Reducing Postoperative Call Volume Through Verbal Preoperative Education

OBJECTIVE: To improve patient satisfaction and understanding of what to expect after chronic ear surgery and reduce call volume to an otology clinic at an academic tertiary referral center. STUDY DESIGN: Quality improvement initiative. SETTING: A single-academic tertiary referral center. PATIENTS: One hundred and ten patients who underwent chronic ear surgery in March to May 2018. INTERVENTION: Preoperative counseling over the phone 1 week before surgery. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Patient call volume to the clinic within a 2-week postoperative window, patient understanding, and satisfaction of perioperative course. RESULTS: There was a significant increase in patient satisfaction (10.1% increase, 9.8 intervention vs. 8.9 no intervention, p = 0.0032) and in patient understanding of what to expect after surgery (6.7% increase, 9.5 intervention vs. 8.9 no intervention, p = 0.0275). There was a significant decrease in mean number of calls per patient to the clinic (57.6% decrease, 0.31 intervention vs. 0.72 no intervention, p = 0.0105) and in percentage of patients who made any number of calls to the clinic (20% intervention vs. 46%, no intervention, p = 0.00438). CONCLUSIONS: Verbal preoperative counseling over the phone was effective in significantly reducing unnecessary call volume to the clinic and in improving patient satisfaction and overall understanding of what to expect after surgery.