Medanets Checklists: Efficiency and safety in healthcare
This article is based on a presentation given at the Medanets User Days 2025 by Marika Kurko and Niina Forsström, who work as project coordinators in the wellbeing services county of Kymenlaakso in South-East Finland.
The wellbeing services county of Kymenlaakso is the first Finnish specialised healthcare provider to implement Medanets Checklists. The solution enables healthcare professionals to easily check, tick off and save electronic checklists on mobile devices.
Background and need
The goal of the wellbeing services county is to improve efficiency and patient safety by using electronic checklists. They want to get rid of paper checklists and the associated privacy risks. Medanets Checklists is an easy to use and easily accessible solution for all users, reducing the need to constantly open the Electronic Health Record system, and preventing the care journal text from being filled with checklist data.
Benefits of checklists
Medanets Checklists will replace most of the paper checklists used on the wards. The checklists guide the user to perform tasks accurately, ensuring that all necessary aspects are taken into account in the patient’s care. The checklists are easily found in the main menu of the Medanets app, and can be completed by multiple users simultaneously.
The checklists are stored in the Medanets app, but not in the Electronic Health Record (EHR). If necessary, a link to the PDF file containing the checklist can be saved in the EHR. This will be done in cases where data retention is legally required, such as when a patient’s self-determination is restricted.
Piloting and deployment
The content of the checklists was prepared by the designated staff in the wards in collaboration with their supervisors. If necessary, the ward physician was consulted. The trained members of the project team were responsible for creating the checklists in the Medanets environment. The first checklists were piloted in special care and acute units in early February. The planned duration of the pilots is at least three months for each checklist, to ensure sufficient user experience and feedback.
As a first step, checklists were implemented in the following areas
- Patient discharge
- Admission of a patient to undergo radioiodine therapy
The next steps involve implementing checklists for:
- Transfer of a small patient
- Monitoring restrictions on self-determination.
Succesfully navigating implementation challenges
Several challenges arose during the implementation of the checklists, including issues with formatting the checklist items, allowing for free comments, and determining the proper location in the Electronic Health Record (EHR), when data saving was required.
These challenges were addressed through close collaboration and continuous testing. A number of adjustments were needed before the final versions of the checklists were ready:
- The design needed to be simple yet comprehensive, and the wording had to be clear and unambiguous to avoid misinterpretation.
- It was decided to allow free text in the comment fields, but with certain restrictions to ensure clarity.
- Integration with the Electronic Health Record is still under testing.
Positive user experiences & future enhancements
Initial feedback from the users has been positive. Nurses have found the mobile checklists to be more intuitive and easier to use than their paper counterparts. While not yet fully integrated into daily practices across all units, the checklists have been well received.
After the pilot, the use of checklists will be expanded, and the approach will be further refined. The goal is to establish a coordinated system for creating, requesting, and implementing checklists. The project team will continue to provide ongoing support and training to ensure that the use of checklists becomes a routine part of daily activities in all units.
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