Patient satisfaction and telemedicine in thyroid and parathyroid diseases: a review

Patient satisfaction is intimately related to patient expectations and quality of care but encompasses the entire patient experience with health care. In thyroid and parathyroid surgery, patient satisfaction incorporates facets of pre, peri, and post-operative care. Pre-operative satisfaction begins with patient perceptions of the physician and institutions involved and continues with appropriate patient counselling about surgery and the disease process. Peri-operative satisfaction is dependent on surgical factors such as operative technique, surgical scar, use of drains, hospital stay, and anesthesia used. Postoperative satisfaction is focused on complications, patient surveillance and if patient outcomes aligned with patient expectations. Patient satisfaction will play an increasingly important role in medicine and surgery as reimbursement becomes intimately associated with it. Finally, telemedicine incorporates aspects of patient satisfaction by allowing both consultation and surgical evaluation to be performed remotely at the discretion