Individualized information videos for improved patient education
The Kantonsspital St.Gallen (KSSG) is the central hospital in Eastern Switzerland. As one of the largest hospitals in Switzerland, it not only provides basic healthcare services for the population of the city of St. Gallen and the surrounding regions but also serves as a centre for residents of the entire Canton of St. Gallen and some neighbouring cantons.
Furthermore, Kantonsspital St.Gallen offers officially recognized training, continuing education, and specialization programs in all represented medical disciplines. It also actively participates in pioneering research projects and adheres to university-level standards in both healthcare delivery and quality.
Challenge
Time-consuming patient education discussions with limited patient-centeredness.
The legal requirement for patient education before a medical procedure exists. In an educational discussion, patients receive a lot of information in a short period and must subsequently confirm with their signature that they have been informed about the upcoming procedure and have understood the content of the conversation. These discussions represent a stressful situation for patients. Additionally, the orally conveyed information can vary depending on the experience of the informing physicians. Due to the analog and often ad-hoc nature of these educational situations, patient education has so far offered little room for a demonstrably beneficial standardization. At the same time, doctors perceive such appointments as a repetitive and time-consuming task.
To improve patient information, Kantonsspital St.Gallen (KSSG) sought a modern solution for standardized patient education that would alleviate time and staffing resources.
Using the medudoc platform, Kantonsspital St.Gallen efficiently creates personalized patient videos, which are made available to patients before procedures.
The operation of this system was tested through a pilot project involving selected procedures. Following its successful completion, the application was integrated into regular operations and expanded to include additional procedures.
Solution
Personalized videos for location-independent and standardized patient education.
To accomplish this, Kantonsspital St.Gallen (KSSG) initially identified the most commonly performed procedures that require patient education. These procedures included those from the fields of general surgery, neurosurgery, orthopaedics, urology, and ophthalmology. Subsequently, medudoc collaborated with the physicians from these specialized areas to develop medical and patient-centered video content.
Through medudoc's modular platform, doctors can customize the information videos to specific patient needs, including factors such as gender, indication, surgical procedure, risk profile, or the operated side.
Doctors receive a modular video proposal based on individual patient data. Following a modular approach, the treating physicians can choose which modules are relevant for the patient education discussion.
Patients receive an individually tailored video in this way, which can be viewed regardless of location and as often as needed.
This approach also allows family members to be flexibly integrated into the process.
Any remaining questions are subsequently addressed in the official patient education conversation with the specialist physician.
The standardized digital information process enhances the quality of patient education. The hospital can ensure that patients receive all essential information about an upcoming procedure, regardless of the experience level of the informing physicians.
Simultaneously, repetitive tasks in the context of patient education are significantly reduced. Thanks to the user-friendly platform, the creation of an information video takes only a few seconds, depending on the level of customization required.
More than 92% of the physicians at Kantonsspital St.Gallen who participated in the pilot phase expressed their desire to continue using it in the future and not go without it.
The time saved by using this system allows them to gain valuable resources for activities such as diagnostics, treatment, or other administrative tasks.
Result
Individualised videos simplify the daily work routine and enhance patient education.
15 Min.
Time saving per patient education (General Surgery)
14-90 Sec.
Time required for the creation of individualized videos
92%
The doctors want to continue using medudoc.
- The use of the medudoc digital video platform significantly improved the quality of patient education.
- Treating physicians were able to save up to 15 minutes per patient education session.
- In total, 276 patients were informed about upcoming procedures via video during the pilot project, and they rated the service with 4.9 out of 5 stars.
- Staff resources were significantly relieved.
"The patient videos are user-friendly for the medical staff and very easy to use. The feedback from the patients is excellent. The video information for standardized procedures truly adds value and is likely to contribute to a positive image of the clinic."
Dr. Thomas Steffen, Deputy Chief Physician in the Department of General, Visceral, Endocrine, and Transplant Surgery.
"For the patients, it's great that they can take the consultation home with them, and the older ones, in particular, are enthusiastic about it. They appreciate the opportunity to watch it again at home with grandchildren or children.
For the patients, it's interesting, simple, and valuable, and the education itself is more comprehensive."
Dipl. Doctor Nina Pfeifer, Hospital Specialist in the Department of General, Visceral, Endocrine, and Transplant Surgery.
"medudoc is an asset to our clinic because it enhances the quality of patient education and, in particular, significantly simplifies the work for the medical staff."
Dr. Moritz Sparn, Senior Physician (in Vertretung) in the Department of General, Visceral, Endocrine, and Transplant Surgery.
"The majority of patients find the video information helpful as it provides a better visualization of the entire process. Compiling, sending, or printing is particularly quick. In my opinion, video information will become significantly more important in the future."
Dr. Isabel Hostettler, Senior Physician in the Department of Neurosurgery.
"We are convinced that our patients feel more secure and can participate optimally in the treatment process thanks to the personalized information videos."
Dr. Norbert Rose, Head of Quality Management.
"The individualized videos are already well-prepared for us and can be selected and sent quickly. We now have much more time to focus on the patients who have been informed in advance."
Prof. Dr. Oliver Bozinov, Chief Physician in the Department of Neurosurgery.
In recognition of its modern patient education approach with medudoc, Kantonsspital St.Gallen (KSSG) also received the Quality Crystal Award in the category "Promoting Patient Competence in the Field of Health, Illness, and Healthcare."
This award is presented by the Swiss insurance company CSS and distinguishes KSSG as a modern and innovative hospital.
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TRANSFORMING HEALTHCARE THROUGH INNOVATIVE PATIENT EDUCATION.