capture a video of finger range of motion. Adult patients undergoing endoscopic or open CTR were enrolled. Prior to their scheduled postoperative visit, patients received and completed the module using their smartphone. Agreement between findings of the virtual visit and the corresponding in-person clinical visit was assessed using kappa values.

Results

Twenty-two patients were contacted regarding study enrolment and 17 patients were enrolled (ages 23–63, mean 48.2, 6M, 11F). Of 16 patients who participated, all completed dressing removal. Ten of 16 patients removed their sutures successfully. Fourteen patients captured a clinically adequate wound photo and 15 patients answered a question about median nerve symptoms. Fourteen patients captured a range of motion video. Software assessments of surgical wounds, nerve symptoms and physical exams agreed strongly with clinical assessments.

Discussion

Most patients were able to respond to a question about their symptoms, provide clinical assessment of their wound via a photo and record a video of their range of motion. Suture removal was the most difficult task. More investigation is needed to determine which patients can reliably remove their sutures.

Virtual outpatient clinic as an alternative to an actual clinic visit after surgical discharge: a randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND

It is standard practice to review all patients following discharge at a follow-up clinic but demands on all health services outweigh resources and unnecessary review appointments may delay or deny access to patients with greater needs.

AIMS

This randomised trial aimed to establish whether a virtual outpatient clinic (VOPC) was an acceptable alternative to an actual outpatient clinic (OPC) attendance for a broad range of general surgical patients following a hospital admission.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

All patients admitted under one general surgical service over the study period were assessed. If eligible for inclusion the rationale, randomisation and follow-up methods were explained, consent was sought and patients randomised to receive either a VOPC or an OPC appointment.

RESULTS

Two-hundred and nine patients consented to study inclusion, of which 98/107 (91.6%) in the VOPC group and 83/102 (81.4%) in the OPC group were successfully contacted. Only 6 patients in the OPC group and 10 in the VOPC group reported ongoing issues. A further follow-up indicated 78 of 82 (95%) VOPC patients were very happy with their overall experience compared with 34/61 (56%) in the actual OPC group (p<0.001). A significant proportion of both cohorts-68/82 (83%) in VOPC group and 41/61 (67%) in OPC group (p = 0.029)-preferred a VOPC appointment as their future follow-up of choice.

CONCLUSIONS

The majority of patients discharged from a surgical service could be better followed up by a virtual clinic with a significant proportion of patients reporting a preference for and a greater satisfaction with such a service.

The role of telemedicine in postoperative care

Telemedicine has become one of the most rapidly-expanding components of the health care system. Its adoption has afforded improved access to care, greater resource efficiency, and decreased costs associated with traditional office visits and has been well established in a wide array of fields. Telemedicine has been adopted in several domains of surgical care. In recent years, the role of telemedicine in postoperative care has caught attention as it has demonstrated excellent clinical outcomes, enhanced patient satisfaction, increased accessibility along with reduced wait times, and cost savings for patients and health care systems. In this narrative review, we describe the history of telemedicine, its adoption in the field of surgery and its various modalities, its use in the postoperative setting, and the potential benefits to both patients and healthcare systems. As telemedicine continues to emerge as a powerful tool for health care delivery, we also discuss several barriers to its widespread adoption as well as the future utility of telemedicine in postoperative care.

Post-operative telephone review is safe and effective: prospective study - Monash outpatient review by phone trial

INTRODUCTION

Studies have shown that post-operative telephone follow-up is satisfactory and effective. As high quality evidence is scant, we conducted a randomized controlled trial to compare it against outpatient clinic review for emergency laparoscopic appendicectomy or cholecystectomy.

METHOD

Patients who received emergency laparoscopic appendicectomy or cholecystectomy were eligible for this study. Once recruited, they were randomly allocated to either clinic review or telephone follow-up on discharge. Participants were reviewed at 2 weeks after operation and contacted again at 4 weeks after initial follow-up for satisfaction survey.

RESULTS

One hundred and seventy-nine participants were recruited with one withdrawn consent and six excluded. Ninety-six underwent laparoscopic appendicectomy and 76 had laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Ninety-six attended clinic review and 76 had telephone follow-up. The two groups were similar in baseline variables. Non-attendance rate was higher for clinic review cohort (24% vs 6.6%, P = 0.002). Participants who received telephone review reported higher satisfaction level (9.31 vs 8.85, P = 0.002), and most patients prefer telephone follow-up (73.1%, P < 0.0001). No difference was detected for missed complications (P = 0.354).

