Pocket PC Software | Software Reviews

Handheld Computers Improve Service Delivery in Hospital
Written by Frank Yacano  [author's bio]  [read 41672 times]
Edited by Derek

      

Page 1  Page 2 

Visit SYWARE's Visual CE download page.

Hospitals vary in size and focus, but they are all staffed by a variety of professionals who walk around performing activities where data has to be captured, accessed, and analyzed. It's the type of environment that lends itself to handheld computers.

By eliminating the need to record data on paper forms, handhelds increase efficiency both for the user as well as the medical facility as a whole. Time saving techniques such as drop-down lists allow data to be captured electronically in a fraction of the time required using paper forms. Information can be entered into the hospital's central medical records system the same day it is collected, improving the quality of care and eliminating gaps between the time data is recorded and when it becomes available.

One major issue is application development. In contrast to a warehouse, for example, where all personnel might use the same order processing application, the nurses, doctors, therapists, and other professionals in a hospital could make use of dozens of different applications. However, application development for handhelds does not have to be a complex, expensive project. Software productivity tools are available that make creating handheld applications extremely easy, even without programming experience.

Geoff Lawton, Director of Pharmacy Services at the Medical Center of Aurora, Colorado, saw the potential for handhelds to reduce the paper burden in the Pharmacy department of the 350-bed acute care hospital. He is emphatically not a programmer - his background is in pharmacy, along with an MBA. However, despite his lack of development experience, he was able to use a software productivity tool called Visual CE to create valuable applications that are in constant use by the 45-person Pharmacy department.

As far as Lawton is concerned, there's no turning back. "Why would you ever want to use paper? Anything that you do on a paper form is much easier on a handheld computer using point and click technology. The more you use it, the more opportunities you find."

Building Applications Quickly

Visual CE (from SYWARE, Inc., www.syware.com) allows users to quickly build forms and database applications for Pocket PCs and Windows CE handhelds using drag & drop controls. The intuitive design functions have allowed Lawton to create handheld applications without a major development effort. Visual CE synchronizes with any ODBC data source, allowing data to be readily exchanged between handheld devices and a central database application. Tables can be created in Microsoft Access on a desktop PC and downloaded to Visual CE on the handheld to provide content for drop-down lists on an electronic form.

"Now we can create a form and get it deployed on a handheld network so quickly that it's amazing," adds Lawton. His first application, which tracks pharmacy consults, took a total of six hours to build. The second, for managing customer service, took one hour, and the third, for tracking medication usage, took only 30 minutes. While these applications are relatively simple one-page forms, they more than meet the needs of Lawton and his department.

"I found that creating forms using Visual CE is absolutely painless, even for someone who finds the process somewhat intimidating," Lawton explains. "Even though I'm very Access naïve, it was easy to build a one-dimensional table and upload it to Visual CE. Then I created a form on my desktop, dragged the fields into place, and added some drop-downs and radio buttons. I uploaded the form to the handhelds and we were ready to go."

The Pharmacy department is using Compaq iPACs and HP Journadas handheld devices, which Lawton selected for their high processing speed and memory. He also wanted a Windows-based platform, since the department staff all use Windows on their desktops. As a result, Lawton reports that the learning curve was virtually nil. "Traditionally, when I have tried to implement new technology, folks would be adverse to the changes. However, the handheld computers are so convenient, liberating, and fun that my folks embraced them immediately."

Consultation Management

The hospital's pharmacists now use handheld computers and Visual CE to manage and document the consultative services they provide to physicians and nurses. According to Lawson, the new approach using Visual CE has made the documentation process far more effective than using traditional paper forms. Where it used to take 3-4 minutes to complete a consultation, it can now be done in seconds. "Just point and click on the fields you need to build, and you've got your consult."

The role of the hospital pharmacist differs from that of the traditional retail pharmacist. While doctor prescribe the medication, pharmacists are the experts in monitoring medication therapy, particularly the interactions that can occur when patients are taking multiple medications. The hospital pharmacist manages a patient's medication therapy as part of the medical team. They may recommend adjustments based on the patient's weight, age, or physical condition. They also have expert knowledge of what factors to monitor while the patient is taking the medication.

If the pharmacist makes an adjustment to a patient's medication therapy, the change must be documented in order to ensure continuity of care. Traditionally, these consults have been done using paper forms This is a labor-intensive exercise: writing forms by hand takes time, and when you're in a busy hospital setting, time is at a premium. There is a natural tendency to put it off, leading to potential miscommunication between pharmacists from one shift to the next as well as between pharmacists, physicians, and nurses.

Next Page 

Back to Software Reviews | [Article Index]