Outpatient follow-up after pediatric surgery reduces emergency department visits and readmission rates
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Read the article on jpedsurg.org ↗Article · Mar 2020 · 1 min read
In brief
In brief
Retrospective study of 1,242 pediatric surgical patients examines factors influencing outpatient follow-up rates and their impact on healthcare utilization. Findings demonstrate that structured postoperative follow-up significantly reduces emergency department visits and hospital readmissions in this population.
Written by the GCMD Library team from the article.
Purpose
The factors affecting outpatient follow-up (OFU) after pediatric surgery have not been well studied. We evaluate factors impacting OFU and the effect of OFU in pediatric surgical patients.
Methods
A retrospective review of all pediatric patients operated on by the Division of Pediatric Surgery from February 1st to September 30th, 2017, and subsequently discharged was performed.
Results
1242 patients were identified. Overall OFU was 69.6%. Language and distance between patient residence and the hospital had no impact on OFU. Inpatient surgical patients followed-up at a higher rate than ambulatory surgical patients (72.7% vs 64.8%, p