its surgical waiting room
down to the first floor. The
relocation provided family
members with more physi-
cal comforts, but it also
created an unforeseen con-
sequence: It added more
stress to an already nerve-
wracking experience by
putting more distance,
physically and emotionally,
between family members and their loved ones in surgery.
Sarasota Memorial promptly found a solution to "bridge the commu-
nication gap," says Ms. Tingle: an app that lets members of the surgi-
cal team — the circulating nurse, usually — text surgical updates
every 30 to 45 minutes, often with images of X-rays and video mes-
sages from the surgeon, to family members on the first floor.
"Dad is safely off to sleep and the surgery is about to begin."
"The hip implant is about to go in."
"We are now on bypass. Mom is doing very well."
Ms. Tingle says family members — even those far beyond the
walls of the hospital — appreciate the peace of mind the cus-
tomized texts provide: "We had a patient who was visiting from
Switzerland," she says, "and we were sending updates home to his
mom and dad."
The benefits have justified the monthly subscription cost, which Ms.
Tingle characterizes as "very reasonable." After some initial resistance
to the app, the hospital has since received "overwhelming" positive
feedback from staff and patients alike. In fact, the response has been
so positive that the hospital is now looking to pilot the app in the ICU
J a n u a r y 2 0 1 7 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 5 9
"Our older patients are
more tech-savvy than
I would have thought.
Everyone has a smart-
phone now, and the
app is very simple to
use," says Ms. Tingle.
