Post-surgery complication rates could be halved by new patient app launched by health tech pioneer

Digital therapeutics pioneer my mhealth has announced the launch of its new expert-designed app, myOp, which has the potential to halve post-surgery complication rates and improve recovery times for even the highest-risk patients pre-surgery.

According to a range of scientific studies, up to 30% of surgical patients experience complications after surgery, meaning increased healthcare costs, hospital stays and bed occupation. With Covid-19 leading to huge waiting lists and a backlog of elective surgery, the need to find ways of improving efficiency, reducing complications and length of stay has never been more essential.

myOp is an all-in-one solution supporting patients and clinicians from the decision-to-operate to a full, speedy recovery. It delivers a variety of ‘prehabilitation’ interventions that have been shown to reduce complication rates by up to 50%. my mhealth has selected the most effective, evidence-based tools, combined with proven behavioural change techniques to deliver tailored care to patients.

The app follows a model of prehabilitation broken down into three key areas: nutrition, exercise and anxiety. Patients can increase their fitness at a level appropriate to them, and a custom-designed mindfulness-based cognitive therapy course is in-app. With educational content, memory aids that support patient concerns and a nutrition section – myOp is packed full of videos and content that help patients to prepare well for surgery.

It also supports clinicians by providing a series of screening tools that allow rapid assessment of patient risk and identify those at a higher risk of post-op complications.

Surgical Expert at my mhealth and myOp creator, Dr Harry Thirkettle, commented, “I’ve seen first hand that the impact of post-surgery complications on both patients and healthcare systems can be catastrophic. These complications can have lifelong impact on patients and greatly increase the cost of care, as well as stress levels and pressure on clinical teams. They

also have indirect ramifications due to patients staying in hospital longer. This problem was something that I was passionate about solving. myOp was born from my desire to create something that could be widely used and given to every patient undergoing major elective surgery to give them the tools they needed to prepare. After 7 years in the making, I could not be more thrilled to launch this groundbreaking digital therapeutic.”

Professor Mike Grocott Professor of Anaesthesia and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Southampton commented, “Effective prehabilitation has been shown to reduce

complications and improve quality of life. As the health service recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic it is now more important than ever to support and optimise patients pre-operatively

complications, shorter hospital stays and improved efficiency in surgical pathways. Prehabilitation and enhanced recovery after surgery should form a key part of current elective recovery plans.”