Panel moderator Dr. Jonah Stulberg discusses a session on “what works?” and “what’s hype?” in the era of apps and other tools such as telemedicine to enhance patient education and engagement. Many surgeons are unaware or resist time-saving technology can be deployed to better educate patients pre-operatively, leading to pre-op compliance with medication management, bowel prep and diet restrictions. Other functions addressed include using real-time feedback to create clinical alerts, reduce readmissions, post-operative phone calls and even appointments. He likened hospitals’ acquisition of electronic medical record technology to the revolution that brought personal computers to homes – and set the stage for always-on mobile communications through the smartphone. That’s now happening to physician-patient relationships as well, pushed by explosive growth in investor-fueled innovation.
