Ochsner Health System

Making patients partners in their own healthcare.

Ochsner Health System, the largest not-for-profit academic medical center in the Gulf South, uses iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch to further its mission of innovation in healthcare. Its staff of 17,000, including more than 1,000 physicians, treats patients from all around the world at 25 hospitals and more than 50 health centers. Ochsner was the first in the nation to deploy Apple Watch to patients to help manage chronic disease.

At Ochsner, Apple Watch, iPhone, and iPad are helping us deliver healthcare more efficiently and more cost‑effectively. iOS devices have the opportunity to transform healthcare as we know it.

Warner Thomas, President and CEO, Ochsner Health System

A fully integrated ecosystem for hospitals.

Thanks to seamless and secure sharing of health information, patients and medical care teams at Ochsner work as partners in the healthcare process. Apps for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch provide doctors, nurses and patients with tools to communicate transparently inside and outside of Ochsner facilities.

Epic Canto
Epic Haiku

The Hospital Experience
Using mobile data for smarter, shorter hospital stays.

At Ochsner facilities, doctors, nurses and patients use iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and a suite of apps from Epic to keep informed and in touch around the clock. From the beginning of a hospital stay to a patient’s timely release, patients and staff share access to test results, schedules, medication information and more.

Elevating the hospital experience with iOS.Learn how Ochsner clinicians utilize iOS devices, Apple Watch and Epic apps to achieve maximum productivity in the delivery of healthcare.

Even under ideal circumstances, hospital stays can be stressful. Ochsner improves the experience for patients by providing each one with an iPad running the Epic MyChart Bedside app. With the ability to see their lab reports and vitals, review upcoming procedures, view educational videos and care plan, and see pictures and profiles about their care team, patients gain peace of mind knowing that they are an active participant in their healthcare recovery.

Through iPad and the Epic Canto app, doctors have mobile access to patient data. They can view test results or read up on a patient’s medical history while making rounds instead of using a cumbersome and expensive workstation on wheels. With the Epic Haiku app, doctors can view patient data and charge capture using their iPhone. Nurses are more mobile, too; they can administer hospital medications with the Rover app for iPhone. Secure scanning of the barcodes on a patient’s wristband and the medication packaging helps Ochsner deliver the right medication to the right patient in the right dose.

The Epic Haiku app extension for Apple Watch now allows doctors to be notified with a tap alert on their wrist when new lab results become available. With instant access to this information, doctors at Ochsner are able to send patients home earlier than before, minimizing the length of stays and providing vacant beds for incoming patients needing treatment.

Touch ID

Touch ID gives instant access to patient charts with biometric authentication, saving clinicians valuable time when accessing the EMR.

Notifications

The Epic Haiku app sends notifications to Apple Watch to alert doctors of key information and events with an audible chime or haptic tap on the wrist.

WatchKit

Epic uses WatchKit developer tools to build features that enable doctors to interact with patients and schedules via Apple Watch.

iOS devices have really allowed us to go mobile within the organization. Our physicians are able to engage with patients 24/7 wherever they are, and it really allows faster, better healthcare.

Warner Thomas, President and CEO, Ochsner Health System

The Outpatient Experience
Continuing patient engagement outside the hospital.

Some Ochsner patients suffering from chronic disease stay connected to a care team that monitors their health at home between office visits using iPhone, Apple Watch and the Apple Health app. This has enabled Ochsner to treat chronic disease more efficiently, at a lower cost, and ultimately reduce the rate of readmissions to the hospital.

Managing chronic disease with iOS.Discover how iPhone, Apple Watch and the Health app are transforming chronic disease management and patient care at Ochsner.

Chronic disease — which includes high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, diabetes, obesity and arthritis — is America’s number one health risk. With more than 50 percent of Americans suffering from chronic disease, the epidemic is burdening the US healthcare system, accounting for nearly 86 percent of total healthcare spending, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ochsner is improving the statistics for its patients through regular monitoring of vital signs with iOS devices.

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Control rate for hypertension in the U.S.

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Control rate for hypertension in the U.S. at Ochsner at 90 days.

