Case Study: Live Streaming of Surgery on Periscope Raises Awareness

It took an Olympic swimmer, Rio bronze medalist Cody Miller, to raise public awareness of pectus excavatum: a chest wall deformity characterized by a caved-in appearance. The condition can cause compression of the heart and lungs.

Pectus excavatum can be corrected through a surgical procedure known as the Nuss procedure. Jackie Hurley is Surgical Coordinator for the Pectus Program at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, where the Nuss procedure has been performed more than 700 times. “In the recovery room, the first thing many of my patients say is ‘Oh my gosh, I can breathe!’” says Hurley.

Jared Johnson is Digital Marketing Manager at Phoenix Children’s Hospital

When a high-profile event like the Olympics hands you an ideal opportunity to educate families and showcase your health system’s capabilities in a unique and original way, you jump on it. Jared Johnson is Digital Marketing Manager at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. “We were looking for the right program, the right procedure that would make sense to do something new,” says Johnson.

Hurley and Johnson collaborated on a live broadcast of the Nuss procedure using Periscope, and the results were striking: Many families who watched the broadcast subsequently made the decision to have the procedure at Phoenix Children’s.

For all the details on this innovative idea—including what worked and what Phoenix Children’s would do differently next time—read the full article now:

Live Streaming Surgical Procedure on Periscope Helps Families Decide

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