2. OUR BOARD
Chairman
Professor Richard de Steiger
Professor Richard de Steiger is the Epworth Victor Smorgon Chair of Surgery,
The University of Melbourne, and the Chairman of the Musculoskeletal
Clinical Institute of Epworth HealthCare. He is the Deputy Director of the
Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry,
Board Member of the Victorian Orthopaedic Trauma Outcomes Registry
and is involved in numerous other management committees. He has been a
practicing Orthopaedic Surgeon for twenty-two years with a special interest
in hip and knee joint replacement surgery and the management of young
adult patients with osteoarthritis. Professor de Steiger has considerable
experience in facilitating studies across numerous disciplines including
engineering, public health and basic science.
Directors
Dr Andrew Beischer
Dr Andrew Beischer is a consultant orthopaedic foot & ankle surgeon
whose practice is based at the Epworth Private Hospital, Richmond. He is
actively involved in clinical training of orthopaedic registrars and fellows.
Dr Beischer has a significant research interest in clinical orthopaedics and
health education information delivery systems. Dr Beischer is Chairman
of the Norman Beischer Medical Research Foundation, a board member of
the Australian Orthopaedic Association and member of the National Joint
Replacement Registry. He is also on the board of the Victorian / Tasmanian
Regional Training Committee.
Associate Professor Leo Donnan
Leo Donnan is the past Chief of Surgery and Director of Orthopaedics at the
Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne. He practices in the subspecialties
of Paediatrics and Limb Reconstruction and has developed a broad range of
patient and clinician education projects which have been awarded Victoria
State Health Awards for innovation and educational impact. His research
interests are broad ranging from basic sciences to educational research.
Associate Professor Martin Richardson
Martin Richardson is currently Associate Professor in the Department
of Surgery, University of Melbourne, and is Associate Dean of Medicine
(Surgical Education) at Epworth Healthcare. He is involved in teaching from
undergraduate to fellowship levels, supervising Masters and PhD research
projects. He is on the international faculties of AO Trauma, Definitive
Surgical Trauma Care and Advanced Trauma Life Support programs and
is on the research boards of the Australian Orthopaedic Association and
Victorian Orthopaedic Trauma Outcomes Registry and is an active member
of the Royal Australian Navy Reserve. He is completing his Master of
Surgical Education degree at University of Melbourne.
Enlighten Health is a new not for profit entity that has
evolved from a research company established in November 2000
by four passionate orthopaedic surgeons who wanted to improve
the quality and delivery of health information to patients. Since
its inception the organization has developed educational packages
using 3D animation and multimedia to improve the health literacy
of the Australian community and directly influence the outcome of
health care delivery. The group has previously received generous
funding from several philanthropic organizations to develop and
research these approaches and is now able expand as a social
enterprise and engage with new key stakeholders.
Enlighten Health is a not for profit organisation
dedicated to developing, investigating and delivering
novel health education programs to patients and
clinicians. We embrace innovation, collaboration and
new technology. Our aim is to positively influence
health literacy, improve the outcome of treatment
and reduce the burden of disease in the community.
CORE VALUES
Integrity
Innovation
Collegiality
VISION
Enhancedhealthcarethroughinnovationineducation
ABOUT US

3. Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip
Education Module
Victorian Department of Health and Medical Research
Foundation for Women and Babies
An evidence based project was developed to address the
significant decline in the ability of the current hip dysplasia
screening program to detect hip instability and dislocation.
Aimed initially at Maternal and Child Health Nurses the project
aimed to improve knowledge, confidence and clinical skills
through the use of a targeted animated education module. A
thorough evaluation was undertaken at six months, one and two
years and showed a significant improvement in all measures.
This program is now used internationally. In 2011 it was
awarded the Gold Medal at the State Health Care Awards.
Multimedia module incorporation into
Pre-admission Clinic for Hip and Knee
Replacement surgery
Arthritis affects over 3 million Australians. There are many
treatment options but for severe hip or knee arthritis joint
replacements are commonly performed when non-operative
treatments have failed. Over 65,000 of these operations are
performed annually in Australia. A comprehensive multimedia
patient education program has been incorporated into the
Pre-admission clinic at Epworth HealthCare and over 4000
patients have viewed the modules in the past 8 years. There
has been overwhelmingly positive patient feedback about this
educational program.
