Sharp HealthCare’s health companion app now assists patients to prepare for and recover from cataract eye surgery. Patients get timely health alerts on their Apple devices to assist them with the procedure and post-operative follow-ups.
The app made by Dr. Tommy Korn, MD, and his team at Sharp HealthCare leverages Apple’s CareKit platform to provide services.
Dr. Tommy S. Korn is an ophthalmologist in San Diego, California, and is affiliated with Sharp Memorial Hospital. He received his medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and has been in practice for more than 20 years.
More importantly, he is one of the physicians who believe that Digital Health is here to offer numerous benefits to patients and makes sure to incorporate various Apple platforms and devices to create value for his patients and his staff.
The Health companion app is available on the Apple Watch and iPhone. Here are some of the key features of Sharp’s offering:
- Incorporates COVID-19 vaccine reminders. Pre-operative patients get reminders on their Apple Watch to complete COVID-19 vaccinations two weeks before surgery. There is a COVID Vaccine care card built into the app that assists patients in getting the vaccinations by providing them with details around where to get the vaccine and more before the surgery.
- Reminders on the iPhone and Watch also assist patients in arranging transportation before the procedure
- Built-in reminders for patients to take their eye drops as part of the pre-operative process
- Reminds patients to visit their primary care physician to get all the required clearances
As Dr. Tommy put it, the simple ingredients for this platform are the CareKit medical iPhone app, Health wearables (Apple Watch ), and belief in vaccines and human resiliency.
We sat down with Dr. Tommy following the WWDC 2021 to collect his thoughts and remarks around Apple Health and where we could be heading in leveraging Digital Health to facilitate change and offer value to patients.
