Imagine travelling for hours to reach hospital for a long-awaited operation, only to be sent home because of a missed instruction. For many patients waiting on elective surgery in Australia, it is a familiar story.
In the Talking HealthTech podcast episode, Dr Cory Williams, Research and Clinical Lead at Five Faces, talks with host Peter Birch about what goes wrong before surgery and what health services can do about it.
Cory draws on his clinical experience and PhD research to explain how long waitlists, short appointments and verbal instructions leave patients unsure of what to do next. A missed fasting or medication instruction can mean a same-day cancellation, with costs for the patient, the clinical team and the health service.
“From the patient side of things, I would answer phone calls all the time. They’re continuously feeling lost,” Cory says.
He shares the story of a patient from far north Queensland whose complex surgery in Brisbane could not go ahead because she had not followed her medication instructions. “She’s had to take two boats and now two planes to get here.” For patients in regional and remote areas, a cancellation carries a particularly high personal cost.
More staff isn’t the answer
Cory shares that adding staff or reminders on top of outdated, paper-based processes does not fix the underlying problem. Instead, he makes the case for surgical pathways that are repeatable, automated and easy to access, giving patients the right information at the right time rather than more of it.
The conversation also covers:
- How a patient timeline of milestones and a clinician view of who is on track or at risk can improve visibility on both sides
- Personalising pathways by procedure, medication and each patient’s clinical, logistical and emotional needs
- Designing for health literacy, language, culture, disability, location and digital access, including carer and delegate access and in-person or phone support for patients who don’t use digital tools
- Why co-design with patients and frontline clinicians needs to start on day one
“If you work with clinicians, you work with patients, you find out the true problems,” Cory says. “We want patients to be partners in the journey. They want to be informed.”
“We want patients to be partners in the journey. They want to be informed.”
Listen now
Listen to the full episode on the Talking HealthTech website, or find Talking HealthTech on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
