Digital guidance throughout the patient journey at Vulpius Klinik

How do you ensure that patients are well informed throughout the care pathway, without overburdening them? To answer that question, we combine the practical experiences of the Vulpius Klinik with research insights into the Patient Journey app. This creates a clear picture of the role of digital support across the entire care pathway.

Within healthcare practice, patients and healthcare users are taking on a greater role in their own treatment. At the same time, the amount of information provided is increasing, while lengths of stay are decreasing. This requires a different approach to healthcare guidance, especially within Fast Track programmes. Patients receive a great deal of information, but cannot always process it efficiently or apply it in practice.

Information in small steps

According to Dr. med. Guido Mohr, Oberarzt at the Vulpius Klinik in Bad Rappenau, the strength of Patient Journey lies in the phased delivery of information. Instead of a one-off explanation, patients receive information at the appropriate stages of the care process tailored to their individual treatment trajectory.

This keeps patients actively involved. They can reread information, explore topics in more depth and receive reminders for important actions, such as preparation for surgery or practical matters related to admissions. This approach is proving effective: after the introduction of the app in 2016, it was downloaded more than 620 times in the first half of the year, with approximately 270 active users. This number has now grown to between 400 and 470 active users for the treatment trajectories for total knee and hip replacement procedures.

Thomas Timmers and Dr. med. Guido Mohr at Fast Track Endoprothetik Berlin

Support during recovery

The role of patients becomes increasingly important as more care is provided at home. Where patients used to stay in hospital for several days, they now return home earlier. This shifts part of the care responsibility to the home environment. According to Thomas Timmers, co-founder of Patient Journey (formerly Patient Journey App) and researcher at Radboudumc, this requires continuous digital guidance.

Patients receive daily information and support via the app, including instructions on medication, exercises and wound care. This encourages them to actively participate in their recovery. Research shows that this leads to faster functional recovery, better pain management and higher patient satisfaction. In a randomised trial, patients using the app were found to have 52% more knowledge about their treatment. At the Vulpius Klinik, where the app has been in use since 2018, 98% of patients rate the app as useful. It is notable that patients with less physical contact with healthcare professionals, in particular, often actually feel more involved in the care pathway thanks to the app.

Reach and adoption

The scale at which digital support is deployed is growing rapidly. Nearly two million patients worldwide have now used the Patient Journey app, with approximately 200,000 new users added in the past year.

Older age groups also appear to be able to use the app effectively. In a prehabilitation study, app use was around 97%, despite an average age of 72. This emphasises that digital applications can be easily accessible, as long as their design is tailored to the target audience.

Digital preparation works

In addition to supporting patients after treatment, the app also plays a role in preparing them beforehand. Prehabilitation helps patients prepare physically and mentally for a procedure. Through the app, they have access to exercises, nutritional advice and lifestyle interventions.

Digital prehabilitation shows results comparable to those of face-to-face support in hospital. At the same time, this approach requires less capacity from healthcare professionals and reduces the number of patient journeys. This makes it a scalable solution within a healthcare system that is under pressure.

From information to interaction

Where the app often starts as a supplement or replacement for leaflets and other information tools, the biggest opportunities lie in interaction. Functionalities such as questionnaires, a chat function and PROMs (Patient-Reported Outcome Measures) enable continuous insight into the recovery process.

A future development that is now being explored is the use of artificial intelligence. In a study involving 100 patient questions, healthcare professionals found AI-generated answers to be both accurate and empathetic, provided that the answers were given sufficient context. This offers opportunities to support repetitive communication, while healthcare professionals remain in control.

Implementation requires attention

Successful deployment of the app requires more than technology. Dr. med. Guido Mohr emphasises that adoption depends heavily on how actively healthcare professionals promote the app. When this happens systematically during consultations, usage grows, but if healthcare professionals do not actively recommend the app, download figures fall.

In addition, it is important to ensure that the app aligns well with the care process. Not every care path is suitable for the same degree of standardisation. Clear positioning and active involvement of healthcare teams are essential for sustainable implementation.

Dr. med. Guido Mohr, Oberarzt at the Vulpius Klinik in Bad Rappenau

Towards data-driven care

The future of apps like Patient Journey lies in further integration and a data-driven approach. By combining data from questionnaires, progress measurements and any wearable devices (such as information from a pedometer), a more complete picture of the recovery process is created. This makes it possible to provide more targeted care. Some face-to-face checks can be reduced, while other patients receive additional attention. At the same time, the starting point remains that patients feel supported and confident throughout their recovery.

Digital support through Patient Journey shows that technology has value when it fits into everyday practice. Both healthcare professionals and healthcare users benefit from a method in which information is provided in a structured manner. This creates a care process in which collaboration is central and the quality of care visibly improves.