Doctors using laptops or tablets for hospital rounds instead of paper could save an average of 57 minutes a day, according to recent research from Birmingham Women’s Hospital in the UK.
For seven months last year, experts from Birmingham Women’s Hospital’s neonatal unit swapped paperwork for an electronic system after identifying problems with handover data and the length of time filling out paperwork during rounds averaging four hours and 58 minutes. The study found medics spent around 56 percent of ward round time filling out paperwork; however, this could be reduced to around 41 percent using technology.
Historical data also showed that only 68 percent of the doctor’s paper entries into medical notes are legible, but an electronic system boosts this to 100 percent.
“Based on the 57-minute average time-saving, for four members of staff per day, we estimate that our system is saving the department over 24 hours of doctor time per week, which is time we can use to improve parent communication, staff education and training and to improve standards of care in other areas,” the authors said.
8 months after the trail, Birmingham Women’s Hospital’s neonatal unit is still using the electronic system improving handover and documentation standards.
Image credit: John.Karakatsanis via cc
