MONTREAL – McGill University Health Centre’s (MUHC) Steinberg-Bernstein Centre for Minimally Invasive Surgery has partnered with Toronto-based SeamlessMD, a company which provides a cloud-based patient engagement solution for surgery, to perform the first-ever study of a patient tablet application for Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS).

The study, which is funded by the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES), will determine whether a patient tablet application can improve patient adherence to ERAS care processes, reduce manual labour needed for data auditing and improve patient outcomes.

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) programs are a patient-centered approach to integrate evidence-based interventions into a coordinated, multidisciplinary care plan encompassing the entire perioperative pathway. A growing body of research has shown ERAS programs to significantly reduce hospital length of stay and patient morbidity for major surgery.

The MUHC’s Steinberg-Bernstein Centre for Minimally Invasive Surgery has long been a leader in ERAS care, having first implemented an ERAS program for colorectal surgery in 2006, and developing programs in thoracic, urologic, orthopedic and hepatobiliary surgery through a dedicated Surgical Recovery team.

“We are excited to be working with SeamlessMD to use technology to improve patient care. Currently, the ERAS protocol and audit tool is resource intensive and requires additional personnel. We also wanted new ways to engage patients in their recovery. We have been looking for an innovative solution to help with this,” says Dr. Liane Feldman (pictured), Principal Investigator for the study and Director of the Steinberg-Bernstein Centre for Minimally Invasive Surgery, as well as the co-chair of the MUHC’s Surgical Recovery team.

The first phase of the study will be a single group feasibility pilot. Each patient will receive a tablet loaded with the application at the bedside in the hospital. The custom application has been designed to educate patients about each day’s ERAS milestones and track their adherence.

The application links education, recovery planning, and daily self-assessment to a plan of care. By using the application, patients will be self-auditing their adherence to the ERAS protocol, and this data will be available in real-time to the clinical team. After, the second phase of the study will involve a randomized control trial.

“For the past few years, we have established SeamlessMD as the go-to solution for pre-operative and post-operative patient engagement. By collaborating with the MUHC, we are excited to demonstrate that an ERAS module on our platform can improve patient engagement and outcomes in the in-patient setting. Together, we are bringing a more coordinated effort to advance perioperative care,” says Dr. Joshua Liu, CEO of SeamlessMD.

About the Steinberg-Bernstein Centre for Minimally Invasive Surgery

The Steinberg-Bernstein Centre for Minimally Invasive Surgery was established at the Montreal General Hospital by a generous endowment from Florenz Steinberg Bernstein in 1995. The centre was developed to integrate the clinical, research, educational, and administrative activities in minimally invasive surgery (MIS) across the McGill University teaching hospitals.

About SAGES

The mission of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) is to improve quality patient care through education, research, innovation and leadership, principally in gastrointestinal and endoscopic surgery. SAGES is a leading surgical society, representing a worldwide community of over 6,000 surgeons that can bring minimal access surgery, endoscopy and emerging techniques to patients worldwide. For more information, please visit www.sages.org.

About SeamlessMD (@SeamlessMD)

Founded in 2012, SeamlessMD has emerged as a leader in healthcare technology. SeamlessMD provides a cloud-based, patient engagement solution for guiding patients through surgery. Available on smartphones, tablets and computers, patients are supported through preparation and recovery with timely reminders, checklists, interactive care plans and self-management tools. Patient generated data is transformed into clinical intelligence for healthcare providers to improve the patient experience, drive better outcomes and lower costs. The company serves surgery practices, specialty centers and hospitals in the U.S. and Canada and was named a Forbes 30 Under 30 in Healthcare in 2014. For more information, please see https://seamless.md/