Timely discharge from hospital is a key priority and performance indicator for both patients and their treating teams. On the other hand, premature discharge can mean that complications such as blood clots or infection go unnoticed and result in delayed recovery or hospital readmission. A solution may be sending patients home with wearable devices that monitor basic physiological parameters such as heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen levels and temperature. There are medical-grade wireless blood pressure cuffs, pulse oximeters and infrared thermometers as well as commercial smartwatches that perform these functions and could securely share data with the patients’ healthcare teams after discharge. This should enable earlier detection of deterioration and support safer, faster recovery.
My pilot study aims to test the feasibility and utility of wearable monitoring for patients recovering from major cancer surgery in their homes. 20 adult patients will be provided with medical devices to record their vital signs for seven days post-discharge; a subgroup will also wear smartwatches. At the end of the monitoring period, participants will complete a short questionnaire.
Feasibility will be confirmed by collecting at least 80% of daily vital sign data and achieving an 80% questionnaire completion rate. Patient satisfaction and usability scores will also be examined to determine acceptability. If successful, the findings will inform a larger study to evaluate whether wearables enhance recovery, reduce readmissions and promote patient confidence following surgery.
Dr Harriet Beevor, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne.
The project was awarded A$19,687 funding through the ANZCA research grants program for 2026.