Novel Digital Platform Engages Patients in Perioperative Care

TUESDAY, April 16, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- A novel digital health platform is feasible to engage patients scheduled for elective surgery in their perioperative journey, according to a study published online April 4 in JMIR Perioperative Medicine.

Stephen Andrew Esper, M.D., from University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and colleagues assessed the feasibility of the Pip platform for deploying perioperative, digital, patient-facing optimization guidelines to elective surgical patients, assisted by human health coaches, at predefined intervals in the perioperative journey. The analysis included 283 patients scheduled for elective surgery invited to enroll in Pip from 2.5 to 4.0 weeks preoperatively through four weeks postoperatively.

The researchers found that 60.8 percent of invited patients enrolled in Pip. Among the enrolled patients, 80.2 percent had at least one health coach session and proceeded to surgery. Seven in 10 enrolled patients engaged with Pip postoperatively. Engagement started a mean 27 days before surgery. The weekly engagement rate with health coaches through Pip was 82 percent, with patients attending an average of 6.7 health coach sessions. Among the 95 patients who completed surveys, just over two-thirds were highly satisfied and patients strongly agreed that health coaches helped them throughout the perioperative process. Participation in Pip was associated with reduced length of stay versus nonparticipation. Those using Pip tended to have a lower risk for seven-day and 30-day readmission. Thirty-day emergency department returns were similar between the groups.

"Study after study has shown that patients are healthier and have better surgical outcomes when they adhere to a perioperative care plan -- but ensuring that adherence is easier said than done," senior author Aman Mahajan, M.D., Ph.D., also from University of Pittsburgh, said in a statement. "So, verifying that this hybrid digital-telemedicine platform is both easy for patients and clinicians to use and significantly improves patient outcomes and satisfaction with surgery is a welcome clinical advance."

Two authors disclosed ties to Pip Care.

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