11 Patient Communication Apps

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From chatbot-powered pre-op text messaging to AI-driven recovery plans, technology is transforming the patient experience.


Here's a look at 11 surgical apps that let you text your patients personalized pre-op alerts, post-op reminders and much more — without anybody at your busy facility having to pick up a phone. Don't worry: You don't have to be tech-savvy to become a lean, mean texting machine. OSM


EASE

easeapplications.com
407-308-4399
FYI: Send patients' family and friends real-time texts, photos and videos straight from the OR to the waiting room with EASE (Electronic Access Surgery Events). Just like Snapchat, after 60 seconds the HIPAA-compliant updates disappear. You can send updates during or after surgery — without ever leaving the OR.

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Medtel

medtel.com
212-777-7722
FYI: Medtel gives the information an EMR cannot — and it does so via smartphone, laptop, pad or desktop. Medtel customizes surgical booking sheets by surgical discipline (ortho, spine, bariatric, etc.) and embeds providers' specific surgical guidelines, notification protocols, implant-selection guidelines — details like use of the Interbody: Altus Spine — Suzuka PEEK IBF System for cervical procedures — and facility-specific equipment needs into its rules-based engine, and pushes that info back out to staff electronically. This connects the entire surgical team with up-to-the-minute information and helps mitigate potential clinical and financial risks of a procedure while ensuring patients' needs are met.


MyCareText

mycaretext.com
888-628-4243
FYI: MyCareText keeps it simple, offering a basic text-messaging app for facilities to communicate with patients. Patients receive texts about the confusing aspects of a procedure right on their cellphones. Patients and family members don't have to join a portal or download an app, they simply provide the facility with a number, authorize receiving HIPAA-compliant texts and stay updated.

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Passport Engage

onempcompany.com
800-540-7527
FYI: Passport Engage sends patients automated or one-time text messages — and voice or email messages — with NPO instructions, survey reminders and all the other info that can tie up your busy staff. Automated messages are triggered by the info that's included in your facility's surgical schedule and are sent out in a timeline according to procedure, physician or both. You can also send one-time messages that aren't tied to the schedule, such as notifying patients of facility closures or weather issues. You can combine Engage with One Medical Passport, the company's patient-controlled online medical history, to send tailored messages based on patient conditions.


Patient Journey App

patientjourneyapp.com
FYI: With daily push notifications and an interactive timeline, Patient Journey App engages patients to make them better prepared for surgery and active in their recovery. The app focuses on interactive content and sends patients videos about their surgeries, compares their pain scores to the average for their procedures and lets them submit detailed patient outcome/satisfaction surveys. Patients can send a post-op photograph of a wound to determine whether there's an infection and additional treatment is needed. It's powered by a web-based content management platform that lets you make changes instantly. It's $340 to $600 per month depending on usage.


PeerWell

peerwell.co
FYI: PeerWell is all about maximum recovery, both in pre- and post-op. The app provides fully automated, personalized patient support through the company's AI-powered PreHab and ReHab software platforms. It does this by collecting more than 1,000 data points per patient through their smartphones (no wearables required). PeerWell's AI then takes this data and creates customized daily plans for physical therapy, nutrition counseling, anxiety management, pain resilience training, home preparation and medical risk avoidance. Because of the AI component, the app runs independent of clinicians.


Simple Admit

simpleadmit.com
877-848-4726
FYI: Your staff use communication tools within the Simple PRM platform to connect with patients via two-way text messaging, emails and even phone calling (via a locally staffed call center) to collect patients' health histories, send surveys or let patients know about their financial responsibilities. PRM also lets you share timely, up-to-date billing information with patients about their financial responsibility. The app also lets you offer patients financing. Simple Pay with BHG Patient Lending is available at no additional cost within Simple PRM.

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StreaMD

mystreamd.com
920-304-6366
FYI: StreaMD creates automated chatbots (AI computer programs that simulate communication) that coach patients on everything from pre-op instructions to post-op physical therapy exercises with, for example, video demos of partial supported squats for total knee replacement rehab. Your physicians can customize the treatment preferences patients who opt-in receive in as much detail as they'd like. The doc's instructions are combined with StreaMD's library of content.

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SurgicalValet

epreop.com
888-328-7871
FYI: In addition to messaging patients critical pre-op info and instructions, the SurgicalValet also includes a readiness tracker — a tool that takes all the paper-based info (consult info, test results, etc.) and combines it into an electronic format that's easily viewed by anyone on the care team (from surgeons to follow-up nurses) at any time — which results in more on-time surgery starts and greater patient satisfaction, the company says. SurgicalValet's document management system also seamlessly integrates all this paper info into the bulk of major EHRs (Cerner, Epic, Meditech, Allscripts, Source Medical, HST, Amkai and many more).

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Twistle

twistle.com
505-750-8413
FYI: Using both big data and AI-powered healthcare tech, Twistle integrates with facilities' EHRs — as well as wearables (Fitbits, for example) and other healthcare devices — to ensure patients have the right info at the right time. Patients receive HIPAA-compliant text messages (Is the infusion ball getting smaller? Yes. No. I'm Not Sure.), photos and even emojis. On the provider side, staff can monitor patients' response to the messaging in real-time, create rapid-release surveys for tracking purposes and make changes to what's being pushed out as needed.

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VERA

Reflexion Health
reflexionhealth.com
619-550-4500
FYI: Your patients can rehab at home with VERA (Virtual Exercise Rehab Assistant), an app that combines an engaging avatar and 3D motion-capture technology that can record and provide audio-visual feedback. VERA can also provide telehealth visits with a licensed physical therapist.

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