Healthcare app pioneer mhealth has partnered with the University Hospital of Southampton to create myOp, a high-potential app that aims to halve post-surgical complication rates and improve recovery times for even the most at-risk patients before surgery.
Up to 30% of patients experience complications after surgery, leading to an overall increase in healthcare costs, hospital stays and bed occupancy. The problem has become even more apparent following the pandemic and the increase in hospital admissions and intensive care. The huge waiting lists and the long delays in elective operations have pushed the medical community to strive to improve efficiency, reduce complications and minimise length of stay.
The solution focuses on nutrition, exercise and anxiety, three key areas of prehabilitation. With myOp, patients can better prepare for surgery with personalised fitness plans, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy classes, nutrition guides and a range of educational content, including memory aids, to address their concerns.
Clinicians also benefit from the app with a variety of AI-powered screening tools that allow for rapid patient risk assessment and therefore optimised identification of those at higher risk after surgery.
Dr Harry Thirkettle, a surgical expert at mhealth and creator of myOp, explained in a statement how aware he is of the impact of post-operative complications on patients and the healthcare system. Presenting both a risk of lifelong impact on patient health and a significant increase in the cost of care, post-operative complications also have a significant impact on stress levels and pressure on clinical teams.
In collaboration with the University of Southampton, Dr Thirkettle has addressed a problem he is passionate about through 7 years of extensive research and development which have resulted in the creation of a tool that can be widely used in the preparation of major elective surgeries.
This revolutionary digital therapy is heavily focused on pre-habilitation which, as Professor Mike Grocott, Professor of Anaesthesia and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Southampton, explains, has been shown to significantly reduce complications and improve quality of life.
With the paradigm shift that the pandemic has brought to the healthcare system and the way it operates, supporting and optimising patients’ pre-operative complications is mandatory to avoid delays and reduce the cost of care and length of hospital stays, while also ensuring optimal outcomes for patients and reducing stress on care teams.