useful for cutting down on unnecessary in-per-
son pre-op or follow-up appointments with
surgeons or care managers, especially for
recovering patients who are weak or immo-
bile. "The patient might say, it only took me 20
minutes to do this instead of spending 3 hours
and taking a half day off," says Mr. Gomes.
"That's a tremendous value proposition." He
adds that digital interactions can lower read-
mission rates because the patient's health is
more closely monitored, with more chances
for interventions if something's going wrong.
• Pre- and post-op instructions. By digitally
guiding the patient through — and monitoring
— the entire episode of care, you can potential-
ly improve patient compliance and outcomes.
With an app, you could ping patients with
alerts when they need to consume their pre-surgery nutrition drinks,
do rehab exercises, take medications and more. You can provide infor-
mation and education, even videos, about the surgery, rehab, the clini-
cians and more.
• Patient-generated data. Any data you gather is valuable from clin-
ical and marketing perspectives, as well as for negotiating with pay-
ers. With an app, you can facilitate and expand that data collection
process. And patient satisfaction surveys can be filled out digitally at
the patient's convenience — no more mailings or phone calls. Mr.
Gomes notes that patient-generated data will really explode when apps
are paired with medical devices and monitors embedded in our bodies.
He adds that it's important to determine how all of the raw data flowing
into your facility from patient engagement software can be turned into
A U G U S T 2 0 1 9 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 6 5
• YOU GOT A BOT The StreaMD app
uses artificial intelligence to create a
text "conversation" with the patient via
a chatbot that represents the surgeon.
