MyStay

Led by Alfred Deakin Professor Mari Botti, MyStay is a multimedia clinician-facilitated module to improve patient experience and recovery after surgery. The program facilitates communication between patients and their nurses, physiotherapists and doctors and makes explicit the daily goals of care, enabling patients to actively participate in achieving an optimum recovery from their surgery.
MyStay can be accessed on any smart device and is currently delivered on Epworth HealthCare’s Point of Care System, a bedside information system that patients and clinicians can access for a range of services.

The MyStay program has been developed and tested in collaboration with Epworth Victor Smorgon Chair of Surgery Professor Richard de Steiger, from the University of Melbourne, and in consultation with patients, surgeons, physiotherapists and nurses.

“From the first day of surgery, patients can use the MyStay program to access information about their goals for the day, and how they can manage their pain, keep safe and prepare for discharge…it’s a game changer for engaging patients in their recovery.”

Alfred Deakin Professor Mari Botti

The program received initial funding from The Norman Beischer Fund for Women and Babies, and received further development and implementation funding from The Baker Foundation.

A MyStay hip replacement program is currently being trialled at Epworth HealthCare, with a cardiac and spinal surgery program under development as well. The cardiac program will be developed with the assistance of collaborators at Deakin’s Applied Artificial Intelligence Institute, with plans to trial this intervention across multiple sites.