Patient Feedback App Supports Pain Management Process

A new data collection and engagement platform allows healthcare providers to track patients' recovery for up to 10 days post-surgery.

The Avanos Medical (Alpharetta, GA, USA) PainBlock Pro is an message-based app that tracks patient progress by collecting patient reported outcomes (PROs) through quick daily surveys before surgery, after surgery, and up to completion of the pain management therapy. For patients, PainBlock Pro helps them return to normal living faster by providing access to educational resources and frequently asked questions; connecting directly to the healthcare team; and sending daily surveys so they can monitor recovery.

For the healthcare team, it provides real-time tracking of progress during recovery, with automatic escalation of concerning responses, all easily visualized to staff on the patient dashboard, accessible via a secure portal. The data extracted from the surveys also helps providers create personalized pain management plans, based on a number of key factors, including the patient's perceived level of pain, reported opioid consumption, and overall satisfaction.

“Gathering real-time patient feedback is an important first step in getting patients back to the things that matter,” said Bill Haydon, senior vice president and general manager of the Avanos Medical Pain franchise. “The PainBlock Pro app allows healthcare providers to interact with their patients with easy-to-use technology that provides critical insight into the recovery process.”

The World Health Organization (WHO; Geneva, Switzerland) Analgesic Ladder is the best-known method for approaching pain relief. It provides a strategy for titrating analgesia, starting with simple analgesics (paracetamol or NSAIDs), working up to weak opiates (such as codeine or tramadol); if still inadequate, morphine or other strong opiates are prescribed, often via patient-controlled analgesia pumps. As patients recover, it is important to wean down the analgesia to a simpler regime.

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