Gaps in the Postoperative Conversation: A Comprehensive Review of Current Practices and the Unmet Needs of Surgeons, Families, and Waiting Room Personnel

Perioperative communication between surgeons and caregivers is an important aspect of patient care, with postoperative conversations (POCs) being critical. Literature suggests current communication practices may be suboptimal. Identifying barriers and opportunities could improve patient and caregiver satisfaction and increase surgeon efficiency. This mixed method study included 1) prospective study of all patients undergoing a surgery at an academic medical center between September 2014 and March 2016 and 2) nominal groups of physicians, caregivers, and waiting room personnel (WRP). Nominal groups ranked standard of care themes needing intervention. Multivariate logistic regression estimated the association of surgeon and procedure characteristics with POC practices considering both location and contact method. Data on 15,820 operations showed that surgical specialty (P ≤ 0.0001), inpatient status (P ≤ 0.0001), planned discharge destination (P = 0.0003), patient race (P = 0.02), and caregiver relationship (P ≤ 0.0001) were all significantly associated with receiving a private POC. Nominal group results provided opportunities for improvement: regular updates (caregivers), locating the caregivers postoperation (surgeons), clear communication between caregivers and surgeons (WRP). This study examines the perioperative communication. Surgeons, caregivers, and WRP identified effective communication as a top intervention priority. Managing caregiver expectations, addressing concerns of WRP, and creating an efficient environment for surgeons appear to be critical components to communication.