In a recent poll conducted by CardioVisual, about half the physicians surveyed believe their patients did not receive sufficient information from their practice. And 95% of those surveyed believe their patients consulted “Dr. Google” for additional information about health conditions.

Takeaways from the survey, which was not scientific, point to the fact that doctors need additional resources for patient education, something we’ve heard for many years. While most physicians (90%) distribute brochures or rely on links to or printouts from websites, a desire for instantly accessible, simplified and authoritative educational content remains.

That’s where CardioVisual steps in. This free app for iPhone, iPad and Android devices offers cardiovascular healthcare providers an authoritative, curated and easy-to-use way to explain complex heart-related issues to patients using short videos. Complicated topics such as chest pains, heart failure, stroke, afib, heart rhythm and sleep apnea (and associated treatments, procedures and devices) are addressed by a library of more than 100 high-quality videos and images.

Doctors simply launch the app during consultation and quickly navigate to a video about, say, treatment options for afib, and view the brief, animated videos with the patient, adding additional oral information or instructions as appropriate. This provides patients the clarity they need without consulting Dr. Google and save providers much-needed time.  CardioVisual also offers still images with markup functionality, so doctors can highlight particular areas in their discussions; these drawings can be e-mailed or texted to the patient, too.

HCPs can also send patients home with a “prescription” for a patient-friendly version of the app for further study.

Offering videos in English and Spanish, CardioVisual is a terrific for healthcare professionals needing additional educational resources for their patients.