MicroPort Orthopedics Optimizing its Episode of Care

MicroPort Orthopedics is taking an episode of care approach to enhance operational efficiency and patient satisfaction 90 days before and after surgery. The firm is investing in new strategic technologies and partnerships to improve efficiencies, patient outcomes, and provider productivity. 
 
Technologies built around streamlining the episode of care ensure patients are prepared mentally and physically for their procedure, and have digital resources to communicate with doctors throughout recovery. The resources can help healthcare providers monitor patients, predict risk, and manage outcomes. To increase patient engagement and systematically measure patient outcomes, MicroPort recently partnered with PatientIQ, a platform which combines patient engagement technology with research quality advanced analytics.
 
With over 1,600 online education modules, PatientIQ provides a patient experience that can be tailored to a procedure or a diagnosis. In addition to preoperatively educating and optimizing patients for upcoming surgery, the platform also administers patient outcomes surveys and automates data collection throughout the entire episode of care to provide full service and support to both patients and surgeons.
 
MicroPort Orthopedics has also recently partnered with Dr. Aaron Salyapongse, orthopedic surgeon in Dublin, Calif., to develop a Virtual Joint Class series moving patient education content to a digital format, allowing them to prepare for their upcoming surgery. These classes, available through MicroPort’s PATHWAYS program, are designed in a relatable and interactive blackboard style format to keep patients interested and engaged. They provide details about what to expect during and after the procedure. The classes not only introduce a breadth of topics including surgical preparation, anesthesia, discharge criteria, and post-op pain management, but also preemptively address many of the common causes for patient adverse events and readmissions.
 
“Over the last 20 years, total joint replacement surgery has undergone a significant evolution. In the early 2000’s, it was common for patients to spend days in a hospital for a procedure and then be moved to a skilled nursing facility for several weeks. Today, patients are routinely discharged hours after the procedure without any added risk and at a lower cost compared to a traditional inpatient setting,” Benny Hagag, president of MicroPort Orthopedics told the press. “These systemic changes to the Episode of Care, combined with the impact of COVID-19 on today’s healthcare system, have required companies to adapt and prioritize innovation and technology at the center of care. Our recent collaboration and strategic partnerships with like-minded companies and surgeons are what keep us advancing toward positive patient outcomes and effective procedures, and we are only getting started.”