Patient/Family Involvement Leads to Successful Outcomes Following Lower Extremity Arthroplasties.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Based on feedback from some of our orthopaedic surgeons and data on readmissions, our orthopaedic hospital implemented two initiatives aimed at improving outcomes following lower extremity arthroplasty (LEA). The first was the education for family/significant others of LEA patients and the other the provision of phone-based follow-up and monitoring postdischarge. As such, study objectives were as follows: THE APPROACH: A discharge education nurse provided daily education classes to families/significant others of LEA patients; these classes were provided on the morning of the patient's planned discharge. In addition, a discharge education nurse made follow-up phone calls at 1 and 5 weeks postdischarge to ask about compliance to discharge instructions and provide additional support as needed. METHODS: The sample comprised 122 total arthroscopy subjects admitted in 2018: 42 had hip replacements, 80 had knee replacements. A nonsignificant Pearson rho showed patients continued to follow instructions. Linear forecasting showed a small positive effect on selected Press Ganey questions. CONCLUSION: Based on our findings, we conclude that family/significant other discharge education improved compliance with discharge instruction.