title: Effectiveness of telemedical applications in postoperative follow-up after total joint arthroplasty.
abstract: We hypothesized that a postoperative clinical telemedicine tool will be effective in reducing the total number of unscheduled postoperative clinic visits and calls while increasing patient satisfaction. The medical charts of 34 patients who underwent telemedicine follow-up during their postoperative care were compared to that of 44 patients who did undergo telemedicine follow-up. There were 14 unscheduled clinic visits in the non-telemedicine follow-up group compared to only 3 in the telemedicine follow-up group (P = 0.01). There were 40 in-clinic calls made by patients in the non-telemedicine follow-up group compared to only 6 made by patients in the telemedicine group (P < 0.01). In addition, patients who underwent telemedicine follow-up rated their postoperative satisfaction higher than those who did not undergo telemedicine follow-up.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Joint Replacement Service, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, Orange, California.
authors.forename: Behnam
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sharareh
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Joint Replacement Service, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, Orange, California.
authors.forename: Ran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schwarzkopf
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D019643:Arthroplasty, Replacement; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011182:Postoperative Care; D017216:Telemedicine; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: e-visit; patient satisfaction; post-op care; telemedicine