UHN selects BYOD solution for remote patient care

TORONTO – The University Health Network has agreed to become the first hospital in Canada to offer Vivify Pathways Go, a “bring your own device” (BYOD) solution for remote peri-operative patient care. Vivify Health, of Plano, Tex., is the developer of the connected care platform for holistic patient care and engagement.

UHN’s Surgery Program is highly respected within the healthcare industry for its successful outcomes and its leadership in clinical excellence and developing surgical and perioperative care pathways. As part of the agreement, UHN will share their surgical care pathways with other Vivify Health customers through the company’s software.

The partnership is the next step in Vivify Health’s long-term strategy to expand its industry-leading connected care solutions in the international market. While Vivify Health previously announced a partnership with Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN), one of the largest telemedicine networks in the world, for Telehomecare, this agreement is the first to focus exclusively on its BYOD solution.

Vivify Pathways Go was selected after a stringent vetting process. UHN was particularly concerned about the ability of any solution to ensure the privacy and security of personal health information (PHI). Vivify Health was able to rise above other solutions in this area because of its prior experience and its Service Organization Control 2 (SOC-2) Certification rating which was achieved through a rigorous third-party security and availability audit of its technology and processes.

“A lot needs to go right before, during and after the surgery in order to deliver the best possible outcome,” said Dr. Shaf Keshavjee (pictured), surgeon-in-chief at UHN. “We were looking for a partner that could enhance our ability to prepare our patients to more fully embrace their responsibilities in these areas while ensuring the privacy and security of all the data and information they would be sharing.

Dr. Keshavjee continued, “It was clear that Vivify Health is at the forefront of remote patient monitoring and connected care. We are confident that this partnership will be a difference-maker for our patients, and for our organization as a whole.”

One of the challenges healthcare organizations face is preparing patients properly for surgery. Inadequate or improper preparations can delay surgeries which in turn affects patient health as well as hospital/clinic scheduling. Vivify Pathways Go is designed to reduce or remove those barriers by delivering proven, easy-to-understand information in the home on the user’s own device of choice.

Ensuring patients are prepared for follow-up care once they are discharged from hospital is another ongoing concern, especially as health care transitions to value-based care options such as bundled payments. Hospitals are reluctant to discharge patients unless they feel those patients are prepared to adhere to the post-surgical plan of care. This can increase length of stay by as much as 25%.

With Vivify Pathway Go, UHN will monitor patient symptoms and behavior at home, issue medication reminders, monitor medication use, and the patient`s understanding of the self-care content it is delivering to ensure patients remain on the pathway toward better health.

“In the last few years, the focus for patient care has moved from the clinical setting towards the home,” said Eric Rock, founder and CEO of Vivify Health. “The healthcare industry has come to recognize that the more successfully you can engage patients prior to and after surgery, the better chance you have of the surgery proceeding as planned and [improving] patient outcomes by reducing the post-surgical length of stay and [reducing] the chance of an unplanned readmission or other negative events.

“UHN is a recognized leader throughout the world,” said Rock, “and we are thrilled that they have chosen Vivify Pathways Go out of many options to be their BYOD remote patient management and engagement solution, and that they are willing to share their best-in-breed content with other Vivify Health customers.”

About Vivify Health
Vivify Health is the innovative leader in connected healthcare delivery solutions. The company’s mobile, cloud-based platform powers holistic remote care management through personalized care plans, biometric data monitoring, multi-channel patient education and functionality configured to each patient’s unique needs. Vivify Health serves the nation’s largest and most progressive health systems, healthcare organizations and employers – empowering clinicians to proactively manage the complexities of remote care and catalyzing employee health and productivity with a single-platform solution for all device and digital health data. The comprehensive, content-rich platform and turnkey workflow services enable providers to intuitively scale and maximize value across populations. For more information about Vivify Health, visit www.vivifyhealth.com. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. Visit our Company Blog to access case studies, thought leadership and news.

About University Health Network
University Health Network (UHN) encompasses Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and The Michener Institute of Education at UHN. The scope of research and complexity of cases at UHN has made it a national and international source for discovery, education, commercialization and patient care. UHN has the largest hospital-based research program in Canada, spanning cardiology, transplantation, neurosciences, oncology, surgical innovation, infectious diseases, genomic medicine and rehabilitation medicine. UHN is affiliated with the University of Toronto. For more information, please visit www.uhn.ca.