A glimpse into the future: smart technologies and enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS)

Abstract

Smart technologies facilitate our daily life in many respects, e.g. by rendering travel safer. In medicine, however, they have so far hardly been used, even though the demographic changes with an aging population in small or single households warrant an urgent change of our traditional care structures. Furthermore, patients are more demanding and better informed than they were afew decades ago. Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) focusses on good prehabilitation as well as fast rehabilitation and therefore represents, even almost 20years after the first publication, amodern and evidence-based treatment concept. Nevertheless, it is still not comprehensively implemented nationwide. The reasons for this may be concerns regarding an early discharge. In addition, there is often agap in care care between discharge from hospital and start of the follow-up rehabilitation. In order to improve acceptance of the ERAS concept, to fulfil the patients' needs for better information while decreasing the workload of the medical staff and to close the gap in care after discharge from hospital, integrating ERAS into the concept of asmart hospital with subsequent transition into atemporary smart home is an appealing idea. With the use of an individually configurated online learning platform, alarge part of the information flow can be transferred from the outpatient clinic to the pre-outpatient area (i.e. the patient's home). Consequently, patients will be better prepared for their first contact with the hospital. After ashort stay in hospital the patient is then discharged into the serviced apartments of the smart quarter, where astress-free recovery in ahome-like environment is possible. The further rehabilitation is undertaken there under virtual guidance, following individualized schedules on demand.