Telerounding Offers High Patient Satisfaction After Total Joint Arthroplasty

Research in surgical fields other than orthopedics has demonstrated high patient satisfaction with non-traditional telerounding modalities. We sought to determine patient satisfaction and Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) scores of patients who experienced telerounding in the post-operative period after undergoing total joint arthroplasty (TJA). Fifty consecutive TJA patients were prospectively enrolled to receive telerounding. The patients were divided into two groups based on their satisfaction with telerounding. The HCAHPS scores of the patients who received telerounding were compared with 50 control patients. Overall, the telerounding cohort had a positive reaction to telerounding. Comparing patients who were highly satisfied to those who were dissatisfied with telerounding, younger patients were found to be more frequently satisfied with telerounding. Compared with patients who did not receive telerounding, patients who experienced telerounding rated the hospital higher on a 10-point scale were more likely to recommend the hospital to others, more frequently believed their physicians treated them with courtesy and respect, and more often believed their physicians always listened to them carefully. An overwhelming majority of our patients found telerounding using FaceTime enhanced their care while recovering post-operatively from TJA. Those patients were typically younger and had significantly higher HCAHPS scores, which potentially can enhance the physician-patient relationship.