Prehabilitation in Periprocedural Care: Surgery Hero

First, Dr. Huddleston explains the process of “pre-habilitation,” in which patients actively prepare for a medical intervention ahead of time. This concept was first introduced in the oncology world. Where patients were encouraged to improve functional capacity and physiological reserve prior to starting chemotherapy. Surgery Hero recognizes that there are physiological and mental ways to prepare its members. The company offers one-on-one health coaching to help optimize lifestyle behaviors, as well as a digital platform for member education over the surgical procedures and recovery processes.

Surgery Hero has partnered with the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK to receive patient referrals and work towards improving perioperative outcomes. Dr. Huddleston emphasizes the need to collect data over quantitative hospital measures, such as length of stay, but also patient-reported improvements in health literacy. Surgery Hero is currently running a clinical trial over the effects of preoperative health coaching to support patients undergoing lower limb arthroplasties.

Finally, they discuss the challenges of product adoption. To make the digital platform as easy for patients to understand as possible, all education materials are written in a clear and non-complex manner. Additionally, there is flexibility built into the system so that different institutions can enroll patients in the way that works best for them. On the horizon, Dr. Huddleston would like to expand Surgery Hero to cover nonelective surgeries and new modalities of health coaching.