CONCLUSION

Telephone follow-up post laparoscopic appendicectomy or cholecystectomy is safe, satisfying and effective.

Early clinical experience using telemedicine for the management of patients with varicose vein disease

Introduction

The use of telemedicine services may be effective in the perioperative management of patients with varicose veins.

Methods

Over a seven-month period, patients with varicose veins were evaluated in the virtual clinic via two-way secure videoconferencing or the traditional clinic by the same physician provider. Data sources included institutional Vascular Quality Initiative registry and patient satisfaction surveys.

Results

Among a total of 121 patients with varicose veins who underwent endovenous catheter ablation of the saphenous vein, 20 patients (16.5%) chose the telemedicine clinic (Group A) and 101 patients (83.5%) chose the traditional clinic (Group B) for their perioperative management. Comparing Group A and Group B, the mean age was 59.2 ± 12.1 versus 59.6 ± 13.0, respectively ( p = 0.944); women were 75% versus 73.3%, respectively ( p = 0.872); African Americans comprised 5% versus 22.8%, while Caucasians comprised 95% versus 63%, respectively ( p = 0.049). Half of the telemedicine patients had multiple virtual visits for a total of 31 virtual encounters. Among telemedicine patients using SurveyMonkey®, 29 telemedicine encounters (93.5%) reported that their virtual visit is “Yes, definitely” or “Yes, somewhat” more convenient over traditional methods. All patients answered that they were able to communicate clearly with the provider, able to have their questions answered, and able to clearly hear and see the provider via telemedicine methods.

Discussion

Telemedicine services enable another means to deliver high-quality care for patients with venous disease in a safe and coordinated manner. Patients with varicose veins are highly satisfied with the use of telehealth services over the traditional healthcare delivery model.

Using e-health in perioperative care: a survey study investigating shortcomings in current perioperative care and possible future solutions

Background

An e-health care program has previously shown to have a positive effect on return to work, quality of life and pain in patients who underwent gynaecological surgery. Plausibly, providing the care program to a population undergoing other types of surgery will be beneficial as well. The objectives of this study are to evaluate patients’ opinions, needs and preferences regarding the information and guidance supplied to patients during the perioperative period, to investigate whether e-health may be of assistance and to explore if gender specific needs exist.

Methods

A questionnaire was sent to all patients between 18 and 75 years (n = 362), who underwent various forms of abdominal surgery between August 2013 to September 2014 in a university hospital in the Netherlands. The questionnaire contained questions about the current situation in perioperative care and questions about patients’ preferences in an e-health care program. Gender differences were evaluated.

Results

Two hundred seven participants (57.2%) completed the survey. The majority of the participants were relatively satisfied with the perioperative care they received (68.6%). Most reported shortcomings in perioperative care concerning the supply of information regarding the resumption of activities and guidance during the recovery course. An e-health care program was expected to be of added value in perioperative care by 78% of the participants; a website was reported as most useful. In particular practical functions on a website focusing on the preparation to surgery and monitoring after surgery were appraised to be highly valuable. Overall, women had slightly more needs for extra information and support during the perioperative course than men.

Conclusions

In abdominal surgery, there is a need for an e-health care program, which should focus mainly on the supply of information about the resumption of activities as well as guidance in the postoperative course.

Diagnosing Surgical Site Infection Using Wound Photography: A Scenario-Based Study

BACKGROUND

Postoperative surgical site infections (SSI) are common and costly. Most occur post discharge, and can result in potentially preventable readmission or unnecessary urgent evaluation. Mobile health approaches incorporating patient-generated wound photos are being implemented in an attempt to optimize triage and management. We assessed how adding wound photos to existing data sources modifies provider decision making.

STUDY DESIGN

We used a web-based simulation survey using a convenience sample of providers with expertise in surgical infections. Participants viewed a range of scenarios, including surgical history, physical exam, and description of wound appearance. All participants reported SSI diagnosis, diagnostic confidence, and management recommendations (main outcomes) first without, and then with, accompanying wound photos. At each step, participants ranked the most important features contributing to their decision.

RESULTS

Eighty-three participants completed a median of 5 scenarios (interquartile range 4 to 7). Most participants were physicians in academic surgical specialties (n = 70 [84%]). The addition of photos improved overall diagnostic accuracy from 67% to 76% (p < 0.001), and increased specificity from 77% to 92% (p < 0.001), but did not significantly increase sensitivity (55% to 65%; p = 0.16). Photos increased mean confidence in diagnosis from 5.9 of 10 to 7.4 of 10 (p < 0.001). Overtreatment recommendations decreased from 48% to 16% (p < 0.001), and undertreatment did not change (28% to 23%; p = 0.20) with the addition of photos.

