April 18, 2024
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In early 2023, Oak Valley Health partnered with SeamlessMD to digitally-support patients by virtually guiding them step-by-step through their healthcare journey. Patients are given access to the free app that is accessible from anywhere at any time - day or night - to view condition-specific, interactive education before, during, and after their surgery. In just seven months, more than 1,000 patients have been enrolled to the program, which boasts a 92 per cent patient recommendation.
Oak Valley Health deployed the remote patient monitoring system to bring high-quality, patient-centered care for patients undergoing hip, knee, shoulder, and spine surgeries. This initiative was aligned to Oak Valley Health’s key strategy of delivering an enhanced digital experience that guides patients step-by-step through their surgical journey and helps them play a proactive role in following the perioperative care plan prescribed by their care team, bringing reassurance to patients as they recover at home.
All care plan-related information and education is easily accessible to patients via their own smartphone, tablets and/or computer. Patients are guided pre- and post-surgery via interactive education and informational videos. They are also sent reminders and to-do lists, including nudges to complete progress-tracking surveys and self-report data, such as symptoms, pain scores, range of motion, and wound photos.
Knowing that the in-depth information comes directly from their care teams, patients have reported feeling confident about being able to self manage – 93 per cent of patients said SeamlessMD helped them feel more confident before surgery; with one patient sharing, “It provided a day-by-day, step-by-step agenda on how to prepare for my surgery. Post surgery, it allowed me to make note of my concerns and it made me feel protected and monitored through those early, uncomfortable days.”
Being able to track patient progress through real-time remote monitoring and view patient-reported data, such as care plan compliance and survey results, helps care teams intervene faster for at-risk patients.
Patients have conveyed that the program has helped reduce their surgical anxiety as they feel connected to their provider across their recovery journey. “Thank you for communicating with me for the Total Knee Replacement surgery Left Knee. It helped me tremendously understanding the progress of my recovery and assisted me mentally and physically to be calm and care for my rehabilitation,” shared a patient. Of the patients enrolled into SeamlessMD, 57 per cent indicated that the program prevented at least one call to the hospital.
The remote patient monitoring platform is a key step in Oak Valley Health's goal to improve vital clinical outcomes, including reducing ED visits, hospital stay and readmissions as well as enhancing operational efficiencies, like reducing cancellations and staff burden by strengthening patient education and compliance.
Erin Landry, Director of Surgical Services at Oak Valley Health, is enthusiastic about the reach of these digital tools among their patients and the role it has played in encouraging self-management and education. "We are committed to providing our patients with the best possible care and we can see how SeamlessMD has helped with efficient hospital-to-home transitions, ensuring our patients have the support they need to prepare for their upcoming surgeries and a successful recovery after,” shared Erin. “We are very pleased to see that 81 per cent of patients reported that the tool helped them feel more confident at home after surgery and 22 per cent of patients said it helped them avoid some visits to the hospital.”
One other goal was to improve PROMs survey response rate and monitoring of antibiotic and opioid use. By collecting surgical-optimization questionnaires and other data, care teams were able to draw actionable insights, graph trends, and benchmark performance over time for an entire patient population, and help analyze how it can impact interventions around prehabilitation or other perioperative measures.
The 1000-patient milestone underscores the transformative potential of digital tools in healthcare and its potential to provide easily accessible and education across patient populations.
“The digital patient education platform has been a game-changer for my surgical patients,” stated Dr. Stephen McMahon, Chief of Surgery at Oak Valley Health. “It empowers them with crucial information at the right time - which has helped them not only feel more in control of their recovery journey but also avoid unnecessary phone calls or ED visits."
With the success of the existing care pathways, Oak Valley Health will be expanding the use of SeamlessMD Digital Care Journeys in November 2023 to include endoscopy procedures. “I am excited for this tool to reach more patient populations and better prepare patients - resulting in smoother recoveries and improved outcomes,” shared Erin.
As one patient shared, “This is a great app. It gives me the confidence that I am doing the right thing, and when there is an issue the program provides a suggestion as to how to fix it. My physio team and friends are amazed that this app is here to use and think everyone should have the ability to use a similar program for their own recoveries no matter what the issue is. I highly recommend SeamlessMD.”
