The Vanderbilt Transplant Center is now giving patients and providers instant access to critical transplantation data—such as educational resources and donor information—on their smartphones and mobile devices.
According to the organization’s officials in a recent announcement, the app is designed to be a resource for transplant information at the Nashville-based Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) for both patients and providers.
“It helps patients find information about transplant programs as well as educational links about transplantation. Patients can customize what organ they are interested in learning more about, meet the transplant team and find provider locations. Living donor information is also available as well as a living donor referral form,” officials stated.
The Vanderbilt Transplant Center, Tennessee’s only full-service transplant center, provides chances for patients to participate in clinical trials and studies, as well as access to other specialists. Its transplant teams have performed more than 9,500 solid organ transplants since 1962, including all the major organs—heart, kidney, lung, liver and pancreas, according to its officials.
For providers, the app aims to offer improved access in the referring process for both adult and pediatric referrals through REDcap referral forms. The app gives referring physicians a secure process to contact the on-call VUMC transplant physicians to enable better communication, while also containing a direct link to call the VUMC Transfer Center for urgent transfers of patients to VUMC facilities. Providers also have access to outcome data, officials noted.
The Vanderbilt Transplant Center has debuted a new free app available for iOS and Android devices, available by searching “VUMC transplant” in the respective app store.
“Development of this app will allow patients unprecedented ability to connect with our system, schedule appointments and interact with our providers,” Seth Karp, M.D., H. William Scott Jr. professor and chair of the Department of Surgery and director of the Vanderbilt Transplant Center, said in a statement. “We have every expectation this service will increase our ability to reach patients and provide outstanding care.”
Edward Zavala, transplant center administrator, added, “The Vanderbilt Transplant app is a significant addition for our referring providers to access the transplant center. Additionally, the patient education component of the app provides patients ready access to transplant-specific education.”
