In the November 2025 episode of RAPM Focus, ASRA Pain Medicine Past-President and RAPM Editor David Provenzano, MD, converses with Megan Rolfzen, MD, and Karsten Bartels, MD, PhD, MBA, following the July 2025 publication of their original research article, “Post-Surgical Medication, Awareness, Recovery, and Tracking Using a Phone-Based App (SMART-APP): A Randomized Controlled Trial.”

In their clinical trial, Drs. Rolfzen, Bartels, et. al., tested the hypothesis that a patient-facing educational smartphone app would permit surgical patients to effectively manage their pain while using fewer opioids after discharge.

Dr. Rolfzen is an assistant professor of anesthesiology at the University of Michigan and a scholar in the NIH T90 HEAL PAIN program. 

Dr. Bartels is a professor of anesthesiology, psychiatry, and learning health sciences at the University of Michigan and leads a research program focused on perioperative pain and mental health.

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