The California healthcare startup,
HealthLoop, approached Cara Waller, CEO of the Newport Orthopedic Institute in Newport
Beach, with their online tool which they said could get patients more
engaged in their orthopedic care by "automating" physician empathy.
It "almost made me nauseous," Waller said. “How can you
automate something as deeply personal as empathy?”
But, with
Newport Orthopedic Institute’s surgeons are performing as many as 500 orthopedic surgeries a year, she could see
the need for better communication and the ability to track the progress
of patients after surgery.
The HealthLoop platform allows our
orthopedic surgeons to regularly check-in on their patients through digital check-ins that
arrive at the right time during the patient’s recovery to provide
specific guidance, reminders and educational materials that are all specific
to the condition and treatment provided. Commonly asked clinical questions
are available to help patients find answers to their questions quickly
and easily.
Best of all, the HealthLoop tool helps to keep our patients on-track to
getting back to their normal life. But, should any clinical concerns arise,
the tool allows patients to communicate with their orthopedic surgeons
to get extra hand-holding and early detection to help prevent re-admissions
to the hospital.
So far, Waller has been pleasantly surprised by Newport Orthopedic Institute’s
patients' enthusiasm for the personalized — but automated —
daily emails they receive from their orthopedic doctor.
Newport Orthopedic Institute and HealthLoop were featured in a CNN Health
article. To read the full story,
click here.