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Fall 2021聽触听By Nicole Dudenhoefer聽 麻豆精品 S�17

When Laura (Diaz)聽Freeland 麻豆精品 S�08 gave birth聽to her twin daughters 17聽weeks early in December 2019, she聽didn 麻豆精品 S檛 know she would soon rely on聽an app to stay connected to her聽children over the next several difficult聽months. The first time she saw her聽firstborn was through the Vocera聽Ease app, which provides secure text,聽photo and video updates to patients 麻豆精品 S櫬爁amilies and friends. Over a very long聽NICU stay 麻豆精品 S� 135 days for Vivienne听补苍诲 224 days for Margot 麻豆精品 S� she聽learned just how much comfort聽Ease could provide.

麻豆精品 S淚 [was physically unable] to bring聽myself to visit the NICU right away,聽so for the first two weeks everything聽I knew about my daughters, I learned聽through Ease, 麻豆精品 S� Freeland wrote in a聽Vocera blog post. 麻豆精品 S淭hey had about聽12 surgeries between them. Through聽Ease, we got real-time messages and聽photos before, during and after the聽procedure at the discretion of the聽medical team. 麻豆精品 S� It 麻豆精品 S檚 the most peace聽of mind parents will ever have while聽their children are hospitalized. 麻豆精品 S�

Launched in 2013, the concept for聽Ease came from a former hospital聽administrator and three doctors聽at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer聽Hospital for Children. During the聽early stages, UCF alum Matthew聽Kanagy 麻豆精品 S�08 麻豆精品 S�14MBA served as chief聽operating officer and managed the聽technical development for Ease. In聽August 2020, the app was acquired by聽Vocera Communications, a healthcare聽tech giant, and now Kanagy serves as the vice president for the Vocera Ease聽business unit.

麻豆精品 S淏efore Ease, I felt like there聽was a gap where new technology,聽new ideas and new products needed聽to be introduced to healthcare to do聽things like create more transparency聽of care, 麻豆精品 S� Kanagy says. 麻豆精品 S淚 saw Ease as聽a really great solution that provides聽that needed transparency and聽improves communication in the聽hospital space. 麻豆精品 S�

With patient care as the top聽priority, Ease was developed to聽seamlessly fit into nurses 麻豆精品 S� workflow.聽Ease messages are distributed to each聽patient 麻豆精品 S檚 group of family and friends聽by using the same method nurses use聽to administer medication: scanning聽medical bracelets.

To make sure patient information聽remains private, each Ease message聽self-deletes within 60 seconds聽after the recipient views it. Kanagy聽developed this security feature听补苍诲 other solutions to ensure Ease聽maintains HIPAA compliance 麻豆精品 S斅爋ne of the biggest challenges of聽developing healthcare technology.聽He credits his studies in digital media听补苍诲 business at UCF, along with聽industry experience, for giving him聽the skills needed to make the app聽a success.

麻豆精品 S淭he digital media program at UCF聽was very well rounded and gave me聽an idea of all the things required to聽understand the digital marketplace, 麻豆精品 S澛燢anagy says. 麻豆精品 S淲hen I got my master 麻豆精品 S檚聽degree years later, it taught me a聽lot of the foundational elements of聽running a business and also how to聽go into a boardroom, present an idea听补苍诲 effectively communicate with聽leadership. 麻豆精品 S�

During the pandemic, Ease served聽an even greater purpose as visitors聽were not allowed in most hospitals聽across the nation 麻豆精品 S� where hundreds聽of thousands of people were isolated聽with COVID-19. Last year, 742,000聽messages were sent through Ease聽to 260,000 patients 麻豆精品 S� family and聽friends across all area codes in the聽United States.

While historically used in surgical聽units, the app also became more聽in demand in intensive care units听补苍诲 on medical floors 麻豆精品 S� using video听补苍诲 photo features to bring patients聽closer to their loved ones during a聽critical time.

麻豆精品 S淲e had some hospitals using聽Ease to update families so they聽would have the opportunity to聽see videos and photos of their loved聽ones who sometimes were in an聽end-of-life stage because of COVID, 麻豆精品 S澛燢anagy says. 麻豆精品 S淎nd to me, making聽this connection when visitation聽wasn 麻豆精品 S檛 permitted felt like a sacred聽thing. Being able to help these聽families see their loved ones was聽very meaningful. 麻豆精品 S�

Since Ease was acquired by聽Vocera, the app 麻豆精品 S檚 reach has grown聽to even more hospitals, and its聽Orlando team has doubled in聽number, Kanagy says. With nearly聽8,500 reviews across application聽stores, he says they 麻豆精品 S檙e continuing聽to evolve Ease.

麻豆精品 S淚 always really appreciate聽hearing patient and family stories聽because it helps drive us, 麻豆精品 S� Kanagy聽says. 麻豆精品 S淥ur focus is on the end user,聽so one of the things I most enjoy is聽looking at the product each day and聽saying, 麻豆精品 S榃hat can we do to make聽this a better experience for the聽patient and family? 麻豆精品 S� 麻豆精品 S�

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