EASE app keeps families of surgical patients better informed

October 18, 2016

101916easeapp640At Texas Children’s Hospital we understand it’s hard to be a patient and that sometimes it’s even harder to be a loved one of those in our care, especially if they are undergoing surgery.

To help alleviate the anxiety of those sitting in the waiting room while their family member is on one of our operating tables, Texas Children’s Hospital is providing a resource that gives parents and/or guardians real-time status reports from the operating team.

Those updates come in the form of a HIPAA complaint text via an app called EASE or Electronic Access to Surgical Events. EASE allows doctors and nurses to securely communicate with families about their loved one from the surgery suite. Messages disappear within 45 seconds and nothing is saved on any device to insure private information stays that way.

“This application allows our families to leave the waiting room while their child is in surgery but still feel connected to their child’s doctors and nurses, and secure in the knowledge that a member of the OR team can contact them anytime it’s necessary,” said Dr. Larry Hollier, associate surgeon-in-chief for clinical affairs.

Currently, EASE is being used in the West Tower Main OR, the Clinical Care Tower OR and the Pavilion for Women OR. It will soon be used in the West Campus OR and will be available in the Woodlands OR when the community hospital opens next year.

The response from our patients since the application was introduced at Texas Children’s Hospital late last year has been overwhelmingly positive, Hollier said, adding that a nice feature of EASE is the feedback the application provides. At the end of every session, a customizable survey is generated allowing Texas Children’s Hospital to collect valuable patient satisfaction data.

Data collected so far on our patient families shows almost all users had a positive experience. The following comments are from people who used the application in one of our OR waiting rooms:

  • “This program was very nice. Just knowing what is going on really put me at ease.”
  • “Love this program! As a grandmother, it was an added bonus to keep us updated.”
  • “Wonderful way of keeping in touch. The pictures were truly a blessing.”

Director of Perioperative Services Janet Winebar said she is thrilled Texas Children’s Hospital is using EASE to better communicate with our families. She said the application increases their overall experience with the hospital by creating transparency and improving the doctor-patient relationship. It also decreases anxiety, which impacts the overall process for everyone involved.