Reducing ER Visits and Readmissions after Head and Neck Surgery Through a Phone-based Quality Improvement Program.

Objective: Evaluate the impact of a patient phone calls and virtual wound checks within 72 hours of discharge on reducing emergency room (ER) visits and readmissions.

Methods: Single arm trial with comparison to historical control data of patients undergoing multi subsite head and neck cancer operations or laryngectomy between July 2017 and June 2018 at a tertiary academic medical center. Patients were contacted within 72 hours of hospital discharge.