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In early 2023, Oak Valley Health partnered with SeamlessMD to digitally-support patients by virtually guiding them step-by-step through their healthcare journey. Patients are given access to the free app that is accessible from anywhere at any time - day or night - to view condition-specific, interactive education before, during, and after their surgery. In just seven months, more than 1,000 patients have been enrolled to the program, which boasts a 92 per cent patient recommendation.
Oak Valley Health deployed the remote patient monitoring system to bring high-quality, patient-centered care for patients undergoing hip, knee, shoulder, and spine surgeries. This initiative was aligned to Oak Valley Health’s key strategy of delivering an enhanced digital experience that guides patients step-by-step through their surgical journey and helps them play a proactive role in following the perioperative care plan prescribed by their care team, bringing reassurance to patients as they recover at home.
All care plan-related information and education is easily accessible to patients via their own smartphone, tablets and/or computer. Patients are guided pre- and post-surgery via interactive education and informational videos. They are also sent reminders and to-do lists, including nudges to complete progress-tracking surveys and self-report data, such as symptoms, pain scores, range of motion, and wound photos.
Knowing that the in-depth information comes directly from their care teams, patients have reported feeling confident about being able to self manage – 93 per cent of patients said SeamlessMD helped them feel more confident before surgery; with one patient sharing, “It provided a day-by-day, step-by-step agenda on how to prepare for my surgery. Post surgery, it allowed me to make note of my concerns and it made me feel protected and monitored through those early, uncomfortable days.”
Being able to track patient progress through real-time remote monitoring and view patient-reported data, such as care plan compliance and survey results, helps care teams intervene faster for at-risk patients.
Patients have conveyed that the program has helped reduce their surgical anxiety as they feel connected to their provider across their recovery journey. “Thank you for communicating with me for the Total Knee Replacement surgery Left Knee. It helped me tremendously understanding the progress of my recovery and assisted me mentally and physically to be calm and care for my rehabilitation,” shared a patient. Of the patients enrolled into SeamlessMD, 57 per cent indicated that the program prevented at least one call to the hospital.
The remote patient monitoring platform is a key step in Oak Valley Health's goal to improve vital clinical outcomes, including reducing ED visits, hospital stay and readmissions as well as enhancing operational efficiencies, like reducing cancellations and staff burden by strengthening patient education and compliance.
Erin Landry, Director of Surgical Services at Oak Valley Health, is enthusiastic about the reach of these digital tools among their patients and the role it has played in encouraging self-management and education. "We are committed to providing our patients with the best possible care and we can see how SeamlessMD has helped with efficient hospital-to-home transitions, ensuring our patients have the support they need to prepare for their upcoming surgeries and a successful recovery after,” shared Erin. “We are very pleased to see that 81 per cent of patients reported that the tool helped them feel more confident at home after surgery and 22 per cent of patients said it helped them avoid some visits to the hospital.”
One other goal was to improve PROMs survey response rate and monitoring of antibiotic and opioid use. By collecting surgical-optimization questionnaires and other data, care teams were able to draw actionable insights, graph trends, and benchmark performance over time for an entire patient population, and help analyze how it can impact interventions around prehabilitation or other perioperative measures.
The 1000-patient milestone underscores the transformative potential of digital tools in healthcare and its potential to provide easily accessible and education across patient populations.
“The digital patient education platform has been a game-changer for my surgical patients,” stated Dr. Stephen McMahon, Chief of Surgery at Oak Valley Health. “It empowers them with crucial information at the right time - which has helped them not only feel more in control of their recovery journey but also avoid unnecessary phone calls or ED visits."
With the success of the existing care pathways, Oak Valley Health will be expanding the use of SeamlessMD Digital Care Journeys in November 2023 to include endoscopy procedures. “I am excited for this tool to reach more patient populations and better prepare patients - resulting in smoother recoveries and improved outcomes,” shared Erin.
As one patient shared, “This is a great app. It gives me the confidence that I am doing the right thing, and when there is an issue the program provides a suggestion as to how to fix it. My physio team and friends are amazed that this app is here to use and think everyone should have the ability to use a similar program for their own recoveries no matter what the issue is. I highly recommend SeamlessMD.”
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