A significant number of patients are willing to use a digital application following emergency department (ED) discharge to better engage in their care, lowering ED readmission rates, according to a study recently published in JMIR Formative Research.
The 1-year study followed patients treated in the ED at LifeBridge Health for general medicine or cardiology conditions who were invited to use a 5-day ED discharge loop through GetWell Loop. Patients received a text message to activate the ED loop one day post discharge. The loop included two-way communication and daily health status check ins, information regarding discharge instructions, and communication about follow-up appointments.
Patients could also use the loop to address concerns around prescriptions and medication instructions and side effects, as well other resources.
Of all patients offered use of GetWell Loop, 27% activated and engaged with the tool. Those patients experienced a statistically significant lower 30-day revisit rate compared to those who did not activate their account, suggesting that use of GetWell Loop can significantly lower readmission rates.
LifeBridge Health’s experience demonstrates that healthcare systems can leverage automated mobile apps to improve patient engagement and successfully impact clinical outcomes at scale.
Read the full study for more information.
Source:
Chatterjee P, Beck A, Brager J, Durand D, D’Adamo C
The Effect of an Automated Mobile Patient Engagement Application on Emergency Department Revisits: Prospective Observational Study
URL: https://formative.jmir.org/2021/12/e17839
DOI: 10.2196/17839
