Medical mobile apps for surgery? You heard correctly.

Believe it or not, web and mobile apps may be the next big thing in medical advancements. Abigail Keeso of BetaKit says there are already apps available to help surgeons operate:

“Web and mobile apps have the potential to be the next big advancement in surgery, with startups developing tools to help doctors practice surgery, communicate with patients, and document their procedures.

In the past, surgeons have turned to pen and paper when sketching out a surgical procedure for a patient. To enhance surgeon-patient communication, Visible Health has created DrawMD, a series of free iPad apps that allow surgeons to more effectively explain surgical processes to their patients. The medical mobile apps offer digital anatomical images, which doctors can sketch, stamp or type on to explain the procedure in a way that the patient will easily understand. Following the appointment, the surgeon can send a copy of the illustration to the patient and keep one for their own records. DrawMD is available for a growing number of medical specialties including urology, cardiology and pediatrics.

When it comes to documenting, SurgiChart is a mobile and web-based charting app that allows surgeons to create a personal library of surgical cases. The platform compiles all information from a surgical case into a secure file. The information in this file includes photos, x-rays, and scans that can be organized in a virtual light board, which is useful for pre-operation planning or sharing cases with colleagues. Following the procedure, the surgeon can easily send the file to the referring physician to enhance continuity of care.

Other startups are more focused on improving the communication between surgeons and patients, and helping families understand the risks associated with surgery. Missouri-based CVOffice has created a series of apps designed to provide information for surgeons and their patients. One group of their apps are risk calculators that the surgeon can use to calculate potential risks for their patients. For example, the app CV Surgery Risk allows the surgeon to estimate the risk of mortality following open-heart surgery. These apps are designed to be used as a tool to guide discussions with patients and their families about potential outcomes of the procedure. CVOffice has also created Surg Journals, an app that aggregates scholarly literature related to general surgery so the surgeon can stay up to speed on the latest research and use evidence to inform their practice.”

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