J&J Medical Italia presents 3 new Apps dedicated to patients

Johnson & Johnson Medical Italia, leader in the medical device sector, accelerates its contribution to digital innovation of the healthcare system, launching three new Apps for surgically treated patients. The three Apps, developed during the pandemic, represent cutting-edge digital solutions to support doctors in following patients who, due to the risk of contagion, could not access hospitals. Developed thanks to a close collaboration between J&J, surgeons, healthcare professionals and patient associations, starting from the patient’s needs and clinical recommendations – reads a note – the Apps accompany the patient along the entire care path . The Apps are made available to surgery patients when they are taken over by the hospital, immediately creating a direct link with the center. Through the App, the patient is followed at every stage of the treatment path, thus facilitating the exchange of information with the medical-surgical team and managing to reduce the stay in the hospital, while maintaining a continuous and personal connection with the doctors and arriving prepared, both physically and psychologically, for the intervention. The connection also continues in the post-intervention period, guaranteeing continuity in assistance and the App runs out of value when the patient officially leaves the follow-up period. “The pandemic has highlighted how the hospital can no longer be the only place of care”, says Silvia De Dominicis, President and CEO of J&J Medical Italia Spa. “We are convinced that our health system must rethink the entire process of care, evolving from the concept of an exclusively physical place towards that of integration with remote assistance, thanks to the development of digital healthcare and telemedicine. This is a first step towards the creation of virtual structures that bring operators closer to patients ”. “The patient, also thanks to the use of technology – underlines De Dominicis – today can be constantly followed by their doctors remotely and therefore need to go to the hospital only when the type of assistance and treatment requires it; this has a positive impact on his state of health and quality of life, and allows the health system to free up reusable resources for the treatment of an increasing number of people. Our intent is to collaborate with healthcare professionals for the development and implementation of innovative technologies, solutions and products that have a measurable impact both in terms of improving treatment outcomes and making the resources employed by the healthcare service more efficient “, concludes.Three Apps have currently been implemented, thanks to the clinical-scientific experience of leading Italian surgeons: ‘Butterfly’ for patients suffering from obesity; ‘COLORJourney’ for colorectal cancer patients; ‘MyPancreas’ (Monitor your Pancreas) for patients with pancreatic cancer. “I am proud to have contributed to the development of this project. The Butterfly App – says Alessandro Giovanelli, director of the National Institute for the treatment of obesity (Inco) at the Irccs Policlinico San Donato in Milan, a center that holds the record Italian for the number of bariatric interventions – it is a valid tool that allows us to be even more present in the lives of our patients, especially in the delicate post-operative phase and to follow them closely and for all their needs, step by step, even though not being physically with them. Giving continuity to the treatment path is essential for our patients and technology today helps us to do it in absolute safety, in a very particular historical moment. “Of the same opinion Marco Raffaelli, director of the complex operating unit of Endocrine and Metabolic Surgery at the Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome: “When we thought about the development of the Butterfly App, the primary objective was to create a tool aimed at integrating normal care activities, not to replace them, but to facilitate the constant interaction between the healthcare staff and the patient. In fact, bariatric surgery represents a radical change, to face which patients need continuous support and support. The Butterfly App is a candidate to be an ideal travel tool in this path of change. “” Even in the surgical area it is being understood that there is no split between the psychological and organic components, and that the outcome of an operation may depend a lot from how the patient approaches the operation physically and emotionally ”, explains Antonino Spinelli, head of the Colon and Rectal Surgery Operating Unit at IRCCS Humanitas. “We know, for example, that the wait before the intervention, which with Covid has often expanded, is experienced as a waste of time. We therefore decided to use the app to turn it into useful time: in just one month it is possible to improve a lot their physical state and recover part of the weight that patients with colorectal cancer often lose, in order to arrive at the surgery in the best possible conditions. Follow the patient’s perspective also during hospitalization and in the postoperative period, keeping him in direct contact with the The treatment team allows to lower post-discharge anxiety, allowing a softer return home. This is a unique service today, but which in the future will be the norm “. Sergio Alfieri, director of the pancreas surgical center of the polyclinic, concludes. University of Gemelli Irccs, a high-volume reference center for the whole of central and southern Italy: “The support of technology is precious to foster that essential multidisciplinary approach ile for the treatment of serious diseases such as pancreatic cancer, one of the most aggressive that can only be defeated if caught in time. The digitization of the path, for a specialized center of reference like ours, which also welcomes patients from Central and Southern Italy – he underlines – is fundamental as it allows us a 360 ° remote monitoring, both in the pre-operative phase and during the hospitalization, and at home with the patient’s return home. In this way it is also possible to customize the diagnostic-therapeutic path taking into account the needs of each patient ”, he concludes.