Paediatric Orthopedic Fracture
Guidelines and Education Module
The Royal Children’s Hospital
Victorian Paediatric Orthopaedic Network, 2012
Deficiencies in the State delivery of fracture care resulted in the
development of a comprehensive, evidence based education
module and fracture guidelines for the emergency departments
and fracture clinics. These guidelines are dynamic and available
both through the clinical practice guidelines and as ibooks and
incorporated highly focused animation used to explain complex
issues in fracture management.
Laparoscopy Education Module
The laparoscopy module was developed in collaboration with the
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Mercy Hospital for
Women. The aim of this project was to enhance the education of
patients undergoing gynaecological laparoscopy for pelvic pain.
Patients are increasingly turning to the Internet as a source of
information about potential operations. However the quality of this
information is highly variable, which can often result in misinformed
and highly anxious patients. Previous studies have shown the use of
this multimedia technology improves patient knowledge about their
procedure and can help to reduce patient anxiety.
A Randomized controlled trial was conducted in two
outpatient gynecologic clinics using our education module
- one in a private hospital and the other in a public teaching
hospital. The findings of the study showed the use of our
multimedia education module enhanced the informed consent
process by improving patient knowledge, in the short term,
without increasing anxiety.
Apps for Patient Education
Our team identified in 2010 that the explosion in the use of
“smart” hand held devices had created a new platform to deliver
better our patient education technology into the healthcare
environment. We began a new initiative to investigate the
potential of this opportunity. We developed an iPhone based
App to assist patients suffering from plantar fasciitis which is
the commonest cause of debilitating heel pain affecting 10%
of the population at some point in their lives. We have shown
that the App can reliably diagnose the condition and we are
now undertaking a clinical trial to determine the utility of the
App to treat the condition. This practical use of our technology
offers potential to inexpensively streamline the identification
and treatment of a condition that currently imposes a significant
financial burden on the Australian healthcare system.
Patient Education Platform
Enlighten Health has not only focused on the development
of high quality medical education content but also on how
this material is delivered to patients and clinicians. In 2006 a
grant from Health Telematics enabled the development and
testing of a bespoke internet delivery and tracking system for
patient education modules. The knowledge gained from this
project was used to develop a more comprehensive solution
using the Aduro learning management platform. The Patient
Learning Management Platform enables institutions to assign
education modules to individual patients. These modules can
then be viewed at home with family members in preparation
for surgery. The platform can be used in the hospital setting to
assist patients recovering from surgery.
PROJECTS &
PARTNERSHIPS

4. Research Publications
2008 Beischer AD, Clarke A, de
Steiger RN, Donnan L, Ibuki A, Unglik
R, The Practical Use of Multimedia
Technology to Facilitate the Education of
Patients with Plantar Fasciitis. FAS, 2008;
1, (1), 30-38.
2009 Beamond BM, Beischer AD,
Brodsky JW, Leslie H, Improvement in
Surgical Consent with a Preoperative
Multimedia Patient Educational Tool: A
Pilot Study. Foot Ankle Int, 2009: 30,(7),
619-626.
Cornoiu AI, Beischer AD, Donnan L,
Graves S, de Steiger RN, Multimedia
patient education to assist the informed
consent process for knee arthroscopy.
ANZJS, 2011; 81, (3), 176–180.
2012 Batuyong E, Birks C, Beischer
AD, The use of multimedia as an adjunct
to the informed consent process for ankle
ligament reconstruction surgery. Foot
Ankle Spec, 2012, 5, (3), 150-159
2014 Batuyong, ED; Jowett, AJ;
Wickramasinghe, N; Beischer, AD: Using
multimedia to enhance the consent
process for bunion correction surgery.
ANZ J Surg. 84: 249-254, 2014.
Ellett, L; Villegas, R; Beischer, A; Ong,
N; Maher, P: The use of a multimedia
module to aid the informed consent
process in patients undergoing
gynecological laparoscopy for pelvic pain
- A randomized controlled trial. J Minim
Invasive Gynecol. 2014; 21, (4), 602-11
Wang C, Ammon P, Beischer AD, The
use of multimedia as an adjunct to the
informed consent process for Morton’s
neuroma resection surgery. Foot Ankle
Int., 2014; 35, (10), 1037-44.
