Telephone follow-up interview to reduce hospital readmission rate of ambulatory surgicenter patients

During the first few days to weeks after hospital discharge from undergoing surgical procedures, several patients encounter medical issues. In many cases, readmissions are preventable if complications encountered are identified in a timely fashion through follow-up during the first critical days post-discharge. Effective telephone follow-up interviews (TFI) have proven to reduce complications as they provide medical advice, help patients manage symptoms reducing the risk of hospital readmission. The aim of this project is to evaluate whether a post-discharge structured TFI conducted 24-48 hours after hospital discharge will reduce the number of hospital readmissions at a Brooklyn Ambulatory Surgicenter by 10-15%. Methods: The sample population consisted of 80 patients. This randomly selected sample consisted of 40 patients selected from a chart review in 2012. The members of this pre-intervention group were between the ages of 21- 65 years of age who had surgical procedures and did not receive a TFI after hospital discharge. The post-intervention group consisted of 40 patients of the same age group who also had surgical procedures. This group received a TFI from a nurse practitioner 24-48 hours after discharge from 02/2013 to 03/2013. The TFI was developed to manage medical symptoms and concerns to reduce the risks of hospital readmission. The patients in the post-intervention and pre-intervention groups were followed for 30 days to identify any readmissions. Results: Readmissions were non-existent in the TFI group compared to the pre-intervention group that reported 3 readmissions within 30 days of hospital discharge (15%). Conclusion: Though not statistically significant after analyses the findings indicate that a TFI 24-48 hours shows a trend that TFI can decrease the risk and occurrence of hospital readmission after surgery.