Background As patients are discharged from the hospital more quickly, the ability to monitor patient recovery between hospital discharge and the first follow-up clinic visit is becoming increasingly important. Despite substantial increase in both internet use and smartphone ownership over the past 5 years, clinicians have been slow to embrace the use of these devices to capture patient recovery information in the period between hospital discharge and the first clinical follow-up appointment. Objective This study aims to investigate the generalizability of using a web-based platform to capture patient recovery in a broad surgical patient population and compare response rates for 3 different web-based strategies for delivering recovery surveys over the perioperative period: email, SMS text messaging, and a concurrent mixed approach of using both email and SMS text messaging. Methods Patients undergoing surgeries managed with an enhanced recovery after surgery pathway were asked to participate in a web-based quality assurance monitoring program at the time of their preoperative surgery appointment. Different follow-up methods were implemented over 3 sequential phases. Patients received Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act–compliant web-based survey links via email (phase 1), SMS text messaging (phase 2), or concurrently using both email and SMS text messaging (phase 3) using REDCap and Twilio software. Recovery assessments using the established Quality of Recovery-9 instrument were performed 4 days before surgery and at 7 and 30 days postoperatively. Generalizability of the web-based system was examined by comparing characteristics of those who participated versus those who did not. Differences in response rates by the web-based collection method were analyzed using adjusted models. Results A total of 615 patients were asked to participate, with 526 (85.5%) opting for the follow-up program. Those who opted in were younger, slightly healthier, and more likely to be in a partnership. The concurrent mixed modes method was the most successful for obtaining responses at each time point compared with text or email alone (pre: 119/160, 74.4% vs 116/173, 67.1% vs 56/130, 43.1%, P<.001; 7 days: 115/172, 66.9% vs 82/164, 50.0% vs 59/126, 46.8%, P=.001; 30 days: 152/234, 65.0% vs 52/105, 49.5% vs 53/123, 43.1%, P=.001, respectively). In the adjusted model, the concurrent mixed modes method significantly predicted response compared with using email alone (odds ratio 3.4; P<.001) and SMS text messaging alone (odds ratio 1.9; P<.001). Additional significant predictors of response were race, partnership, and time. Conclusions For internet users and smartphone owners, electronic capture of recovery surveys appear to be possible through this mechanism. Discrepancies in both inclusion and response rates still exist among certain subgroups of patients, but the concurrent approach of using both email and text messages was the most effective approach to reach the largest number of patients across all subgroups.

Purpose: Clinical guidelines recommend partial nephrectomy (PN) as the preferred method of surgical excision of the small renal tumor whenever feasible. PN has comparable cancer cure rates to that of radical nephrectomy in this setting, and decreased risk of chronic kidney disease. A recognized devastating complication following partial nephrectomy is acute post-operative hemorrhage (APOH) from the reconstructed kidney. Risk factors for hemorrhage following partial nephrectomy remain poorly elucidated, as does the impact of hemorrhage on subsequent hospital stay. Identification of risk factors for hemorrhage may lead to a better understanding of and reduction of this complication. Material and Methods: We utilized a prospectively managed database comprised of patients undergoing open partial nephrectomy at our institution by the same surgical team from January 2006 to July 2012. Clinicopathologic factors assessed APOH for their relationships, including patient age, gender, diabetes, smoking, hypertension, coronary artery disease, American Society of Anesthesia Score (ASA), tumor size, RENAL nephrotomy score, pathologic result, cancer margin status, operative time, and intra-operative blood loss. The impact of APOH on subsequent hospital course was evaluated and compared with the entire cohort. Results: Data were analyzed from 200 consecutive patients. We identified 7 patients (3.5%) who experienced APOH. Compared with the entire cohort, APOH resulted in an increased hospital length of stay (median, 5 days; range, 2 -11 days, p = 0.001), an increased transfusion requirement (median, 6 units; range, 1 -16 units. p = 0.001), a greater risk of selective angiographic embolization (median, 2 procedures; range, 0 -3, p = 0.001), and completion nephrectomy (n = 2, p = 0.001). One patient in the APOH group experienced cardiac arrest and was resuscitated. Clinicopathologic factors associated with the increased risk of APOH in the present cohort were male gender (p = 0.03) and hypertension (p = 0.006). Conclusion: In the present analysis, APOH was associated with extended hospitalization, the increased transfusion requirement and the need for more ancillary procedures. APOH patients were at significantly increased risk of renal loss. Male gender and hypertension were associated with increased risk for APOH. We have incorporated this information into an APOH risk reduction program at our institution.

BACKGROUND As patients are being discharged from the hospital earlier, the ability to monitor patient recovery between hospital discharge and the first follow-up clinic visit is becoming increasingly important. Despite substantial increases in both internet use and smartphone ownership over the past 5 years, clinicians have been slow to embrace the use of these devices to capture patient recovery information in the period between hospital discharge and the first clinical follow-up appointment. OBJECTIVE To investigate the generalizability of using a web-based platform to capture patient recovery in a broad surgical patient population, and compare response rates for three different web-based strategies for delivering recovery surveys over the perioperative time-period: email, short message service (SMS) text messaging, and a concurrent mixed approach of using both email and SMS text messaging. METHODS Patients undergoing surgeries managed with an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) pathway program were asked to participate in the web-based quality assurance monitoring program at the time of their pre-operative surgery appointment. Different follow-up methods were implemented over three sequential phases. Patients received HIPAA compliant web-based survey links by either email (phase 1), SMS text (phase 2), or concurrently using both email and SMS text (phase 3) using RedCap® and Twillio® software. Recovery assessments using the established Quality of Recovery-9 (QOR-9) tool were measured 4 days prior to surgery, and at 7 and 30 days postoperatively. Generalizability of the web-based system was examined by comparing demographic and clinical characteristics of those who participated vs. those that did not. Differences in response rates by web-based collection method were analyzed in adjusted models. RESULTS A total of 615 patients asked to participate, with 526 (85.53%) opting in to the follow-up program. Those who opted in were younger, slightly healthier, and more likely to be in a partnership. The concurrent mixed modes (CMM) was the most successful method for obtaining responses at every time point compared to text or email alone (pre: 74% vs. 67% vs 43%, P <.001; 7 day: 67% vs. 50% vs. 47%, P = .001; 30 day: 65% vs. 50% vs. 43%, P = .001, respectively). In the adjusted model, the CMM method of contact significantly predicted response compared to using email alone (Odds Ratio (OR) =3.4, P <.0001), and SMS text alone (OR=1.9, P =.0003). Additional significant predictors of response were race, partnership and time. CONCLUSIONS For internet users and smartphone owners, electronic capture of recovery surveys appears to be possible through this HIPAA compliant resource friendly mechanism. Discrepancies in both inclusion and response rates still exist among certain subgroups of patients, but the concurrent approach of using both email and text messages was the most effective approach to reach the largest number of patients across all subgroups.