Impact of post-discharge phone calls on non-urgent hospital returns < 90 days following primary bariatric surgery.

Quality of care delivery may improve patient outcomes post-bariatric surgery. We examined the quality of post-discharge phone calls (PhDC) to determine the impact on early (< 90 day) non-urgent hospital returns (NUHR) following primary bariatric surgery. A retrospective review was performed on patients who underwent Roux-en-Y-gastric bypass (RYGB) or sleeve gastrectomy (SG) in 2019. Patients were compared between presence of care coaching (Jan-June 2019) versus no care coaching (July-Dec 2019). Baseline demographics, comorbidities, psychiatric history, and PhDC were collected. Index PhDCs were coded for completeness using a scoring system and rated by call quality. Patients were stratified into NUHR versus control group (Never returns [NR]). Primary analysis examined the impact of PhDC on NUHR. Sub-analysis examined the impact of call quality. Univariate analysis was performed using Chi-square or Fisher's exact tests. Multivariate analysis (MVA) was used to determine predictors of NUHR. A p-value of ≤ 0.05 was statistically significant. A total of 359 patients were included. Compared to the NR group (n = 294), NUHRs (n = 65) were more likely to be younger (41.3 + 12.1 versus 45.0 + 10.8 years, p = 0.024), with baseline anxiety (41.5% versus 23.5%, p = 0.003), and undergo RYGB (73.3% versus 57.8%, p = 0.031). There was a significant difference in number of PhDC in the NUHR and NR groups (p = 0.0206). Care-coached patients had significantly higher rates of high-quality phone calls (p < 0.0001) compared to non-care-coached patients. MVA demonstrated younger age (OR = 0.97, CI: 0.95-1.00; p = 0.023), anxiety (OR = 2.09, CI: 1.17-3.73; p = 0.012), RYGB (OR = 1.88, CI: 1.02-3.45; p = 0.042), and > 50% call quality versus no PhDC (OR = 0.45, CI: 0.25-0.83; p = 0.010) were independently associated with NUHRs. High-quality PhDCs may play a role in mitigating NUHRs. Care coaching represents a potential intervention to decrease high rates of NUHR in primary bariatric surgery patients. © 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

Citation

Dahlia M Kenawy, Lindsay M Breslin, J C Chen, Muna M Tamimi, Joann K North, Mahmoud Abdel-Rasoul, Sabrena F Noria. Impact of post-discharge phone calls on non-urgent hospital returns < 90 days following primary bariatric surgery. Surgical endoscopy. 2023 Feb;37(2):1222-1230

Mesh Tags

PMID: 36167872

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