Dr. Balmis Hospital in Alicante wins the first prize for the best scientific communication for the implementation of LOLA

• The LOLA system, created by the Spanish company Tucuvi, uses conversational technology to automate, with a human touch, patient monitoring at home. In this way, it takes care of making both the preparation calls for a colonoscopy or surgery, as well as post-surgery follow-up, post-hospital discharge, or chronic patient care.
• The results confirm that automated voice follow-up of patients after undergoing TAVI allows for early detection of problems, prompt intervention by the unit, and freeing up time for doctors and nurses.

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‍Santander, June 2023. Artificial intelligence already plays a fundamental role in transforming healthcare. These systems are revolutionizing the way diseases are diagnosed, treated, and managed, providing more accurate results and improving efficiency in clinical decision-making, enabling more personalized and effective patient care. This new paradigm in medicine is advancing rapidly and has already received prestigious national recognition. The latest recognition has been granted by the Spanish Society of Cardiology (SEC) and the Association of Interventional Cardiology (ACI). During the 34th National ACI-SEC Congress, they awarded the first prize for "Best Communication of Scientific Studies in Structural" to the Hemodynamics Unit of Dr. Balmis General University Hospital in Alicante for their communication titled "Implementation of a Virtual Clinical Assistant for Voice-based Follow-up after TAVI." The jury awarded this recognition to the unit led by Dr. Juan Miguel Ruiz Nodar "for their innovation and contribution to the field of cardiovascular medicine."

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Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) initially provided an opportunity for survival to patients who were inoperable for open-heart surgery. Recently, the efficacy of TAVI has been validated in patients with intermediate or even low surgical risk. Therefore, the number of procedures and eligible TAVI candidates is increasing considerably. In fact, it is the treatment of choice for patients with aortic stenosis who are 75 years or older. After TAVI implantation, it is necessary to monitor possible complications from post-surgical discharge to follow-up appointments. The reality is that implanting centers do not have enough nursing staff to carry out this follow-up, which, combined with the significant increase (over 12% annually) in implanted TAVIs, raises the need to find scalable solutions for patient monitoring.

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The Hemodynamics Service of Dr. Balmis General University Hospital in Alicante, led by Dr. Juan Miguel Ruiz Nodar, performs the most TAVI procedures annually in Spain. They treat between 6 and 8 patients weekly. They have been a pioneer in implementing LOLA in TAVI, driving innovation in the field of hemodynamics to improve patients' quality of life and provide efficient solutions to clinical challenges. This has been made possible through a research project carried out through ISABIAL, the Institute of Health Research and Biomedicine of Alicante. LOLA, created by the Spanish company Tucuvi, uses conversational technology to automate patient follow-up at home, with a very human touch. It takes care of making both the preparation calls for a colonoscopy or surgery, as well as post-surgery follow-up, post-hospital discharge, or chronic patient care.

During the awards ceremony for the best scientific study communications, Dr. Marta Herrero, a fellow at the Hemodynamics Unit of Dr. Balmis Hospital, showcased the impact of implementing LOLA in patient follow-up after undergoing TAVI, both from the perspective of effectiveness for professionals and patient satisfaction.

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The prospective study conducted by the Hemodynamics Unit of the hospital included all patients discharged after undergoing TAVI in their unit since January 2023. The results obtained so far have been extremely encouraging. After 4 months of recruitment, over 100 patients with an average age of 82 have been included, generating a total of 292 follow-up calls, 98% patient engagement (completed follow-ups), and over 20 hours of autonomous conversation conducted by LOLA, the virtual assistant from the company Tucuvi. 60% of the follow-ups presented some alert, with dizziness being the most frequent symptom. Immediate notifications of alerts have allowed for anticipating complications and taking preventive measures in a timely manner. In total, 180 interventions have been carried out, including phone calls, electrocardiograms, and treatment adjustments. Patients have expressed high overall satisfaction with the virtual follow-up conducted through the voice-activated clinical assistant, achieving a 92% customer satisfaction score (4.71/5).

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These results confirm that automated voice follow-up of patients after undergoing TAVI not only allows for early detection of problems and prompt intervention by the unit but also frees up valuable time for doctors and nurses, resulting in a positive experience and peace of mind for discharged patients. According to Dr. Juan Miguel Ruiz, "The virtual follow-up with LOLA has allowed us to have very strict control over our patients after TAVI implantation, being able to detect any type of complication early on and, most importantly, provide solutions and anticipate. We are delighted with this type of follow-up."

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