Maintaining continuity of care in a multidisciplinary health service by using M-health technologies to develop patient medical records

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop a novel mobile health (m-health) app to help staff of a multidisciplinary health service better maintain continuity of care. Existing literature indicates that continuity of care is significantly affected by the degree of comprehensiveness, accuracy and accessibility of patient medical records (PMRs). This study examined problems in existing methods of developing PMRs and addressed them in innovative ways in a new m-health app. Findings from requirement analyses involving observation of mobile nursing shifts, examinations of documentation procedures and interviews with key nursing, administrative, medical and specialist staff guided the building of functions that enabled the development of appropriately comprehensive PMRs. Further, findings from usability research were used to assist nurses in obtaining accurate data. Cloud storage capabilities were integrated to increase accessibility of PMRs. Two preliminary field tests in real mobile nursing shifts clearly indicated that compared to those formulated by other methods, PMRs formulated using this app were more comprehensive, accurate and accessible; thus enabling better maintenance of continuity of care.