Hackathon in Mainz: Buddy Healthcare develops digital care pathway for Cochlear Implant patients

The Universitätsmedizin Mainz (Germany) was hosting for the first time ever the Healthcare Hackathon on June 5-6. The project team of Buddy Healthcare attended the event and co-created with the hospital’s ENT department (ear, nose and throat clinic and polyclinic) a digital care pathway for Cochlear Implant patients.

Now you might wonder what is a Healthcare Hackathon? Healthcare professionals from various fields and innovative people (from Start-Ups) meet up and work together in teams on solving different kinds of challenges hospitals are facing. The primary goal of the Healthcare Hackathon in Mainz was to focus on the health services of the future and to create a meeting point of all parties being involved in digital health. The event in Mainz was not only a competition between the teams who developed new solutions and tools for the healthcare professionals future use but also a digital health fair, innovative workshops for professionals, and a networking space for Start-Ups.

Buddy Healthcare participated with the goal to solve challenges the Universitätsmedizin Mainz ENT clinic faces in guiding their patients through the Cochlear Implant care path.

 

In discussion with Mr. Dr. med. Benjamin Ernst he mentioned the following issues:

  1. Are there ways to decrease the time a healthcare professional has to spend on answering questions during the admission of a patient?
  2. How can filled questionnaires be immediately digitized and thus be easily reviewed by doctors?
  3. How can it be ensured that the patients receive all the necessary materials to be well prepared for the surgery?
  4. How to collect and evaluate Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) and Patient-Reported Experience Measures (PREMs) efficiently?

 

Buddy Healthcare’s project team co-created following solution with the Universitätsmedizin Mainz healthcare professionals:

The Universitätsmedizin Mainz branded mobile application as a white label solution to be used as a digital patient guidance tool. The patients will receive timely information, instructions, digital format questionnaires and reminders through the mobile app. PROMs / PREMs will also be collected through the app. The mobile app helps the patients in their surgery preparation and it makes all necessary information available 24/7.

So who will be the end user of the mobile app? Patients who are preparing themselves for the Cochlear Implant surgery, and parents preparing their child for the procedure will be using the app. The app enhances patient engagement by offering patients more active role than before.

The care personnel at the Universitätsmedizin Mainz will get their own Dashboard for remote patient monitoring and patient communication. All forms and PROM / PREM and other questionnaires will be provided in a digital format right after a patient has completed them. Use of the solution will be reducing the care personnel’s workload by reduced phone calls and paperwork and it offers a modern communication method for today's patients who are used to using online services in their daily lives.

The platform developed by Buddy Healthcare was customized during the Hackathon to fulfill the particular needs and wishes of the ENT department of the Universitätsmedizin Mainz. The project team of Buddy Healthcare has in close collaboration with Mrs. Kerstin Fiege, Frau Dr. med. Katharina Bahr and Mr. Dr. med. Benjamin Ernst collected material to create a digital ear nose and throat care pathway for patients preparing themselves for the Cochlear Implant surgery.

After some preparation beforehand and two days of intensive co-creation work in Mainz, the final solution was presented as a pitch.

Read in our latest Mainz Healthcare Hackathon blog, about how we focused on linking existing information technology systems to optimize the medical technology workflow even more with software and apps.

 

The Universitätsmedizin Mainz branded mobile app guides the hospital's cochlear implant patients