When I went to visit my 86-year-old grandmother this summer, she ended up falling and being admitted into the hospital. Thankfully, she feels much better. When I put all the emotional feelings aside, I can reflect on the process it took to get her admitted. I literally watched the nurse enter my grandmother’s information into the system for at least 45 minutes. I found that a bit odd as the hospital already had her information. My mom began to ask the nurse questions about what she thought of the system. The nurse went on to say that the staff seemed dissatisfied. If the system crashed, the staff had no way of retrieving patient records. The nurse also mentioned that she sometimes had to enter in patient information from the beginning.
The nurse’s thoughts got me thinking the following – Corporations provide smartphones to some of its employees; hospitals should consider doing the same. Better yet, they should look at app development as a way to retrieve at least snapshots of patient information. If healthcare facilities have already invested money into technology, they should take an extra step to ensure staff always has access to patient information. This type of app would certainly help staff when systems go down or if back-up generators fail.
Final Thoughts
Hospital patients cannot always communicate their medical histories. Loved ones may not always have the ability to answer all questions either. When hospital networks fail, staff would benefit from having an app that functions as a back-up method to retrieving patient records. In turn, hospital staff could focus on patient care while having access to potentially life-saving information.
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