IMPROVING THE EFFICIENCY OF SURVEY-RESEARCH IN POSTOPERATIVE-PATIENTS

Study Objective: To increase the contact rate with eligible patients f or quality assurance/improvement surveys by modifying survey rounds to accommodate the schedules of individual nursing units. Design: Two-ph ase, interventional time series study. Setting: Postoperative inpatien ts at a university hospital. Patients: 498 adult postoperative inpatie nts who remained hospitalized during thp second postoperative day. Int erventions: Between the first and second measurement periods, efforts were made to learn the schedule of each nursing unit and to improve th e efficiency of survey rounds so that a larger proportion of patients could be contacted. Measurements and Main Results: The contact rate fo r eligible patients was improved from 66% to 80% (P < 0.01). Improveme nt during the second period was attributed to fewer patients bring awa y from the nursing unit (20% vs. 12%, p < 0.05) or otherwise occupied by attending physicians on rounds (9% vs. 4%, p < 0.05). Conclusion: S trategies individualized to patient care units can improve the efficie ncy and credibility of inpatient survey research. We describe the stra tegies most helpful in improving the efficiency of survey rounds at on e medical center. (C) 1998 by Elsevier Science Inc.