Authors (including presenting author) :
TANG PY (1), YU WMW (1), WU SY (1), TONG YH (1), LEE CY (1), TSAI PCC (1), CHEUNG NT (1)
Affiliation :
Information Technology and Health Informatics Division, HAHO, HKSAR
Introduction :
Vital Signs observation is a fundamental activity performed for hospitalized patients every day. Nurses or healthcare assistants perform vital signs measurements and chart readings on paper forms for documentation. Clinical staffs will then interpret vital signs data with other clinical conditions for prescription or treatment. Under the Smart Hospital Program, the project team has started to develop an electronic Vital Signs application using mobile technology, to facilitate timely and accurate vital signs data entry via electronic documentation or machine interface, and provide automatic charting of measured data to allow reviewing of patient’s condition anytime and anywhere.
Objectives :
(1) To digitalize vital signs data and frequencies (2) To facilitate timely and accurate data entry (3) To facilitate viewing of electronic charts at-a-glance via mobile device anytime and anywhere (4) To interface vital signs data with other existing clinical systems in the Hospital Authority (HA), such as Patient Assessment Form (Nursing) and (Paediatric), to avoid duplication of data entry among multiple systems (5) To facilitate data use for automatic clinical reminder & alerts e.g. MEWS calculation and aberration alert (6) To provide observation Work List to cater the need of different staffs group at point of care (7) To reduce duplication of data entry and transcription error
Methodology :
User friendliness mobile design is used for the four main functions of the Vital Signs application: (1) Order for prescribing single or set of measurements to be assessed with specific frequencies; (2) Data Capture for documenting vital signs readings in real-time electronic version of charts; (3) Worklist retrieval for personalized observation round to address the individual need of nursing staff / healthcare assistants; and (4) View for displaying trends of vital signs with flexibility of duration and measurement selection. Measurements include Integrated Observation, Peak Flow Rate, H’stix and Body Measurement. The system facilitates multiple vital signs capturing methods, by device interface via Bluetooth or QR code, and manual input. Vital signs readings in alert ranges or with high early warning scores will be highlighted, aiming at alerting nursing staff and health care assistant for prompt response for treatment or escalation of deterioration.
Result & Outcome :
The project was initiated in Oct 2017 under the Smart Hospital Program and the Vital Signs application is planned to be launched in mid-2019. This application will be piloted in selected wards of PMH and TSWH in 2019. The design of application supported auto-charting of routine and spot-check of vital signs input and facilitated mobile review by clinician and health care providers. Besides, data capturing by device interface improved efficiency and avoid transcription error than pen and paper. The design of Worklist addressed the need of different staff groups by coordinating to retrieve individual tasks shared among the team. In the long run, the system aims to provide better sharing of digitalized vital signs to enable big data analysis and the ability of integration with other clinical systems in Hospital Authority for improving clinical care processes, care prioritization and clinical analysis.
Co-location with:
