The orthopedic ward was lacking a moment of evaluation with the patient to discuss the provided care. Also there was insufficient insight in the problems in the home situation after discharge from the hospital.

To solve these problems we started with a nursing discharge protocol. In this protocol we introduced the telephone consult. When a patient knows when he will be dismissed he gets a discharge conversation where he will be informed concerning the telephone consult and gets a short questionnaire. In this questionnaire we ask the patient about there opinion of the provided multidisplinary care in the hospital. A week after discharge the patient will be rang at home to discuss if problems occurred in the homesituation and the questionnaire will be gone through. The data originated from this telephone conversation are processed in a database, so that this information can be used to improve the quality of care.

After half a year we evaluated this telephone consult. Patients experience the personal contact after discharge as valuable, problems are traced early and a number of quality improvements has been carried out as a result of the information from the telephone consult.

The information from the telephone consult is very valuable. It concerns an ongoing process which can be used for fast and effective improvements. The data from the database can also be used for scientific research at multidisciplinary level.