Design and testing of the safety agenda mobile app for managing health care managers’ patient safety responsibilities

Abstract

Background: Adverse events are a reality in clinical practice. Reducing the prevalence of preventable adverse events by stemming their causes requires health managers’ engagement. Objective: The objective of our study was to develop an app for mobile phones and tablets that would provide managers with an overview of their responsibilities in matters of patient safety and would help them manage interventions that are expected to be carried out throughout the year. Methods: The Safety Agenda Mobile App (SAMA) was designed based on standardized regulations and reviews of studies about health managers’ roles in patient safety. A total of 7 managers used a beta version of SAMA for 2 months and then they assessed and proposed improvements in its design. Their experience permitted redesigning SAMA, improving functions and navigation. A total of 74 Spanish health managers tried out the revised version of SAMA. After 4 months, their assessment was requested in a voluntary and anonymous manner. Results: SAMA is an iOS app that includes 37 predefined tasks that are the responsibility of health managers. Health managers can adapt these tasks to their schedule, add new ones, and share them with their team. SAMA menus are structured in 4 main areas: information, registry, task list, and settings. Of the 74 users who tested SAMA, 64 (86%) users provided a positive assessment of SAMA characteristics and utility. Over an 11-month period, 238 users downloaded SAMA. This mobile app has obtained the AppSaludable (HealthyApp) Quality Seal. Conclusions: SAMA includes a set of activities that are expected to be carried out by health managers in matters of patient safety and contributes toward improving the awareness of their responsibilities in matters of safety.