The Importance of Quality Perioperative Patient Education

Surgical patients, both inpatient and outpatient, need perioperative education in order to know how to prepare for surgery and what they can expect in the days following their surgical procedure. Quality perioperative patient education not only improves postoperative patient outcomes, but contributes as well to high patient satisfaction scores, which are currently tied to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reimbursements. This paper will demonstrate the importance of patient education and describe some perioperative Internet-based resources.