Stopped: The investigators decided not to start up the study after the long Covid 19 pause dring which no participants were enrolled.
This pilot study will evaluate how well version 2 of the ICOUGH app, a bed-side mobile app increases patients' adherence to a postoperative protocol called ICOUGH. Specific outcomes, such as length of hospital stay, postoperative lung complications, unplanned intubations, and death will be assessed in participants who do and those who do not use the ICOUGH Recovery app, positing that a smartphone intervention should improve these outcomes over time. ICOUGH is a mnemonic that stands for each step of a protocol shown to decrease lung-related complications of surgery. It stands for Incentive spirometry (a breathing device that expands the lungs), Coughing and deep breathing, Oral hygiene, Understanding (patient and family education), Getting out of bed at least three times daily, and Head-of-bed elevation. The ICOUGH protocol was developed at Boston Medical Center (BMC) and has been shown to improve patient outcomes by decreasing postoperative pneumonia by 38%, unplanned intubations by 40%, and all adverse outcomes by 40%, which has resulted in over $5 million in cost savings for BMC in a two-year period. There is an instructional paper pamphlet with intuitive pictures for each step of ICOUGH, and patient subjects can log how many times they've done each step.
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AI-rewrites the medical criteria so a patient or caregiver can understand them. Always confirm with the trial site.
Adherence to incentive spirometry
Timeframe: 8 months
Adherence to oral health
Timeframe: 8 months
Adherence to ambulation
Timeframe: 8 months