Q: What do we need to do to be in compliance with standards for followup phone calls after outpatient surgery?
A: Joint Commission standards do not require a followup phone call. Standard PC.2.20 from the 2004 Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals and the 2004 Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Ambulatory Care allows an organization to define what data and information is gathered during assessment and reassessment. PC.2.150 allows organizations to determine timeframes for reassessment based on patient needs and the care, treatment and services provided. The organization must be able to justify the efficacy of the mechanism chosen based on the patients it serves and the services or care it provides. In practice, most organizations, especially those performing surgical and/or invasive procedures on an outpatient basis, find the post-procedure phone call follow-up to be helpful from both a timeliness and patient-focused perspective. Organizations that have chosen to adopt the phone call reassessment must also consider how it will be accomplished for patients requiring follow-up on weekends or at other times when staffing is an issue.
Additionally, LD.3.20 from the same Manuals requires that patients with comparable needs receive the same level of care, treatment, and services throughout the organization. The question an organization must ask in that situation is whether or not the intensity of reassessment for outpatient surgical patients is comparable to that for other patients in similar situations (e.g., inpatients, post-procedure outpatient interventional radiology).