Grand River Hospital Reduces Length of Stay, ER Visits, and 30-Day Readmissions for Hip and Knee Surgery with Digital Care Journey Platform

In 2021 Grand River Hospital (GRH), one of Ontario’s largest community hospitals with 665 beds providing innovative, quality care to more than 840,000 residents of Waterloo Region and Guelph Wellington, partnered with SeamlessMD, a leading Digital Care Journey platform, to launch a surgical remote monitoring platform to support patients undergoing hip or knee replacements.

The clinically validated Digital Care Journey platform supports patients undergoing hip or knee surgery before their procedure and throughout their recovery through personalized education, progress-tracking, and post-op symptom monitoring using their own device (e.g., smartphone, tablet, computer). After being discharged from hospital, patients can connect with their care team to share photos of their wounds, and self-report their progress by entering data such as pain scores, symptoms, and range of motion through the platform remotely. This allows for personalized care recommendations and faster intervention from the surgical care team if necessary.

“In just seven months, we’ve been able to reduce readmissions, length of stay, and ER visits as well as receive an overwhelmingly positive response about SeamlessMD from our patients and staff. SeamlessMD provides an effective alternative to in-person care that helps us optimize the patient experience, increase operational efficiencies, and improve patient quality and safety,” explained Lisa Buttazzoni, Program Director of Critical Care and Surgical Services at Grand River Hospital. “The implementation of the technology supports our digital health mission by supercharging our ability to stay connected with our patients, regardless of where they live.”

With a vision to create a world-class health system and a mission to deliver exceptional care to both urban and rural patient populations, through the utilization of Digital Care Journeys for Orthopaedics, Grand River Hospital has achieved a significant reduction in 30-day readmissions, 30-day ER visits and length of stay as outlined below:

Hip Surgery Results:

• ↓89% 30-day Readmissions
• ↓62% 30-day ER Visits
• ↓29.8% Average Length of Stay
• 95% of patients would recommend SeamlessMD
• 89% of patients reported SeamlessMD made them more confident during recovery

Knee Surgery Results:

• ↓26% 30-day Readmissions
• ↓43% 30-day ER Visits
• ↓10.5% Average Length of Stay
• 94% of patients would recommend SeamlessMD
• 90% of patients have reported SeamlessMD has made them more confident during recovery

Patients also like that they can effectively self-manage from home and be more proactive in their healthcare. Grand River Hospital’s patients like the program for the following reasons:

• Easy to move through the various stages to prepare for surgery and post-surgery recovery requirements. SeamlessMD helped me keep on track with what I should be doing especially during recovery. Excellent ”assistant” for my two surgeries and I strongly recommend SeamlessMD to everyone facing surgery!!!
• This program was a “motivator” for me to do all that it asked of me including exercises & walking! I know that the program was very beneficial to my rehabilitation which has been great! The program was very easy to use/follow even for me as a 73-year-old. Fortunately, I am computer literate but for those who are not, I believe the program is very easy to follow!

With positive evidence-based outcomes, improved patient satisfaction, and patient engagement with the program in hand, Grand River Hospital has expanded its use of the SeamlessMD Digital Care Journey platform for colorectal surgery.

Read the full case study for more insights on how Grand River Hospital improved the experience for patients undergoing hip or knee surgery, and reduced high-cost services such as readmissions, length of stay, and ED visits.