mULCER - A mobile ulcer care record approach for integrative care

Abstract

Mobile applications are increasingly used to support nursing work. Specifically, mobile information and communication technology (MICT) has potential to support treatment initiatives in patients with skin ulceration or a high risk for their development. We propose a mobile ulcer monitoring system - mULCER - which serves to control patient's ulcer status during all stages of treatment. Additionally it integrates with an electronic health record (EHR) system. mULCER synchronizes ulcer data with the EHR and provides an everywhere every time support for nurses on evidence-based advice for prevention, classification, and monitoring different phases of ulcer healing or prevention. It also increases security and extensiveness of nursing record. The solution can be operated in stand-alone mode or embedded into an EHR system. It serves as a tool to integrate nursing care among hospital departments and institutions on an enterprise wide effort to increase level of health care integration at the point of service. The advantages and disadvantages of mobile devices for this purpose are also discussed. The paper describes the concepts and includes a prototype to demonstrate the proposed contribution. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.