Welcome to the third chapter of our Hack Healthcare 2023! We trust you have been enjoying our previous posts and you want to know more about the other game-changing projects. In this edition, we delve into one called “Patient Buddy”. It revolves around capturing and leveraging patient feedback to improve healthcare experiences.
Meeting Patient Needs: Vera and Nurse Sam’s story
"Patient Buddy" was born from the idea of creating a mutually beneficial relationship between patients and the healthcare system. By delving into the daily challenges faced by individuals like Vera and professionals like Nurse Sam, the participants uncovered the unmet needs of both sides. Vera, battling chronic pain, longed for insights into how her condition affected her life, while Nurse Sam grappled with time constraints of time and concerns over data accuracy concerns.
These challenges are the very heartbeat of “Patient Buddy”, a solution that could bridge the two system gaps.
It offers a comprehensive platform to empower patients and streamline communication with healthcare providers. Its key features include:
- Disease Tracking: Allowing the patient to document their moods, sensations, and experiences related to their condition using e-calendar and journaling tools.
- Messaging: Providing robust messaging and chat functionality to ensure seamless communication between patients and medical professionals.
- Data Collection: Leveraging alerts, dashboarding, and data collection mechanisms enhance patients' ability to record and share relevant information.
- Reports for Providers: Equipping healthcare providers with actionable insights derived from patient data.
Transformative Impact: Enhancing Care Experience
The magic starts when Vera, Sam, and “Patient Buddy” join forces. Vera can now access guidance on managing her condition and complete pre-admission questionnaires easily. For Nurse Sam, patient preparation and streamlined data entry expedite care processes, optimising resource allocation.
Innovative Business Model
The "Patient Buddy" venture operates within a dynamic B2B framework, garnering support from hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, and MedTech industries. The collective mission is to streamline pre-admission paperwork, boost patient engagement, and tap into patient panels and surveys for richer medical insights.
The application thrives within a collaborative ecosystem, uniting public authorities, hospitals, healthcare professionals, advisory boards of patients, and patient organisations. Integrations with electronic medical records (EMR) and external partners enrich the data pool.
The vision spans one to three years, taking patients from recipients of support to active, empowered players. This evolution fosters patient empowerment, community growth, and improved data collection.
The future holds exciting opportunities. The potential business avenues would include premium subscription plans, public funding for platform advancement, and community-building through event participation. On the technical side, they plan to implement cloud storage, ongoing development, a buddy selection process, and refine review mechanisms.
The success of the "Patient Buddy" initiative thrives under the guidance of committed individuals and organisations, including:
- Ilse Van Brussel from Remedius
- Rania Charkdaoui from Euranova
- Versuska Nieto from Vivos
- Guillaume Vrijens from Euranova
- Martin Borgs from Hôpitaux Iris Sud
What Lies Ahead?
"Patient Buddy" embodies an innovative approach to healthcare, forging stronger connections between patients and providers for an enhanced care experience. By capturing patient evaluations, enhancing communication, and empowering patients, this initiative is the first step towards a healthcare transformation centred around the patient. Together, we can change healthcare for the better.
We invite you to stay with us on this exciting journey as we explore each of the projects that have had their beginning during Hack Healthcare in depth in our upcoming posts. It is a future filled with promise, and it is right around the corner!
