Our Mission

Our mission is to further understand and quantify improvements to patient care, recovery, and ongoing quality of life that may be realized by leveraging the individual and collective experiences of individuals who have undergone similar medical procedures.

Founder’s Story

PatientCircle Research Institute was founded by Aaron Holm and Stephen Anthony in 2024 following Aaron’s experience as a heart surgery patient. The Institute’s work is founded on two insights Mr. Holm discovered after recovering from his 2018 quintuple bypass procedure and subsequent depression in 2023.

  • Major surgery is a scheduled trauma.

  • Major surgery patients can benefit greatly from the experiences of other major surgery patients.

Why It Matters

Anxiety and depression caused by major surgery have been shown to increase postoperative morbidity and mortality and significantly decrease patients’ quality of life. PatientCircle Research Institute’s goal is to deliver research that supports the efficacy and benefits of peer coaching and community for major surgery patients and results in equitable and free access for all major surgery patients in the United States. Patient-led solutions are instrumental to ending the anguish of anxiety and depression for major surgery patients and improving their long-term health outcomes.

  • In PatientCircle Research Institute’s pilot research phase in 2023 and 2024, PatientCircle initiated the Peer Coaching for Cardiac Patients program in collaboration with a hospital site in Seattle, Washington. This program was designed to assess the feasibility and benefits of peer coaching in improving rehabilitation participation. We enrolled ten patients scheduled for elective cardiac surgery, providing them with four free 60-minute virtual coaching sessions, including two sessions before surgery and two after. Patients were paired with a volunteer peer coach who had experienced cardiac surgery and studied developmental and somatic coaching methodologies. The sessions included guided somatic breathwork for anxiety management and discussions on surgery preparation and recovery expectations. Our goal was to study whether peer coaching would reduce perioperative anxiety and depression among surgery patients and improve rates of participation in surgery rehabilitation.

  • Currently, PatientCircle continues to refine and expand the number of participating healthcare systems and surgery patients participating in the PCCP program based on feedback and outcomes from the initial pilot study. We are actively engaging with healthcare providers to increase awareness and referrals to our program. The coaching sessions remain virtual, making them accessible to patients with transportation or time constraints, thus addressing common barriers to surgery rehab participation.

  • We aim to develop training programs for peer coaching, increase the number of trained peer coaches, ensuring a diverse range of experiences that can cater to different patient needs, and expand our research beyond cardiac surgery to study the efficacy of peer coaching and community for other major surgeries. We also expect, through our research, to develop novel technology and intellectual property. The purpose of developing and maintaining software and/or intellectual property will be to increase access to peer coaching and further improve the quality of patient care and reduce suffering for patients.