Embracing the Consumer Mindset

Digital Messages From the Operating Room Ease Patients’ Anxious Family Members

April 28, 2016

eHealthcare Pulse

An Interview with Patrick de la Roza, CEO, EASE Applications

// By Jane Weber Brubaker //

In this interview eHST Editor Jane Weber Brubaker speaks with de la Roza to learn more about the EASE application that is credited with raising patient satisfaction scores from 80 percent to 97.5 percent at Nationwide Children’s. (“EASE” is an acronym for Electronic Access to Surgical Events.) See our related article, Patient Satisfaction Scores Near Perfect at Nationwide Children’s Hospital after Implementation of EASE.
Patrick de la Roza

Patrick de la Roza, CEO, EASE Applications

eHST: How did EASE get started?

PDLR: About three years ago, Dr. Hamish Munro, a pediatric anesthesiologist at Arnold Palmer Hospital, had a [patient with a] very nervous family. He decided to text them updates throughout the medical procedure. The reaction from the family was unbelievably positive. His partner, Dr. Kevin de la Roza (my brother), started texting families during surgery, too. People were unbelievably moved by simple updates letting them know what was happening throughout the medical procedure. They brought me on board and we realized we needed to create something that was more sustainable, something that would be HIPAA compliant and without using their personal phones. That was three years ago.

eHST: Who actually sends the messages from the OR?

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