March 2025 - Surgical Serenity Solutions

Did you know there are Music Medicine apps?

waiting for colonoscopy while listening to jazz colonoscopy. No benzos needed! I’m not sure that the average person who is waiting for surgery knows that there are medical apps that can reduce anxiety and pain perception. My Surgical Serenity Solutions app has been in both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store for awhile now and it is free to download, listen to the samples, and then choose your preferred playlist for $9.99, a one-time payment.

But more people need to know about it and benefit from it.

Music Medicine Apps are available in App Store and Google Play Store

I would love to understand why more people don’t know about it, so that I can do something about it. With all of the computer viruses out there I can understand how some people might be afraid to click on a link they’re not sure of, to download an app that they haven’t heard of. Maybe that’s one reason it can only be downloaded to a phone or a tablet.

But in the long run, every new action must be decided by the pros and cons of the new action. Let’s take a look at the pros:

Pros and Cons of Music Medicine Apps (Hint: there are no cons!)

Soothing, calming music, through headphones or earbuds have been shown to reduce patient anxiety, cortisol levels, and pain perception
Patients who are listening to to our therapeutic playlists often get out of the recovery area sooner as well as the hospital sooner. (there is a $$$ meter running in the recovery area and patients are billed for every 15-minute segment they’re in there!)
When patients are stressed out and anxious, their bodies create a hormone called cortisol. This hormone is damaging to your organs and is intended for brief episodes of fight or flight. When it continuously circulates through your body, organs are damaged. Soothing, calming music can help!
Patients who have used our playlists tell us that they will never have surgery again without our music!
According to our recent study, patients who listened to our playlists through headphones or earbuds typically needed less anxiety and pain medication.

Are there really any CONS to using music in a medical setting through headphones streaming from an app?

There are some doctors who might object to bringing a smart phone into an operating room. But, most do allow it and sometimes they put it into a rubber glove.
Obviously if the surgery is around the head, having headphones or earbuds might not be possible.

Can you think of any other “cons” or reasons not to? If so, please leave a comment. Here’s the link: www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/calm

By DrAlice|March 31, 2025|medical apps|0 Comments

Anesthesiologist adds SSS app while waiting to go into operating room!

Yesterday I was at a local outpatient hospital with a friend who was getting a colonoscopy. The anesthesiologist stopped by her cubicle for just a brief conversation about the procedure and what anesthesia they would use.

She had already told the surgeon that she wanted to listen to our special music through her phone app but was told that it would be up to the anesthesiologist.

When the anesthesiologist arrived he was very open to the idea and was aware that there is more and more research documenting the benefits of therapeutic music as an adjunct to anesthesia. I explained to him that Surgical Serenity Solutions has a free app on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store that can be downloaded in minutes.

Once the app is downloaded the patient-or anesthesiologist in this case- can choose one of five playlists and purchase it for $9.99. The anesthesiologist did this on the spot and said that he though this would be so much better than just playing Spotify on speakers in the OR.

My friend had her colonoscopy and the earbuds were still in her ears and Jazz playlists playing when they brought her back to recovery after the procedure. She remained asleep for another 10 minutes or so but the music was still playing and she looked very peaceful.

Finally the nurse came in, called her name and she woke up with a smile on her face, asking if it’s over. Nobody really wants a colonoscopy but it’s a valuable procedure that can give you an early alert if you have colon cancer. Hopefully my friend is fine thought they did find a polyp that was removed during the procedure.

The anesthesiologist stopped by once more and said that he was so glad to know that this existed and that he planned to let all of his colleagues know about this and encourage them to get it.

The great thing is, hospitals can have this waiting for each patient in the OR by licensing all 5 playlists and giving the patients a choice when they arrive at the hospital that morning. Hospitals can provide high quality bluetooth headphones and use disposable earpiece covers.

OR, if hospital doesn’t want to offer this, they can tell patient about the playlists at their final pre-surgery visit and allow the patient to bring their own Iphone into surgery with the playlist already on the phone, ready to go!

To learn more, go to www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/calm.

By DrAlice|March 22, 2025|Our App is ready to go|0 Comments

Why your hospital can’t just use Spotify or Apple Family Sharing with patients in hospital!

Are you a healthcare facility, or are you affiliated with a healthcare facility? Does your healthcare facility play music for its patients as part of surgery, MRI, or other procedures? Are you currently using a Pandora, Spotify, or Apple Family Sharing account? If so, STOP! You are subject to large fines, UNLESS you purchase a healthcare license from ASCAP or BMI.

https://www.ascap.com/~/media/files/pdf/licensing/classes/healthcare-license.pdf

Now that more and more hospitals are seeing the research studies documenting the power of soothing music through headphones for the patient, it’s really important to know that you’re getting music that is already licensed by the company who is selling the pre-loaded headphones.

