There are 50 million surgeries in the United States annually. Advanced methods and optimised surgical pathways can speed up recovery and reduce costs and unnecessary opioid use. Our customer, Goldfinch Health, offers a unique systematic approach to help employees navigate surgery and get back to their lives, including work, faster.
Advanced surgical care pathways with the help of the Buddy Healthcare's Platform
Goldfinch Health, located in Austin, Texas, has started supporting American patients through advanced surgical care pathways with Buddy Healthcare's care coordination platform. The first patients began using the mobile app at the beginning of November 2019.
Patients undergoing cholecystectomy, cancer excision, hernia repair, hip/knee replacement, and hysterectomy surgeries/procedures now have support and consultation through the app. While patients use the app, Goldfinch Nurse Navigators monitor and guide them remotely using the BuddyCare Dashboard.
So far, the feedback from the patients has been excellent, and they have adopted the use of the mobile app well. We were delighted to learn that all of the patients who have participated with Goldfinch, including the use of the mobile app, have rated the experience as 9 or 10 when asked if they would recommend Goldfinch to a family member or friend.
What’s inside the patient-facing surgery app?
- In the preoperative phase, the app provides information packages and digitized pre-questionnaires.
- In the postoperative phase, the app provides all necessary instructions, such as surgical wound instructions, a list of common symptoms, instructions for returning to work, and when to call the hospital.
Additionally, the app features a pain meter, pain medication questionnaires, two-way secure messaging, outtake assessments and automated reminders.
Faster return to everyday life with fewer opioids with the Goldfinch Nurse
Goldfinch Nurse Navigators consult the patients as they progress in their care pathways. Patients, for example, fill in the pain meter through the app and Goldfinch Nurses receive the results. Using the pain meter reveals how the patient's pain is managed in the critical days following surgery. It may indicate a need for a change to the pain medication regimen or other opportunities to intervene and help the patient on the road to recovery. If patients are not using the pain meter, they might take opioids based on prescription instructions even when the opioids wouldn’t be needed.
Goldfinch CEO Brand Newland said, “The two weeks after surgery are crucial in patient communication when our nurse needs to monitor, support, and guide patients with pain medication use and avoid complications causing costly readmissions and unnecessarily long recovery. The mobile app has been a great way to collect information/data and provide postoperative consultation to the patients.”
Secure patient communication and data collection.
As we interviewed Goldfinch Health CEO Brand Newland and COO John Greenwood recently, we found that one of their most important features is the secure messaging channel between the patients and Nurse Navigators for data collection.
- Two-way secure messaging between patients and Goldfinch Nurse has been very useful as the Nurse Navigator needed a safe and secure platform to interact with the patients. Phone calls are not always answered, but the mobile app is a convenient way to connect and provide personalized care to the patients.
- Data and discussion in a digital format to support documentation. Having all interactions and discussions with the patients stored safely in one location has been useful.
- Collecting structured data for reporting to hospitals has been valuable. Goldfinch Outtake assessments include Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) and Patient-Reported Experience Measures (PREMs) and provide beneficial reports about the care quality and patient experience to the hospitals
“Our partnership with Buddy Healthcare has played a key role in bringing our surgery and recovery navigation program to the US market,” said Greenwood. “We believe in the power of the human touch, amplified digitally. Buddy Healthcare has expertly supported our needs.”
It has been a pleasure for Buddy Healthcare to collaborate with innovative and unique Goldfinch Health, and we look forward to our journey together!
