In 2012, Sutter Care at Home, an affiliate of Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health, began providing Android tablets for staff to use to access read-only copies of patients' electronic health records.
Now, in-home care providers can see information on their patients' previous hospitalizations, physician office visits and laboratory results on the tablets. The tablets can also be used to order additional medical supplies or to take a photo of a patient's wound and send it to a physician specialist for evaluation.
The tablets have improved care coordination within Sutter Health, according to a case study of the program conducted by the College of Health Information Management Executives.
"Tablets have sped up the flow of the process," said Jennifer Brecher, project manager for the SutterCare at Home project, in a news release. "In the past, if one of the clinicians went to see the patient on Monday and the physical therapist would go on Tuesday, the therapist would not have the electronic information about the Monday visit available. This is better from a productivity standpoint and better for the patient."
Having tablets on-hand has also improved turnaround time on patient documentation, according to the case study. Prior to the tablets, the standard timeframe for completed documentation was 72 hours, now down to 24 hours with the tablets.
The program has required additional training for at-home care staff on the use of the tablets, according to the case study, especially since IT personnel cannot provide at-the-elbow support in a patient's home.
More Articles on Tablets:
Study: Using Laptops or Tablets Saves Physicians an Hour a Day
3 Ways Health IT Can Increase Nursing Quality, Efficiency
Why Do Clinicians Use Mobile Technology? 5 Top Reasons