UH Uses New App to Help Heart Patients Stay Safe for Surgery During COVID-19

The SeamlessMD app keeps patients undergoing cardiac surgery on track with continuous education and at-home symptom monitoring

February 04, 2021 – Cleveland, OH – University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute has launched SeamlessMD, a HIPAA-compliant platform for patient engagement, remote monitoring, and virtual care. It is now using the platform for patients undergoing open-heart surgery at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, to keep patients safe, on-track, and connected while at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The platform is designed to empower patientsand their families while improving the quality of care throughout the course oftheir treatment. Patients and caregivers access SeamlessMD on theirsmartphones, tablets, or computers, and are guided before and after surgerywith reminders and education to reduce anxiety and help them follow theEnhanced Recovery care plan prescribed by their UH provider.

Upon discharge from the hospital, patientsreport their pain scores, symptoms, and share wound photos from their owndevices to receive personalized, automated feedback on how to self-manageconcerns based on their input. Clinicians also have access to alerts anddashboards to monitor patients remotely and address patient concerns earlier,leading to better patient experiences and health outcomes.

In the first month, UH already caught aninfected incision through remote monitoring and started the patient onantibiotics quickly. By prompting the patient to send a photo of their wound,SeamlessMD alerted the UH care team to follow-up accordingly based on thereported sign of infection.

“SeamlessMD helps us deliver our CardiacEnhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols more effectively to ensureevery patient gets the right care for them. By empowering patients to tracktheir progress remotely, we are able to keep patients healthy at home duringthe COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a well-thought-out program that keeps the patientat the center of our care,” explains Marc Pelletier, M.D., Chief of CardiacSurgery at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and Director of theHeart Surgery Center for University Hospitals Harrington Heart & VascularInstitute.

“We are excited to be the first health systemin Ohio to use SeamlessMD to educate, engage, and monitor patients undergoingopen-heart surgery,” said Eric Hess, Vice President at UH Harrington Heart& Vascular Institute. “This relationship is a testament to our cardiaccenter’s leadership in providing innovative patient care for our community.”

AboutSeamlessMD

SeamlessMD provides the #1 digital patientengagement platform used by hospitals and health systems to elevate the patientexperience, improve outcomes and lower costs. Patients access digital careplans on their smartphones, tablets or computers and are guided through theirhealth conditions or treatments via reminders, education and progress tracking.Providers receive alerts, monitor patients and access analytics to deliverbetter care. SeamlessMD is directly integrated with Epic and Cerner. Healthsystems such as Stanford, Rush and UAB use SeamlessMD to improve patientsatisfaction while reducing hospital length of stay, readmissions, and costs.

For more information and to see SeamlessMD in action,please visit: www.seamless.md

About University Hospitals / Cleveland, Ohio

Founded in 1866, University Hospitals serves the needs of patients through an integrated network of 19 hospitals (including 4 joint ventures), more than 50 health centers and outpatient facilities, and 200 physician offices in 16 counties throughout northern Ohio. The system’s flagship academic medical center, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, located in Cleveland’s University Circle, is affiliated with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The main campus also includes University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, ranked among the top children’s hospitals in the nation; University Hospitals MacDonald Women's Hospital, Ohio's only hospital for women; University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute, a high-volume national referral center for complex cardiovascular procedures; and University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, part of the NCI-designated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. UH is home to some of the most prestigious clinical and research programs in the nation, including cancer, pediatrics, women's health, orthopedics, radiology, neuroscience, cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, digestive health, transplantation and urology. UH Cleveland Medical Center is perennially among the highest performers in national ranking surveys, including “America’s Best Hospitals” from U.S. News & World Report. UH is also home to Harrington Discovery Institute, part of The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development. UH is one of the largest employers in Northeast Ohio with 28,000 physicians and employees. Advancing the Science of Health and the Art of Compassion is UH’s vision for benefitting its patients into the future, and the organization’s unwavering mission is To Heal. To Teach. To Discover.

Follow UH on LinkedIn, Facebook @UniversityHospitals and Twitter @UHhospitals. For more information, visit UHhospitals.org.