Beesoon Sanjay, Drobot Ashley, Smokeyday Melissa, Ali Al-Bakir, Collins Zoe, Reynolds Colin, Berzins Sandra, Gibson Alison, Nelson Gregg
Surgery Strategic Clinical Network, Alberta Health Services, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
JMIR Form Res. 2023 Dec 15;7:e49277. doi: 10.2196/49277.
Of all the care provided in health care systems, major surgical interventions are the costliest and can carry significant risks. Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) is a bundle of interventions that help improve patient outcomes and experience along their surgical journey. However, given that patients can be overwhelmed by the multiple tasks that they are expected to follow, a digital application, the ERAS app, was developed to help improve the implementation of ERAS.
The objective of this work was to conduct a thorough assessment of patient and provider experiences using the ERAS app.
Patients undergoing colorectal or gynecological oncology surgery at 2 different hospitals in the province of Alberta, Canada, were invited to use the ERAS app and report on their experiences using it. Likewise, care providers were recruited to participate in this study to provide feedback on the performance of this app. Data were collected by an online survey and using qualitative interviews with participants. NVivo was used to analyze qualitative interview data, while quantitative data were analyzed using Excel and SPSS.
Overall, patients found the app to be helpful in preparation for and recovery after surgery. Patients reported having access to reliable unbiased information regarding their surgery, and the app provided them with clarity of actions needed along their surgical journey and enhanced the self-management of their care. Clinicians found that the ERAS app was easy to navigate, was simple for older adults, and has the potential to decrease unnecessary visits and phone calls to care providers. Overall, this proof-of-concept study on the use of a digital health app to accompany patients during their health care journey has shown positive results.
This is an important finding considering the massive investment and interest in promoting digital health in health care systems around the world.
在医疗保健系统提供的所有护理中，重大手术干预成本最高且风险巨大。术后加速康复（ERAS）是一系列有助于改善患者手术过程中的治疗效果和体验的干预措施。然而，鉴于患者可能会被要求遵循的多项任务压得喘不过气来，因此开发了一款数字应用程序——ERAS应用程序，以帮助改进ERAS的实施。
这项工作的目的是对使用ERAS应用程序的患者和医护人员的体验进行全面评估。
邀请在加拿大艾伯塔省两家不同医院接受结直肠或妇科肿瘤手术的患者使用ERAS应用程序，并报告他们的使用体验。同样，招募医护人员参与本研究，以提供对该应用程序性能的反馈。通过在线调查和对参与者进行定性访谈收集数据。使用NVivo分析定性访谈数据，而定量数据则使用Excel和SPSS进行分析。
总体而言，患者发现该应用程序对手术准备和术后恢复有帮助。患者报告说能够获得有关其手术的可靠、无偏见的信息，该应用程序让他们清楚了手术过程中需要采取的行动，并增强了他们对自身护理的自我管理能力。临床医生发现，ERAS应用程序易于操作，对老年人来说很简单，并且有可能减少不必要的就诊和给医护人员打电话的次数。总体而言，这项关于在患者医疗保健过程中使用数字健康应用程序的概念验证研究显示出了积极的结果。
考虑到全球医疗保健系统在促进数字健康方面的大量投资和兴趣，这是一项重要发现。
