How using Mobili-T® helped the University of South Florida improve quality of patient care.
About the University of Southern Florida:
The Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery is committed to providing excellent patient care in all the subspecialties of Otolaryngology to a regionally and socially diverse group of patients.
Enhanced patient understanding and performance of dysphagia exercises leading to better outcomes
Capacity for monitoring exercises at home
Portability for improved patient access to care
Meet Dr. Stephanie Watts
We recently had the opportunity to catch up with Dr. Stephanie Watts, a Speech-Language Pathologist (S-LP) we met almost a year ago when she started using Mobili-T. Dr. Watts directs the speech division at the University of South Florida, with the goal of translating the same level of care provided at the university hospital into a home environment. She is excited by innovation that improves patient care.
How Mobili-T became a part of her practice
As the only S-LP in her facility at the time, Dr. Watts knew she was responsible for ensuring a high level of dysphagia care. Her sense of accountability to her patients led her to undertake a Quality Improvement Project. One of the outcomes was to bring quality dysphagia equipment to her facility for improved patient outcomes. Dr. Watts had attempted to purchase other devices that could be used outside of a clinic setting for dysphagia, but they were too expensive. She eventually connected with Dr. Gabriela Constantinescu, Chief Experience Officer at True Angle, and decided to test-run one Mobili-T device. Dr. Watts’ facility loved the Mobili-T because of its compact size and ease of patient use. Her facility found so much success using the Mobili-T system that they decided to purchase ten additional devices to execute their Quality Improvement Project.
Evidence of better patient care
Dr. Watts credits Mobili-T with bringing value to her facility through improved quality of patient care. Because of Mobili-T’s ease of use and effectiveness as an aid in teaching swallowing exercises, it has allowed her to provide more effective care, even after patients leave the facility. She shared that the availability of Mobili-T has enhanced her patients’ capacity to understand how to perform dysphagia exercises, while the biofeedback provided them with a means of determining the successful completion of workout sets. They can then use these skills even after they have gone home. Better performance and consistent completion of swallowing exercises, means they are more effective in improving swallowing function. Once she launches the Mobili-T loaner program at her site, Dr. Watts hopes to see improvements in access to biofeedback technologies at home, improved adherence, and subsequently, improved patient outcomes.
Dr. Watts credits Mobili-T with bringing value to her facility through improved quality of patient care. Because of Mobili-T’s ease of use and effectiveness as an aid in teaching swallowing exercises, it has allowed her to provide more effective care, even after patients leave the facility. She shared that the availability of Mobili-T has enhanced her patients’ capacity to understand how to perform dysphagia exercises, while the biofeedback provided them with a means of determining the successful completion of workout sets. They can then use these skills even after they have gone home. Better performance and consistent completion of swallowing exercises, means they are more effective in improving swallowing function. Once she launches the Mobili-T loaner program at her site, Dr. Watts hopes to see improvements in access to biofeedback technologies at home, improved adherence, and subsequently, improved patient outcomes.
Further reach
The remote function of the Mobili-T will allow Dr. Watts to form partnerships outside of her facility to increase reach and improve patient access to care. Dr. Watts plans to partner with mobile FEES (Fiberoptic Evaluation of Swallowing) clinicians to make dysphagia services available in the community and to patients in rural areas. For those patients who cannot come in frequently for a clinical appointment, she hopes to provide a loaner Mobili-T device and connect them to a local home health clinician who can provide assistance when needed.
The commitment of clinicians like Dr. Watts to provide the most comprehensive and effective dysphagia care possible keeps our team at True Angle motivated to keep innovating. We love to hear stories like Dr. Watts’ and are proud to share it in hopes it inspires others out there to do the same!
Mobili-T® is a small, portable system that utilizes an under-the-chin sensor and connected mobile application for patients & clinicians to visualize swallowing exercises. Clinicians can use the Mobili-T in the clinic, and send them home with patients for continuity of care. Mobili-T continues to evolve as a result of our high-performing team members, who are all critical thinkers and who thrive on solving real-world problems with input from our patients and clinical users.