Earlier this week we talked about the importance of balancing technology with humanity – how healthcare is inherently a people business. The value of the human clinician, no matter how advanced AI progresses, cannot be replicated or replaced.
Furthermore, we healthcare technology companies cannot lose sight of our “why” – why we work everyday to advance our products and get them into the hands of clinicians: to improve care and outcomes for patients.
As the previous post described, technology companies must understand that care delivery is more than a process map and patients are more than data points.
To stay true to this, we love to share patient stories whenever possible – to showcase the very real value of technology supporting clinicians to enhance care and improve patient outcomes. And, today, we’re highlighting Shane J. Nho, MD, MS of Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush (MOR) and his patient, Meredith Goode.
As WINK News reported, 33-year-old Meredith Goode is more than just a patient of Dr. Nho, an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist. Meredith is an avid runner, having done marathons and triathlons in addition to her day-to-day joy for running.
When training for an upcoming race, Meredith noticed unusual groin, leg, and back pain. An MRI found a labral tear, and Dr. Nho recommended hip surgery.
It’s not a treatment decision to recommend lightly, but Dr. Nho was confident (not based on his gut but based on analytical evidence) that it was necessary if Meredith wanted to continue to race.
What was that confidence based on?
Dr. Nho and the team at MOR utilize the PatientIQ platform to collect, measure, and analyze patient outcomes data. The platform has allowed them to develop a robust database they can use to analyze factors such as age, surgical history, level of activity, and the overall impact of treatment decisions on patient outcomes. The PatientIQ platform, in addition to an algorithm MOR created, enabled Dr. Nho to calculate the likelihood of Meredith achieving a significant improvement with hip surgery and the data was clear – Meredith’s best chance of returning to competitive running was hip surgery.
The level of statistical confidence Dr. Nho had to back up this treatment recommendation was profoundly comforting for Meredith. As she stated, “Knowing his confidence gave me more confidence it would be a success.”
Six months post-surgery, Meredith was running again – pain-free. One year post-op, she was ready to race.
Healthcare technology can serve as a powerful tool to enhance the patient-provider relationship. In the case of Dr. Nho and Meredith, the PatientIQ platform was able to provide Dr. Nho the supporting evidence Meredith and most patients would prefer prior to making a complex health decision.
In most shared decision-making scenarios, clinicians can speak broadly with patients about positive outcomes and how long they’ve been practicing – few clinicians can quantify their outcomes. Even fewer are empowered to analyze patient outcomes data and evaluate treatment options at the individual level.
The PatientIQ platform is a powerful partner to help achieve optimal patient outcomes.
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