According to The Wall Street Journal, several of the most popular products include the Electronic Access to Surgical Events, or EASE, app, which prompts nurses to send messages and photos from the OR and NICU to parents every 30 minutes. Another service, from Natus Medical, is NicView, which offers real-time streaming from the NICU to any web-based device.
Though use of this technology has sparked significant increases in patient and family satisfaction — for example, after EASE was installed at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, 97 percent of families rated their surgery experience as “very good,” compared to a previous level of 80 percent — adoption is still less than widespread: Per WSJ, only 200 U.S. hospitals have installed NicView cameras and just 60 use the EASE app.
This reluctance stems in part from privacy concerns for both patients and providers, but even more so from the high cost of implementation. According to WSJ, EASE costs $20,000 to $500,000 per year, depending on the size of the hospital or health system, while each NicView camera costs up to $2,000 for installation, on top of a $200 annual per-camera fee for the service.
Still, many hospitals have found that the improvements in patient and family experience associated with services such as EASE and NicView are well worth the trouble of addressing these challenges. Plus, the products simply make sense: “If I can track my food on Uber Eats or my package on Amazon, why can’t I track my family member’s condition in the OR?” Patrick de la Roza, EASE co-founder and CEO, told WSJ.
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