Case Study: Lehigh Valley Health Network achieves improved patient–family communication and reduced anxiety with Stryker

Lehigh Valley Health Network Improving Patient and Family Communication

Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN), a regional health system with eight hospital campuses in northeastern Pennsylvania, needed a better way to keep surgical patients and their families connected, improve transparency and communication, and differentiate its perioperative services in a competitive market. Leadership prioritized a solution that would demonstrate compassion, reduce family anxiety, and improve the overall healthcare experience.

LVHN assembled a multidisciplinary team and implemented the Vocera Ease patient‑family engagement app, which lets care teams send secure, multilingual messages, photos and videos to a patient‑selected contact network (messages expire after viewing) and allows loved ones to respond with emojis. Since 2017 LVHN has sent 190,680 updates to families across 50 states and logged 159,465 emoji responses; surveys show 92% would recommend the hospital, 94% say Ease would influence their choice, and the service earned a 9.5/10 experience rating—resulting in reduced anxiety, improved loyalty and workflow, expanded use into emergency departments, and critical support during COVID‑19.

Lehigh Valley Health Network

Hope Johnson

Administrator of Perioperative Services