A new health app is providing health professionals with instant access to a wide range of information, from the moment an emergency call has been made right up to the arrival of the patient at the hospital. It promises to improve both initial patient care and continuity of care, provide on-the-job support to practitioners and streamline management of information and resources.
- 22 January 2016
The HCDM contributes to improving the quality of health care in “out-of-hospital” emergencies in Andalusia, speeding up access to the patient’s clinical information. It also improves the continuity of healthcare, easing the access to information that has been obtained during the out-of-hospital care by the patient’s primary care provider and hospital facilities.
The so-called Mobile e-Health Record app (HDCM - Historia Clínica Digital en Movilidad) – developed with ERDF-funding as part of the Andalusian digital strategy for improving access to patients’ medical information – has been designed to assist healthcare professionals responding to emergency situations.
The app, installed on tablets, gives instant access to a range of information vital to patient’s care, including all the details of the initial emergency call, the patient’s e-Health record if they are an Andalusian resident, and access to reference information to support the practitioner’s diagnosis and treatment. The app also allows the exchange of information with the destination hospital, so that the emergency department is fully informed of actions taken during the intervention and appropriately prepared for the patient’s arrival, which is especially important for time-critical pathologies such as strokes or severe trauma.
Recognised in 2013 by the DINTEL Foundation with the award for the “Best Technological Project for Citizen Services”, the HCDM has been deployed to all the emergency response teams in Andalusia, and emergency response teams now use this tool in 90 % of the calls they make. The new app has also encouraged Andalusian residents to register for an e-Health Record, with over 70 % now registered.
Streamlined information and resource management
As well as improving patient care during an emergency intervention, the centralisation of information via the HCDM provides an audit trail of the treatment given, and alerts the practitioner to any missing information, thereby increasing compliance with established guidelines and standards.
The app also tracks medication and other materials used during the intervention, aiding stock management for replacement, and allowing the cost of the call to be calculated more easily than in the past.
In addition, going digital has reduced printed medical records by an impressive 88 %, which as well as being more environmentally friendly, has reduced the need for physical space to store records.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the “Mobile e-Health Record” project is EUR 1 919 000, of which the EU’s European Regional Development Fund is contributing EUR 1 535 200 from the Operational Programme “Andalusia” for the 2007-2013 programming period.