{"id":22329,"date":"2021-10-25T19:54:41","date_gmt":"2021-10-25T19:54:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?p=22329&post_type=story"},"modified":"2022-10-14T18:35:45","modified_gmt":"2022-10-14T18:35:45","slug":"connected-care","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/connected-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Connected Care"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fall 2021\u00a0<\/em>|\u00a0By Nicole Dudenhoefer\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>\u201917<\/strong><\/p>\n

When Laura (Diaz)\u00a0Freeland \u201908<\/strong> gave birth\u00a0to her twin daughters 17\u00a0weeks early in December 2019, she\u00a0didn\u2019t know she would soon rely on\u00a0an app to stay connected to her\u00a0children over the next several difficult\u00a0months. The first time she saw her\u00a0firstborn was through the Vocera\u00a0Ease app, which provides secure text,\u00a0photo and video updates to patients\u2019\u00a0families and friends. Over a very long\u00a0NICU stay \u2014 135 days for Vivienne\u00a0and 224 days for Margot \u2014 she\u00a0learned just how much comfort\u00a0Ease could provide.<\/p>\n

\u201cI [was physically unable] to bring\u00a0myself to visit the NICU right away,\u00a0so for the first two weeks everything\u00a0I knew about my daughters, I learned\u00a0through Ease,\u201d Freeland wrote in a\u00a0Vocera blog post. \u201cThey had about\u00a012 surgeries between them. Through\u00a0Ease, we got real-time messages and\u00a0photos before, during and after the\u00a0procedure at the discretion of the\u00a0medical team. \u2026 It\u2019s the most peace\u00a0of mind parents will ever have while\u00a0their children are hospitalized.\u201d<\/p>\n

Launched in 2013, the concept for\u00a0Ease came from a former hospital\u00a0administrator and three doctors\u00a0at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer\u00a0Hospital for Children. During the\u00a0early stages, 麻豆原创 alum Matthew\u00a0Kanagy \u201908 \u201914MBA<\/strong> served as chief\u00a0operating officer and managed the\u00a0technical development for Ease. In\u00a0August 2020, the app was acquired by\u00a0Vocera Communications, a healthcare\u00a0tech giant<\/a>, and now Kanagy serves as the vice president for the Vocera Ease\u00a0business unit.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore Ease, I felt like there\u00a0was a gap where new technology,\u00a0new ideas and new products needed\u00a0to be introduced to healthcare to do\u00a0things like create more transparency\u00a0of care,\u201d Kanagy says. \u201cI saw Ease as\u00a0a really great solution that provides\u00a0that needed transparency and\u00a0improves communication in the\u00a0hospital space.\u201d<\/p>\n

With patient care as the top\u00a0priority, Ease was developed to\u00a0seamlessly fit into nurses\u2019 workflow.\u00a0Ease messages are distributed to each\u00a0patient\u2019s group of family and friends\u00a0by using the same method nurses use\u00a0to administer medication: scanning\u00a0medical bracelets.<\/p>\n

To make sure patient information\u00a0remains private, each Ease message\u00a0self-deletes within 60 seconds\u00a0after the recipient views it. Kanagy\u00a0developed this security feature\u00a0and other solutions to ensure Ease\u00a0maintains HIPAA compliance \u2014\u00a0one of the biggest challenges of\u00a0developing healthcare technology.\u00a0He credits his studies in digital media<\/a>\u00a0and business<\/a> at 麻豆原创, along with\u00a0industry experience, for giving him\u00a0the skills needed to make the app\u00a0a success.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe digital media program at 麻豆原创\u00a0was very well rounded and gave me\u00a0an idea of all the things required to\u00a0understand the digital marketplace,\u201d\u00a0Kanagy says. \u201cWhen I got my master\u2019s\u00a0degree years later, it taught me a\u00a0lot of the foundational elements of\u00a0running a business and also how to\u00a0go into a boardroom, present an idea\u00a0and effectively communicate with\u00a0leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the pandemic, Ease served\u00a0an even greater purpose as visitors\u00a0were not allowed in most hospitals\u00a0across the nation \u2014 where hundreds\u00a0of thousands of people were isolated\u00a0with COVID-19. Last year, 742,000\u00a0messages were sent through Ease\u00a0to 260,000 patients\u2019 family and\u00a0friends across all area codes in the\u00a0United States.<\/p>\n

While historically used in surgical\u00a0units, the app also became more\u00a0in demand in intensive care units\u00a0and on medical floors \u2014 using video\u00a0and photo features to bring patients\u00a0closer to their loved ones during a\u00a0critical time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had some hospitals using\u00a0Ease to update families so they\u00a0would have the opportunity to\u00a0see videos and photos of their loved\u00a0ones who sometimes were in an\u00a0end-of-life stage because of COVID,\u201d\u00a0Kanagy says. \u201cAnd to me, making\u00a0this connection when visitation\u00a0wasn\u2019t permitted felt like a sacred\u00a0thing. Being able to help these\u00a0families see their loved ones was\u00a0very meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since Ease was acquired by\u00a0Vocera, the app\u2019s reach has grown\u00a0to even more hospitals, and its\u00a0Orlando team has doubled in\u00a0number, Kanagy says. With nearly\u00a08,500 reviews across application\u00a0stores, he says they\u2019re continuing\u00a0to evolve Ease.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always really appreciate\u00a0hearing patient and family stories\u00a0because it helps drive us,\u201d Kanagy\u00a0says. \u201cOur focus is on the end user,\u00a0so one of the things I most enjoy is\u00a0looking at the product each day and\u00a0saying, \u2018What can we do to make\u00a0this a better experience for the\u00a0patient and family?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

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[divider][\/divider]<\/p>\n

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[photo id=”22468″ title=”Matthew-Kanagy-002-scaled” alt=”Portrait image of Matthew Kanagy” width=”320px”][\/photo]<\/div>\n
\n

WHO<\/h2>\n

Matthew Kanagy \u201908 \u201914MBA<\/strong><\/p>\n

THE PITCH<\/h2>\n

An app that provides text, photo and\u00a0video updates about a patient\u2019s care\u00a0to their family and friends, while maintaining HIPAA requirements<\/p>\n

THE INSPIRATION<\/h2>\n

Staff at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer\u00a0Hospital for Children recognized how\u00a0nervous some patient\u2019s parents are\u00a0during long surgeries.<\/p>\n

BACKERS<\/h2>\n

Vocera Communications, a leader in\u00a0clinical communication and workflow\u00a0solutions<\/p>\n

WHERE YOU CAN FIND IT<\/h2>\n

App Store and Google Play<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":22448,"template":"","categories":[1408],"tags":[324,287,1452],"class_list":["post-22329","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-launchpad","tag-college-of-business","tag-college-of-sciences","tag-ucf-alumni","issues-1541","issues-fall-2021"],"yoast_head":"\nConnected Care: How the Ease App is Improving the Healthcare Experience<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Vocera Ease, a healthcare app a 麻豆原创 alum helped develop, aims to alleviate stress for patients\u2019 loved ones while keeping them informed.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/connected-care\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" 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