text_1: Postoperative wound monitoring app can reduce readmissions and improve patient care
text_2: This news release reports on a feasibility study of using a smartphone app to detect post-surgical infections that patients might not recognize on their own. The news release does an exemplary job of discussing the need for such supports as patient training and dedicated staff to monitor uploaded images and points out that the study lacks a cost analysis. However, the headline overreaches when it states that the app “can reduce readmissions and improve patient care,” since this two-week study of 40 patients wasn’t geared to do that. Post-surgical infections can cause pain, poor wound healing, and severe problems including death, research has showed. The release noted they’re the most expensive hospital-acquired infection, costing an average of nearly $30,000 per wound-related readmission and an estimated $3-$10 billion annually. While smartphone apps might improve the ability of staff to monitor surgical wounds, news releases should point out the need to invest in a support structure — such as staff to train patients and monitor data — and should refrain from stating benefits that haven’t been demonstrated.