Shared medical appointments for the preoperative consultation visit of Mohs micrographic surgery.

BACKGROUND

Shared medical appointments (SMAs) allow patients with similar diagnoses to be simultaneously educated and cared for by 1 provider. SMAs appear well suited for Mohs micrographic surgery because all patients receive similar information about skin cancer pathophysiology, prognosis, prevention, treatment, reconstructive options, and wound care.

OBJECTIVE

We sought to create a SMA for the preoperative consultation visit of Mohs micrographic surgery and to evaluate patient satisfaction with this model.

METHODS

A pilot SMA was implemented. Patient satisfaction was assessed via a 13-question survey over a 6-month period.

RESULTS

In all, 149 patients were seen in our SMAs. The survey response rate was 65.8%. Respondents answered Likert scale questions with a mean value of 4.29 ± 0.09 (on a 1-5 scale, where 5 is the best). Patients found the SMA model useful (84.7%) and would attend another SMA in the future (80.6%).

LIMITATIONS

Limitations include the sample size of the study, relatively homogenous patient population, possible response bias, and a potential selection bias (as all participants in the SMA chose this type of appointment rather than a conventional one).

CONCLUSIONS

SMA can be successfully used for the Mohs preoperative consultation visit with high patient satisfaction.