Here are the BIG differences between Surgical Serenity Solutions playlists and Spotify, Pandora, or Apple Music:

Surgical Serenity Solutions music has been curated and sequenced specifically for purposes of engaging rhythmic entrainment for the anxious patient entering into surgery or another medical procedure.
Playlists and other music from Spotify, Pandora or Apple Music is intended for entertainment or perhaps relaxation but there is no way to know whether it will produce the desired effect or calming or engaging rhythmic entrainment.
Surgical Serenity Solutions music is already licensed by and to Surgical Serenity Solutions. It is owned by us and is either commissioned by us or performed by Dr. Alice H Cash, a clinical musicologist and concert pianist.
Playlists and other music from Spotify, Pandora, or Apple music requires a healthcare license from ASCAP or BMI. What you will pay for this license is just for that license and doesn’t include any type of player, headphones, earbuds or specific therapeutic playlists.

Waiting for a C-section.

For the patient of course you always have the option of creating your own personal playlist. But a physician of any kind cannot create a playlist and use it with his patients, without a license to play this music from ASCAP or BMI.

I have met with physicians recently who confirmed that they had no idea this law exists and of course want to use the licensed Surgical Serenity Solutions. To talk with us, please go to www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/contact-us.

When I had the idea to create pre-loaded headphones back in 2005, I learned about how medical facilities were mainly using music chosen by the surgeons for the surgeons. I didn’t understand why they wouldn’t give the patient soothing music through headphones. Some surgeons knew intuitively that this was a good idea but most surgical staffs did not have the time or the know-how to create playlists that would be soothing and comforting for the patient and would take them through pre-op into surgery, through surgery, and then into recovery.

And then music became digitized and MP3 players or iPods were an option. And then Pandora and Spotify and Apple Family Sharing came along and some hospitals had music therapists or nurses or even surgeons who started making some playlists for surgeons. For a decade or more this was a growing phenomenon. During that time Surgical Serenity Solutions was marketing to patients and they were buying our pre-loaded headphones and taking them in to their surgeries.

Around 2018-19, just before Covid hit, Surgical Serenity Solutions started marketing primarily to hospitals and in the course of making that switch, I learned that ASCAP, the national organization that licenses all music, had decided to create a healthcare license that hospitals could purchase for a nominal fee in order to create their own playlists to offer patients. As of January 1, 2019 hospitals were required to purchase a healthcare license in order to use Pandora, Spotify or Apple Family Sharing.

The problem with this option is that music therapists usually don’t have the time and surgeons and nurses don’t have the know-how to choose music that will result in reduced anxiety and pain perception.

Elderly patient wearing headphones after surgery

Woman relaxed wearing headphones before surgery

So a great alternative is to purchase Surgical Serenity Solutions (SSS) pre-loaded headphones because:

the music is legal to use because it is commissioned and owned by SSS, in the public domain, performed by myself, a concert pianist, or already licensed by me for sale.
the music is scientifically chosen and shown to engage rhythmic entrainment, reduce anxiety and lower pain perception.

Of course if you want to buy a license for your hospital or Ambulatory Surgery Center, you can do that. But most busy surgeons simply don’t have the time to do that and music therapists typically don’t work with surgical patients by creating playlists for them to use in the perioperative period.

If YOUR hospital or center wants to learn more, you can go to https://www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/preloaded-headphones-for-hospitals/

For a white paper that I wrote for physicians about the benefits of music for patients, go to https://www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/4-reasons.

If you have any questions at all please contact me immediately by filling out the form at https://www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/contact-us/. We look forward to answering all of your questions and helping you and your patients to understand the benefits of music during surgery and provide you with ready-to-go pre-loaded headphones that have already been proven effective to hundreds and thousands of patients. Our music is also available to license for hospital so that patients could bring their own bluetooth headphones and stream our surgical playlists. You can go HERE to hear samples of this music.

Step into the future of music with surgery and hospitals providing the best in scientifically curated and sequenced music! Surgical Serenity Solutions is the future!

And NOW: SSS announces our Pre-loaded MP3 players for Hospitals

Our MP3 players are each pre-loaded with one of our proprietary, therapeutic playlists! Because they are more cost-effective when purchased in bulk and co-branded for each hospital, hospitals can afford to GIVE each patient their own MP3 player to take home for continued recovery in the comfort of their own home. Clear HERE to fill in your hospital’s information so that we can set up a call to provide you with the very best package for your hospitals!

By DrAlice|March 19, 2025|Apple Family sharing, Healthcare License to play music|0 Comments