Afterhours patient phone calls: a quality improvement study.

Concerns about pain and prescriptions were among the most common reasons for patient phone calls. This information points to opportunities for interventions that could help guide how postoperative pain is discussed with patients, including providing patients with reasonable expectations for pain control, function, and tools for better self-efficacy. This approach could not only enhance patient care but also decrease resident on-call workload and improve resident wellbeing.