Mobile app cuts in-person follow-up visits after surgery

A study, published in JAMA Surgery, explores using a mobile application as a new way of delivering post-operative care rather than in-person visits.

Traveling to and from in-person visits puts a toll on a patient. That’s where the potential of mobile apps comes in—which can provide a platform for easier communication.

This study featured 65 people who underwent breast reconstruction. They used the QoC Health mobile app to see how effective it could provide post-operative care.

“In the age of patient-centric care, delivery models must evolve to become more convenient for patients and cost effective to the health system, while also maintaining a high degree of patient satisfaction and convenience,” wrote lead author Kathleen A. Armstrong, MD, MSc, clinical Research Fellow at Women's College Hospital in Toronto, and colleagues. “Many centers are now substituting in-person follow-up care with care delivered via telephone or a mobile app. Studies show that these remote modes of follow-up are safe and that patients are as equally satisfied with them as they are with in-person follow-up care.”

The study spanned six months. Patients were split into groups—one was provided conventional in-person visits and the second was given access to QoC Health. The app allowed patients to send photographs and complete surveys on pain and recovery. Clinicians were then able to follow patient reports through the app.

During the first 30 days after their surgery, researchers measured the number of telephone calls and emails to clinicians, reported convenience, overall satisfaction and rates of complications. Results showed that patients using the mobile app averaged 0.66 in-person visits compared to 1.64 visits for the control group. The mobile app group also sent more emails and reported higher convenience. The number of telephone calls, satisfaction rates and complication rates did not differ between the groups.

“Patients using the mobile app require approximately two minutes to input the quality of recovery, pain visual analog scale, and photographs of the surgical site,” wrote Armstrong and colleagues. "This ease of use allows patients to submit data frequently, providing a continuous, richer inflow of information than could ever be achieved by telephone or in-person follow-up care."