Patients who enrol in Ochsner's Hypertension Digital Medicine Program track their health using iPhone, Apple Watch, the Health App, and HealthKit-enabled devices such as the Withings Bluetooth blood pressure cuff. Rather than visiting the doctor a few times a year to record their blood pressure, they can take daily or weekly readings at home. The Apple Health app aggregates all health data on each patient’s iPhone. A patient can elect to feed their health information directly into Ochsner’s electronic medical record system (EMR) through the Epic MyChart app for iPhone. Clinical Pharmacists at Ochsner then visualize this data on a user-friendly dashboard, contacting patients and doctors if the patient’s threshold triggers an alert.

Bluetooth

The wireless blood pressure cuff from Withings is one of a growing number of medical devices that make use of HealthKit and Bluetooth to share data with the Health app.

Health app

The Apple Health app allows patients to store their health and fitness information in one place on their iOS device. With an easy-to-read dashboard and customizable data controls, patient information is stored, managed and accessed securely and privately.

Ochsner Population Health Program

Onboarding of Patients

Patients who require home monitoring are identified and invited to join the program. They're onboarded by physicians who set clear expectations on how they will be remotely monitored by the care team. The physician signs an order in Epic, allowing patient-generated data to populate the EMR. If a patient needs immediate attention, they are directed to call the emergency department or the on-call physician.

Patient-Generated Data Management and Alerts

The hospital care team regularly monitors a dashboard to see which patients need attention, freeing physicians up to focus on more immediate tasks. Providers receive reports at their chosen frequency, and additional data is accessible through Epic. Dynamic flags are generated based on calculated risk scoring, which identify patients who need to be contacted by the care team.

Patient Monitoring Devices

At the O-Bar, patients purchase monitoring devices prescribed by their physicians at negotiated discounts. Health experts help patients connect the devices to their iPhones and set up MyChart permissions to send data to the Ochsner EMR.

Patient Privacy

Patients actively choose to enrol in the program with a signed consent provided by the hospital. Patient-generated data is encrypted and securely transferred from the iPhone MyChart app to the EMR. No data resides in the MyChart app after the data is sent.

Not only am I able to send health information to Ochsner, I’m able to look at it myself and do things about it. That’s quite empowering. Knowing that this technology has got me covered has brought me great peace of mind.

Andres Rubiano, Ochsner hypertension patient

The Data Center
Empowering patients and doctors with data.

Patient data passes seamlessly from devices like a wireless blood pressure cuff to the Health app on the iPhone, then to Ochsner’s back‑end EMR system. This handoff improves the way hospitals can collect, share and use patient data to produce better patient outcomes.

Utilizing patient data to enhance care.Watch how patient data is securely transmitted, aggregated, processed and visualized by Ochsner care teams.

Apple technology and the Epic suite of iOS apps combine to provide doctors and patients with unprecedented access to health information. As a result, patients can take a more active role in the healthcare process and make better and more informed decisions.

The technology also makes new types of data connections possible. Apple HealthKit is a robust technology platform that enables third-party app developers and medical device makers to connect securely to iPhone via the Health app. The Epic MyChart app utilizes this connection to deliver health data to Ochsner’s EMR system. iOS security features, such as Touch ID, help to keep this health data safe and confidential every step of the way.

HealthKit

Apple HealthKit developer tools allow third-party health and fitness apps to share their data with the Apple Health app. Permissions are controlled in the Health app.

At Ochsner, physicians reduce the routine burden of patient care by empowering care teams to follow evidence-based guidelines based on patient feedback and big data analytics. Additionally, patient-generated data can be combined with clinical data and health-related behaviours to create a more comprehensive picture of the patient’s health status. Finally, based on each of the discrete data elements captured, risk scores and alerts are established within the EMR to highlight which patients need what intervention, by whom, and when.

This is an exciting time in medicine, to utilize new technologies to bring in the most important person in the healthcare equation: the patient himself.

Dr. Richard Milani, Chief Clinical Transformation Officer, Ochsner Health System

Discover more ways iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch technologies are allowing healthcare professionals to work effectively within their hospitals, connect remotely with their patients and conduct groundbreaking medical research.Get Transforming Healthcare for free in iBooks

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