Effect of Postoperative Telephone Calls on Patient Satisfaction and Scar Satisfaction after Mohs Micrographic Surgery

BACKGROUND Mohs micrographic surgery is considered the gold standard for high-risk nonmelanoma skin cancer. Postoperative telephone follow-up (TFU) is linked to higher patient satisfaction; however, there are no randomized, blinded studies examining whether TFU after Mohs surgery improves patient satisfaction.OBJECTIVETo perform a randomized single-blinded prospective survey study examining whether patient satisfaction or scar satisfaction varied between Mohs patients who received a postoperative call and patients who did not.METHODSPatients were enrolled into "post-op call" or "no post-op call" groups. Both arms completed surveys at suture removal and 3-month follow-up visits.RESULTSOne hundred four subjects were enrolled, and demographics, the number of Mohs stages, and type of repair were controlled. At suture removal, both arms reported similar overall high satisfaction on the 5-point Likert scale (4.90 "call arm" vs 4.88 "no-call arm", p =.80). Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale (POSAS) scores were 3.37 in the "call arm" versus 3.81 in the "no-call arm", p =.31. At 3-month follow-up, results were similar.CONCLUSIONHigh overall satisfaction was reported in both arms. The TFU group reported higher overall satisfaction, but this difference was not significant. Scar satisfaction did not vary statistically between the arms, but POSAS scores in the call arm trended favorably.