Health informatics journal
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Health Informatics J · Dec 2015
Mobile phone-based clinical guidance for rural health providers in India.
There are few tried and tested mobile technology applications to enhance and standardize the quality of health care by frontline rural health providers in low-resource settings. We developed a media-rich, mobile phone-based clinical guidance system for management of fevers, diarrhoeas and respiratory problems by rural health providers. Using a randomized control design, we field tested this application with 16 rural health providers and 128 patients at two rural/tribal sites in Tamil Nadu, Southern India. ⋯ Linear mixed-model analyses showed statistically significant improvements in protocol compliance in the experimental group. Usability and acceptability among patients and rural health providers were very high. Our results indicate that mobile phone-based, media-rich procedural guidance applications have significant potential for achieving consistently standardized quality of care by diverse frontline rural health providers, with patient acceptance.
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Health Informatics J · Dec 2015
ReviewUse of mobile devices in the emergency department: A scoping review.
Electronic health records are increasingly used in regional health authorities, healthcare systems, hospitals, and clinics throughout North America. The emergency department provides care for urgent and critically ill patients. Over the past several years, emergency departments have become more computerized. ⋯ Our findings suggest that there is very little research evidence that supports the use of these mobile devices, and more research is needed to better understand and optimize the use of mobile devices. Given the prevalence of handheld devices, it is inevitable that more decision support, charting, and other activities will be performed on these devices. These developments have the potential to improve the quality and timeliness of care but should be thoroughly evaluated.