Effects of discharge education and telephone follow-up on patient satisfaction and readmission after orthopedic surgery

  Discharge planning (i.e., discharge education and telephone follow-up) decrease the readmission rate to the hospital and increase patient’s satisfaction. Orthopedic patients, especially after the surgery have many problems. Therefore, discharge planning for this group of patients is significant. This study aimed to compare discharge education and telephone follow-up on the satisfaction and readmission of patients after orthopedic surgery. This quasi-experimental study was performed on 150 patients divided into three groups before and after the intervention. The patients in the discharge education group were involved in both routine intervention in the ward and a designed discharge planning program based on the study at discharge time. The subjects in the telephone group were involved in the routine intervention in the ward and followed up for 4 weeks by telephone call (3-4 times) at homes. The cases in the control group were involved only in routine intervention in the ward. The satisfaction level was measured by standard satisfaction questionnaire. The readmission rate of the patients was recorded a month after discharge. The data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 19). In addition, paired t-test, Chi-square test, and one-way analysis of variance were used to compare the mean scores of satisfaction before and after the intervention among the three groups. P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The obtained results showed that after the intervention, the mean score of satisfaction among the three groups was considered statistically significant (F=58.69, P<0.001). The mean scores of satisfaction in the instruction and telephone follow-up groups were significantly higher than that of the control group (P<0.001). Out of 150 participants in the present study, 10.6% of them were readmitted. Discharge education or telephone follow-up as a target processor can be an effective step in the improvement of patients' conditions, satisfaction increase, and reduction of the patients’ readmission rate