A Mobile Coach Application ‘Carey’ for Patients Undergoing Orthognathic Surgery

Objectives: Fast recovery after orthognathic surgery generates better outcomes, better patient satisfaction and minimizes hospital expenses. Fast-track surgery (FTS) is a multidisciplinary approach where the pre-, intra-, and postoperative management is focusing maximally on a quick patient recovery and early discharge. The flip side of the coin is that patients leave the hospital environment early and instructions about assessment and aftercare might be insufficient. We believe that traditional patient information leaflets as well as oral instructions given before discharge are of limited value in the stressful first post-operative week.
Therefore, we present a user-friendly mobile application that guides patients on a day-by-day basis through the preparation and recovery from surgery to not only shorten recovery and reduce complications but also gather patient-reported outcomes.

Methods: A mobile coach application guiding patients in the pre- and postoperative period is presented.
The application generates instructions, day-specific information, push notifications and patients will be able to communicate through artificial intelligence. Furthermore, it can be used as a tool to engender and improve patient reported outcomes.

Results: The mobile application that is presented is a first-generation demo application produced in collaboration with software-developers after an extensive functional analysis.
The application comes with various instructions, which are important in pre-admission and during postoperative recovery, according to the available evidence. The first patients and surgeon’s experiences will be presented.

Conclusion: In the era of fast track surgery, a mobile application seems to be a useful tool for patients undergoing orthognathic surgery improving preparation, recovery, safety, compliance and patient’s satisfaction. Yet, this is a first-generation demo application which needs further validation.