Reduce Anxiety with Real Time Surgery Updates

January, 2022

If you have ever sat in a waiting room during a loved one’s surgery, you know the wait for updates and information is an excruciatingly nerve-wracking experience. The Vocera Ease application aims to eliminate that anxiety by providing an increased level of access and inclusion. No more waiting (sometimes for hours) and then trying to listen to a doctor or nurse explain the surgery from start to finish. With the Ease app, medical personnel can send real-time texts, images, and videos of a patient’s surgery directly to their friends’ and family members’ smartphones anywhere in the world. For example, one nurse can administer anesthesia to a patient in the operating room and another can use a handheld device to snap a quick photo of the patient, which is then instantly relayed to relatives. Multiple messages can be sent throughout the procedure to explain exactly what doctors and surgeons are doing during different phases of the surgery. 

Will Updates Be a Distraction During Surgery?

A nurse can track the progress of the surgery and keep the patient’s family informed without interrupting the procedure. “It is so seamless, it just becomes second nature,” says pediatric cardiac surgical nurse Kara Dobson, BSN, RN, PCCN, “I can send a quick text and keep going.” Developed by anesthesiologists with an intimate knowledge of the requirements of an active operating room, the Ease app is non-disruptive to the busy workflow of a surgical procedure.

What About Security and Privacy?

The Ease app abides by the same health care regulations (HIPAA and HITECH) that hospitals use to keep protected health information safe. The app also uses 256-bit encryption (the same level of security used by banks and credit card companies) to protect all communications. Plus, just like the popular photo-sharing app Snapchat, once a picture or video is received, loved ones have 60 seconds of viewing time before the update disappears with nothing being stored on either the sending or receiving devices.

Put Anxiety at Ease with Vocera Ease

Created by doctors for families, Ease app is the modern and innovative way to communicate during a long and overwhelming process. One reviewer stated:

“My Dad had open heart surgery and the hospital offered the Ease App. He was in surgery for over 5 hours and we received updates every 30 minutes from the nursing staff. I can’t tell you how comforting it was to receive updates on how he was doing throughout the surgery. Better yet, family and friends from all over the country were receiving the same pics and messages. Instead of sitting in the dark, wondering what’s going on, Ease was that light. This app needs to be in every hospital! It completely changes the way hospitals communicate with their families. If given the opportunity to use the Ease app, I recommend it 100%!”

Relieve anxiety during a stressful time with the Vocera Ease app.