In 2001 a group of leading surgeons identified that the major
reason for an exponential rise in medial indemnity premiums
at that time was that patients did not have an appropriate
understanding of their proposed medical interventions.
Consequently, we established a collaborative research group with
the aim of investigating new technologies by which patient health
education could be enhanced.
In our approach we have sought to merge science and art to
develop education programs that ensure patients have realistic
expectations about the treatment they receive and are active
participants in their recovery process. The systematic approach we
have used ensures that an evidenced based framework produces
the highest quality information upon which patients can rely.
The educational modules are then delivered using a range of
multimedia techniques of which animation has been shown to be
highly effective.
This merging of disciplines has fostered a creative environment that has
lead to innovative programs of clinical research. We have demonstrated
many benefits for key stakeholders. Our approach enables patients
to be more engaged in their medical treatment, assists clinicians by
improving the doctor-patient interaction and aids hospitals to improve
quality of care through standardised care pathways.
Improving the Informed Consent Process
1) Preoperative Patient Education. What works best? A
Randomized Controlled Study.
The initial study that we undertook investigated the efficacy
of three types of information delivery to patients considering
Orthopaedic surgery. In this study we compared the efficacy of a
doctor talking to a patient about a proposed surgery to obtaining
the same information via reading a pamphlet or to watching
an interactive multimedia education program designed and
developed by our team. The findings of this ground-breaking
study was that multimedia supported by 3D medical animation
technology was far superior to the accepted practice of verbal
interaction or use of pamphlets.
2) Preoperative Patient Education. Can multimedia patient
education technology improve the Informed consent process
in the real world?
Following on from the results of our initial study we have
undertaken a series of projects to explore how effective our patient
education technology is when incorporated into clinical practice.
These studies have been undertaken across a wide number of
Orthopaedic and Gynaecological procedures. These studies
have universally demonstrated that our technology is a powerful
adjunct to the standard informed consent process.
THE PREOPERATIVE PATIENT
EDUCATION RESEARCH PROGRAM
Selected Academic
Presentations
The use of multimedia for patient consent
for total hip arthroplasty.
Australian Orthopaedic Association,
Queenstown, New Zealand, October 2001
Informed consent using a computer module.
Royal Australian College of Surgeons Annual
Scientific Congress, Melbourne, May 2004
Informed consent using a computer module.
Continuing Orthopaedic Education,
AOA Brisbane, August 2004
The use of multimedia to improve patient
operative consent.
Continuing Orthopaedic Education,
AOA Adelaide, April 2005
Benefits of Multimedia consent modules for hip
replacement in an Orthopaedic preadmission
program.
Australian Arthroplasty Society,
Adelaide August 2006
Multimedia-based Patient Education an Addition
to the Informed Consent Process for Rotatar Cuff
Surgery
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons annual
scientific meeting San Diego USA February 2007
The use of multimedia to improve patient consent
for knee arthroscopy: A randomised controlled
trial.
Australian Orthopaedic Association Annual Scientific
meeting Gold Coast, Australia, October 2007
Plantar Fasciitis. What is Best to Educate Patients?
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons,
San Francisco, March, 2008.
Technology mediated learning in healthcare:
When a picture paints a thousand words.
HIC 2008 Australia Health Informatics Conference
An App for the Treatment of Heel Pain
Australian Foot and Ankle Society Annual Meeting,
Hobart, August, 2012
Awards
American Academy Orthopaedic Surgeons -
Best Poster
The use of multimedia technology for informed
consent in knee arthroscopy. American Academy
of Orthopaedic Surgeons annual scientific
meeting, San Diego, February 2007
Victorian Healthcare Award 2011
Developmental Dysplasia e-learning program
Finalist ATOM Animation Awards 2011
Knee Arthroscopy Education
Grants Awarded
Medical Defence Association of Victoria
Medical Research Foundation
for Women and Babies
Telematics Trust

5. enlightenhealth.com