PatientsForce Care Companion: post-surgery readmission rates linked to daily step count
AI-translated from the Chinese original · editorially reviewed
Research published in international journals in recent years confirms that a reduction in a patient's walking volume after surgery is positively correlated with the readmission rate. The study collected 215 patients with an average age of 63 and, through post-discharge monitoring with mobile devices, could accurately predict that if a post-surgery patient's daily walking volume (step count) dropped by more than half on two consecutive days after discharge, the likelihood of readmission was high. The accuracy of this prediction method was about 90%, showing the importance of monitoring patients' daily activity levels for post-discharge care.
Ding Yu-zhi, former senior head nurse of the cardiovascular medical and surgical specialty ward at Taipei Veterans General Hospital, says that continuous care of patients after discharge is currently a pain point in healthcare. Although patients and families do their best to follow the guidance provided at discharge, the lack of continuous monitoring and professional advice fills most patients' road to recovery with uncertainty.
Media-WIND Health Group, which provides new medical benefit and patient support program management services, today put forward a PatientsForce Care Companion cardiovascular care program. The model pairs the international brand-name Garmin health-monitoring watch and integrates the data into a digital care platform, where professional care nurses monitor the metrics collected from the health wearable device to provide patients with personalized recovery plans and lifestyle recommendations. This personalized care helps improve patients' recovery efficiency and also strengthens their confidence. At the same time, combined with the support of medical professionals in remote care services, patients can conveniently consult or arrange appointments with professional teams such as doctors, pharmacists, dietitians, and rehabilitation therapists through the everyday LINE@ messaging app.
Nurse Ding Yu-zhi says this innovative home care model not only provides patients and families with more reassuring and efficient recovery companion care, but also gives medical professionals a new tool to help them implement a continuous recovery management plan and improve patients' medication adherence, so that continuous care can extend from the hospital to the individual, providing affordable and clearly purposed care services. Through closer information integration with healthcare institutions, patient-centered care is achieved.