Catch complications between appointments
A surgery center saw its patients post-operation at the 90-day follow-up, and until then relied on the patient to call if something went wrong. The clinic now automates patient check-ins earlier and more frequently via text message or email so critical patient symptoms reach a nurse immediately.
Clinical Challenge
A surgery center came to us because it had no way to check on a patient between the operation and the 90-day follow-up appointment. For those three months the clinic relied on the patient to call if something went wrong, and patients do not always call. Earlier or more frequent visits bring no reimbursement, and many of these patients travel a long way to be seen, so bringing them back in was never a realistic answer. The center could not afford a team of nurses to work through call lists either, and when it asked its IT department for a way to reach patients directly, the request went onto a waitlist two to three years long.
In this particular center, the silence was doing real damage. A complication that would have been simple to treat went unreported for as long as the patient chose to wait, caused ER visits and re-admissions, and none of those three months produced a record the surgeons could work from.
The center also has a CMS reporting deadline coming, and meeting it means obtaining a scored assessment on every joint replacement patient on a fixed schedule. Limited staffing and IT resources will make this difficult to achieve.
Impact
Complications found late
An infection at week two is a prescription. At week six it is an admission.
No measurable progress
The chart holds a recollection from the 90-day visit, which the surgeons cannot study.
Cannot meet the 2027 deadline
The CMS joint replacement measure is mandatory in 2027, and it needs a patient score a year after surgery.
“We don't hear from a patient until something has already gone wrong.”
Surgeon, orthopedic surgery center
Clinical Solution
The surgery center and EVAL started with the 90-day visit questionnaire the clinic was already sending out by mail and created 3 digital instruments that can be automatically delivered digitally (text msg or email) on a schedule. The three digital instruments includes a quick short form that patients can receive almost immediately to report recovery progress, a long form to thoroughly assess recovery progress, and a 12-month CMS joint replacement measure.
Each digital instrument is scheduled for the patient with pre-set schedule defaults for fast scheduling at discharge.
Clinical staff receive reports daily from patients and monitor the results, calling in the patients that need immediate attention or that have not responded within the timeframe.
The patient goes home after surgery
The patient is discharged with a 90-day appointment on the calendar and nothing scheduled in between.
A nurse starts the follow-up schedule
A nurse assigns the clinic's post-op follow-up to the patient once. The schedule covers days 3, 14, 30 and 90, then a short review at six and twelve months.
The check-in sends itself
It goes out by text and email on the day it is due. Nobody has to remember to send it, and nobody has to call to ask.
It has been 14 days since your surgery. How is your recovery going?
me.eval.health/7d1b9c
Wound symptoms raise a critical flag
Answers are scored against the thresholds the surgeons set. Redness, drainage and fever together cross the critical threshold as soon as the patient submits.
This answer combination crosses the critical threshold and is flagged for immediate review.
Staff work two short lists
The dashboard shows the results that need a call and the patients who have not replied. Everyone recovering as expected stays off the call sheet.
The visit opens with three months of answers
The surgeon sees how the patient reported their recovery at day 3, 14 and 30, and has a baseline to measure this knee against the last one.
What's your clinical challenge?
Bring us the workflow that is costing your clinic time, and we will partner with you to find a solution that works for your team.
Discovery call
We meet with your team to learn the challenge first-hand, then map where the workflow breaks down and what it is costing the clinic.
Solution proposal
EVAL designs a digital workflow that solves the challenge and returns with an implementation plan and the outcomes to expect.
Clinical pilot
Run the solution with one provider group to confirm it works as intended, then adjust as it rolls out to the rest of the clinic.