Patients report high satisfaction with telerounding after TJA
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Most patients who underwent total joint arthroplasty reported high satisfaction when telerounding was used during postoperative recovery, according to published results.
Evan M. Schwechter, MD, and colleagues compared patient satisfaction and Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) scores between patients undergoing TJA who either did (n = 50) or did not (n = 50) receive telerounding. Researchers divided patients who received telerounding into groups based on their satisfaction.
Results showed patients who received telerounding had a positive reaction to telerounding.
“Overall, there was a high satisfaction rate amongst all patients, with greater than 90% of patients responding that they were satisfied on all of the survey questions,” Schwechter, orthopedic surgeon at Montefiore Health System and associate professor of orthopedic surgery at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, told Healio Orthopedics.
Researchers found younger patients were more frequently satisfied with telerounding compared with older patients. Patients who received telerounding gave the hospital a higher rating on a 10-point scale and were more likely to recommend the hospital to others, according to results. Researchers also noted patients who received telerounding more frequently believed that their physicians treated them with courtesy and respect, and more often believed their physicians always listened to them carefully.
“[Surgeons are] now pulled in different directions. We are responsible to round oftentimes at different hospitals, and with our increasing time constraints the utility and the availability of telerounding will certainly supplement and, perhaps in certain situations, may even replace in-person rounding, as demonstrated in our study,” Schwechter said.
Perspective
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I took great interest in the article by Schwartz and colleagues, which was conducted in 2017 and is exceptionally apropos to the current use of virtual visits during these pandemic times.
The researchers prospectively evaluated the satisfaction of 50 consecutive patients undergoing total joint replacement receiving telerounding compared with a control group. Preoperative communication with patients addressed concerns and expectations of telerounding. Virtual rounding was done simultaneously with an in-person visit by a physician assistant.
The overwhelming majority of patients felt telerounding enhanced their patient-physician relationship, and younger patients were more satisfied. In properly selected patients undergoing total joint replacement, telerounding can enhance patient care and provide a satisfying experience.
Based on the authors results of this current study, and in this reviewer’s opinion, older patients and those with significant comorbidities or risks factors may prefer a hands-on in-person evaluation over telerounding after total joint replacement.
One of the many ways physicians have adapted to the challenges of patient care in the COVID pandemic has included the expanded use of telemedicine. With quarantine restrictions resulting in reduced physician-patient contacts, this technology has provided an alternative pathway to virtually interact with patients using audio-video communication resources.
Additional studies will be required to adequately evaluate the efficacy and safety of telerounding, as well as determine limitations and safe guidelines for telemedicine.
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