An mHealth Self-Management Program to Decrease Postoperative Symptom Distress

The purposes of this study are to determine if use of the Postoperative Care at Home (PoCAH) tailored self-management program delivered via mobile technology (a mobile app) after discharge to home will result in: 1) fewer and/or less intense patient symptoms (pain, nausea and vomiting, fatigue, sore throat, constipation, sleep dysfunction); 2) enhanced patient satisfaction, perceived self-efficacy, and quality of life; 3) lower healthcare resource use (patient to healthcare provider calls; unscheduled patient appointments with healthcare providers; and hospital readmission and emergency department use). A secondary objective is to assess how easy the mobile app was to use after orthopaedic ambulatory surgery.