CONCLUSIONS

The addition of wound photos to existing data as available via chart review and telephone consultation with patients significantly improved diagnostic accuracy and confidence, and prevented proposed overtreatment in scenarios without SSI. Post-discharge mobile health technologies have the potential to facilitate patient-centered care, decrease costs, and improve clinical outcomes.

Substitution of Usual Perioperative Care by eHealth to Enhance Postoperative Recovery in Patients Undergoing General Surgical or Gynecological Procedures: Study Protocol of a Randomized Controlled Trial

Background

Due to the strong reduction in the length of hospital stays in the last decade, the period of in-hospital postoperative care is limited. After discharge from the hospital, guidance and monitoring on recovery and resumption of (work) activities are usually not provided. As a consequence, return to normal activities and work after surgery is hampered, leading to a lower quality of life and higher costs due to productivity loss and increased health care consumption.

Objective

With this study we aim to evaluate whether an eHealth care program can improve perioperative health care in patients undergoing commonly applied abdominal surgical procedures, leading to accelerated recovery and to a reduction in costs in comparison to usual care.

Methods

This is a multicenter randomized, single-blinded, controlled trial. At least 308 patients between 18 and 75 years old who are on the waiting list for a laparoscopic cholecystectomy, inguinal hernia surgery, or laparoscopic adnexal surgery for a benign indication will be included. Patients will be randomized to an intervention or control group. The intervention group will have access to an innovative, perioperative eHealth care program. This intervention program consists of a website, mobile phone app, and activity tracker. It aims to improve patient self-management and empowerment by providing guidance to patients in the weeks before and after surgery. The control group will receive usual care and will have access to a nonintervention (standard) website consisting of the digital information brochure about the surgical procedure being performed. Patients are asked to complete questionnaires at 5 moments during the first 6 months after surgery. The primary outcome measure is time to return to normal activities based on a patient-specific set of 8 activities selected from the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) physical functioning item bank version 1.2. Secondary outcomes include social participation, self-rated health, duration of return to work, physical activity, length of recovery, pain intensity, and patient satisfaction. In addition, an economic evaluation alongside this randomized controlled trial will be performed from the societal and health care perspective. All statistical analyses will be conducted according to the intention-to-treat principle.

Results

The enrollment of patients started in September 2015. The follow-up period will be completed in February 2017. Data cleaning and analyses have not begun as of the time this article was submitted.

Conclusions

We hypothesize that patients receiving the intervention program will resume their normal activities sooner than patients in the control group and costs will be lower.

ClinicalTrial

Netherlands Trial Registry NTC4699; http://www.trialregister.nl/trialreg/admin/rctview.asp?TC=4699 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6mcCBZmwy)

Increased Risk of Clinically Significant Gallstones following an Appendectomy: A Five-Year Follow-Up Study

Although the vermiform appendix is commonly considered a vestigial organ, adverse health consequences after an appendectomy have garnered increasing attention. In this study, we investigated the risks of gallstone occurrence during a 5-year follow-up period after an appendectomy, using a population-based dataset. We used data from the Taiwan Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2005. The exposed cohort included 4916 patients who underwent an appendectomy. The unexposed cohort was retrieved by randomly selecting 4916 patients matched with the exposed cohort in terms of sex, age, and year. We individually tracked each patient for a 5-year period to identify those who received a diagnosis of gallstones during the follow-up period. Cox proportional hazard regressions were performed for the analysis. During the 5-year follow-up period, the incidence rate per 1000 person-years was 4.71 for patients who had undergone an appendectomy, compared to a rate of 2.59 for patients in the unexposed cohort (p<0.001). Patients who had undergone an appendectomy were independently associated with a 1.79 (95% CI = 1.29~2.48)-fold increased risk of being diagnosed with gallstones during the 5-year follow-up period. We found that among female patients, the adjusted hazard ratio of gallstones was 2.25 (95% CI = 1.41~3.59) for patients who underwent an appendectomy compared to unexposed patients. However, for male patients, we failed to observe an increased hazard for gallstones among patients who underwent an appendectomy compared to unexposed patients. We found an increased risk of a subsequent gallstone diagnosis within 5 years after an appendectomy.

Underserved Patients Seeking Care for Ventral Hernias at a Safety Net Hospital: Impact on Quality of Life and Expectations of Treatment

BACKGROUND

The purpose of this study was to identify issues important to patients in their decision-making, expectations, and satisfaction when seeking treatment for a ventral hernia.

