Traditional brochures no longer met the needs

Before the collaboration between Medical Clinic Velsen and Caro Health unfolded in 2020, the clinic struggled with how to inform patients in an effective and efficient manner. The traditional approach with old-fashioned brochures no longer met the needs of the modern patient. In this interview, Dr. Aernout Zuiderbaan, orthopedic surgeon at Medical Clinic Velsen, discusses the positive impact that the Caro Health app has on their patient guidance and information provision.

Caro provides patients with peace and certainty

By now, Medical Clinic Velsen has integrated all orthopedic treatments into the Caro app, ranging from prosthetics to cruciate ligament surgeries. The app offers patients expert guidance throughout their treatment trajectory. This starts one month before to several months after the surgery. For Aernout, the app is a game-changer in the field of good guidance: "Patients are excellently informed from A to Z, which alleviates their uncertainties."

This way, patients receive practical information and tips via Caro to prepare for the procedure. "If you inform your patient well, you prevent disappointments later on," emphasizes Aernout. "Sometimes people think they can do everything again quickly after a cruciate ligament surgery, but that is not true." According to the orthopedic surgeon, this is why the app is so valuable: "This innovative solution takes a piece of expectation management off our hands. This way, the patient knows exactly what to expect, and that is very important. During a consultation, I don't have time to explain this step by step."

Even after the surgery, Caro helps patients with optimal recovery and reassures patients who experience common complaints. Patients track their recovery via the app, which doctors can follow in real-time. "As a surgeon, I find it nice to occasionally check how my patients are doing," says Aernout. "Sometimes I check whether a wound is healing properly, for example."

Reducing workload through proactive information

Since the app provides patients with the right information at the right time in their treatment trajectory, it eliminates many questions. No less than 87% of patients indicate that the app has answered questions for which they would otherwise have had to call the clinic. "We receive much fewer phone calls from patients. Thanks to Caro, they know better what to expect at every stage of their treatment. And instead of constantly picking up the phone to call, they can easily look up information themselves in the app. This leads to a huge relief for our telephone exchange,” Aernout gratefully states.

Patients are very enthusiastic about Caro

"Patients really see Caro as part of their treatment," orthopedic surgeon Aernout tells. "The app provides support and reassurance throughout the entire process. It is wonderful to see how grateful people are for the extra guidance and the sense of certainty that the app gives them." They also see this reflected in the results at Medical Clinic Velsen: patients rate the Caro app with an average of 8.5.

"The app provides support and reassurance throughout the entire process. It is wonderful to see how grateful people are for the extra guidance and the sense of certainty that the app gives them."

Quick implementation, pleasant collaboration

The choice for Caro as a digital care assistant was quickly made. “Already during the first contact, we were enthusiastic about the possibilities of the app. There was no reason for us to look further. The implementation also went very smoothly,