Virtual Interactive Platform (VIP) Transplant Research Study
Condition: Transplant Patients
Study type: Interventional
Phase: Early Phase 1

Summary: 
      The purpose of this study is to test a tablet-based application called VIP Transplant,
      devised to improve the recovery experience of patients that have recently had organ
      transplant surgery. The study will consist of two non-randomized arms: the first arm will
      consist of usual care and the second will be using the newly developed app for 21 days to
      replace their in-person visits. Using questionnaires and in-app usage metrics, the research
      team will track whether patients have a better medical outcome, greater patient satisfaction
      with care, and greater compliance rates as compared to patients who do not use VIP Transplant
      to manage their care.
    

Detailed description: 
      An organ transplant requires a large time and financial investment for both the patient and
      provider over the course of a lifetime of follow-up visits and lifestyle monitoring. Patients
      return to the clinic 2-3 times a week for the first three months after surgery, and then
      visit the clinic twice a month with labs once a week 91-210 days post surgery. Check-ins for
      patients without complications occur 1-2 times a year, and these re-evaluations require
      patients to take time off work and travel to the transplant center often 2 hours away. Dr.
      David Mulligan, Chief of Transplant at Yale wanted to help patients reduce the time and cost
      associated with their regular checkups after surgery. Thus, we created VIP Transplant. The
      Virtual Interactive Platform allows patients to have a secure videoconference with their
      provider in order to eliminate the need for recurring travel and waiting in congested clinics
      for a short appointment. It will save patient time and cost to travel to the clinic. The
      application is integrated into the provider network in order to have a system that supports
      seamless communication between the patient and provider capabilities.

      Research plan:

      Dr. Mulligan will contact 8 of his patients who are willing to participate in the study. 4 of
      the patients will be assigned to the control group and the other 4 will be assigned to the
      experimental group.

      Control group:

      On day 1 after their surgery, patient will be asked to fill out a survey on their transplant
      care. On day 21, patient will be asked to fill out the same survey. The surgeon will be asked
      to take a survey to evaluate their each patient's progress.

      Experimental group:

      When the 4 patients attend orientation, patient will each be given the iPad with the VIP
      Transplant app and shown how to use the app. Patient will then be asked to fill out the
      survey on day 1 after their surgery and then asked to use VIP Transplant for their transplant
      care in the following days. Patient will then be asked to fill out the survey again on day
      21, at the end of the study. The surgeon will be asked to take a survey to evaluate each of
      their patient's progress.
    

Intervention name(s): Virtual Interactive Platform (VIP) Transplant
Intervention type(s): Device
Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Supportive Care