STUDY DESIGN

An exploratory qualitative study was conducted of adult patients with ventral hernias seeking care at a safety-net hospital. Two semi-structured interviews were conducted with each patient: before and 6 months after surgical consultation. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and coded using latent content analysis until data saturation was achieved.

RESULTS

Of patients completing an initial interview (n = 30), 27 (90%) completed follow-up interviews. Half of the patients were Spanish-speaking, one-third had a previous ventral hernia repair, and two-thirds underwent initial nonoperative management after surgical consultation. Patient-described factors guiding management decisions included impact on quality of life, primarily pain and limited function; overwhelming challenges to meeting surgical criteria, primarily obesity; and assuming responsibility to avoid recurrence. Patients were uninformed regarding potential poor outcomes and contributing factors, even among patients with a previous ventral hernia repair, with most attributing recurrence to inadequate self-management.

CONCLUSIONS

Understanding patients' perspective is crucial to engaging them as stakeholders in their care, addressing their concerns, and improving clinical and patient-centered outcomes. Patient reports suggest how care can be improved through developing more effective strategies for addressing patients' concerns during nonoperative management, preoperative risk reduction strategies that are sensitive to their sociodemographic characteristics, treatment plans that harness patients' willingness for self-management, and patient education and decision-making tools.

Evaluating Patient Usability of an Image-Based Mobile Health Platform for Postoperative Wound Monitoring

Background

Surgical patients are increasingly using mobile health (mHealth) platforms to monitor recovery and communicate with their providers in the postdischarge period. Despite widespread enthusiasm for mHealth, few studies evaluate the usability or user experience of these platforms.

Objective

Our objectives were to (1) develop a novel image-based smartphone app for postdischarge surgical wound monitoring, and (2) rigorously user test it with a representative population of vascular and general surgery patients.

Methods

A total of 9 vascular and general surgery inpatients undertook usability testing of an internally developed smartphone app that allows patients to take digital images of their wound and answer a survey about their recovery. We followed the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9241-11 guidelines, focusing on effectiveness, efficiency, and user satisfaction. An accompanying training module was developed by applying tenets of adult learning. Sessions were audio-recorded, and the smartphone screen was mirrored onto a study computer. Digital image quality was evaluated by a physician panel to determine usefulness for clinical decision making.

Results

The mean length of time spent was 4.7 (2.1-12.8) minutes on the training session and 5.0 (1.4-16.6) minutes on app completion. 55.5% (5/9) of patients were able to complete the app independently with the most difficulty experienced in taking digital images of surgical wounds. Novice patients who were older, obese, or had groin wounds had the most difficulty. 81.8% of images were sufficient for diagnostic purposes. User satisfaction was high, with an average usability score of 83.3 out of 100.

Conclusion

Surgical patients can learn to use a smartphone app for postoperative wound monitoring with high user satisfaction. We identified design features and training approaches that can facilitate ease of use. This protocol illustrates an important, often overlooked, aspect of mHealth development to improve surgical care.

Postoperative Care Using a Secure Online Patient Portal: Changing the (Inter)Face of General Surgery

BACKGROUND

Many patients seek greater accessibility to health care. Meanwhile, surgeons face increasing time constraints due to workforce shortages and elevated performance demands. Online postoperative care may improve patient access while increasing surgeon efficiency. We aimed to evaluate patient and surgeon acceptance of online postoperative care after elective general surgical operations.

STUDY DESIGN

A prospective pilot study within an academic general surgery service compared online and in-person postoperative visits from May to December 2014. Included patients underwent elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy, laparoscopic ventral hernia repair, umbilical hernia repair, or inguinal hernia repair by 1 of 5 surgeons. Patients submitted symptom surveys and wound pictures, then corresponded with their surgeons using an online patient portal. The primary outcome was patient-reported acceptance of online visits in lieu of in-person visits. Secondary outcomes included detection of complications via online visits, surgeon-reported effectiveness, and visit times.

RESULTS

Fifty patients completed both online and in-person visits. Online visits were acceptable to most patients as their only follow-up (76%). For 68% of patients, surgeons reported that both visit types were equally effective, while clinic visits were more effective in 24% and online visits in 8%. No complications were missed via online visits, which took significantly less time for patients (15 vs 103 minutes, p < 0.01) and surgeons (5 vs 10 minutes, p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

In this population, online postoperative visits were accepted by patients and surgeons, took less time, and effectively identified patients who required further care. Further evaluation is needed to establish the safety and potential benefit of online postoperative visits in specific populations.