The role of Medanets during the COVID-19 pandemic
Due to COVID-19, there has been an urgent need for mobile solutions in the nursing sector. Nordland Hospital in Northern Norway was able to start using mobile solutions within 16 days. In total, there have been just over 200 Medanets deployments (including completely new wards as well as extensions) during the pandemic – which is a lot.
Most of these deployments were carried out over a remote connection. “Even in cases where the solution was completely new to the customer, deployments have succeeded very well with remote training. This has required active contact persons among customers and good instructions from Medanets. We’ve had many online meetings concerning development ideas, and we’ve made changes rapidly according to the customers’ wishes,” says Olli Järvinen, Medanets’ Senior Service & Delivery Specialist.
The availability of up-to-date health records
Nursing entries made using the Medanets app are transferred directly to the electronic health record. Nurses are also able to view a patient’s updated health information and any warnings about changes in the patient’s condition immediately in the app.
We quickly realised that the mobile app is exactly what we need in a situation like this. We are able to reduce traffic in the wards and make health records more readily available. This was especially important when nearly 500 Nordland Hospital staff were in quarantine.
Lars Eirik Hansen, Project Manager, Nordland Hospital1
With real-time and immediately available information, healthcare professionals are able to earlier identify patients whose condition is deteriorating. “Medanets’ EWS feature allows us to get a good overall view of a patient’s vital signs, which can be the difference between life and death in an emergency,” says one nurse from Nordland Hospital.
The effect on preventing infections
To prevent the spread of the virus, no items may be taken out of COVID-19 patient rooms. In these rooms, our customers usually have a smartphone, protected by a plastic bag, with the Medanets app installed. The app can be used normally despite the plastic cover. Both the patient and the nurse can be identified electronically and the information about the patient’s condition is transferred wirelessly.
“Getting a good overall view of a COVID-19 patient’s condition requires the measurement of multiple values. This means that many entries also need to be made. Medanets’ solution has been a great help to us. Without it, we would have to make the COVID-19 ward’s entries twice – first on paper and then by calling the nurses’ office or by showing the information written on the paper to another nurse through a window,” says Päivi Hautaoja, a Senior Nursing Officer at Satasairaala Hospital.
If we have a patient who is infected with COVID, with the help of the app it is easier to track who has been in contact with that patient. That helps to determine the next measures, like putting staff into quarantine.
Nurse, Norland Hospital
Point-of-care documentation of a patient’s COVID-19 status
Based on our customers’ wishes, we added an attribute to our app that makes it possible to document a patient’s COVID-19 status. The new attribute can be added to the observation values feature. The attribute can be updated quickly as the situation develops and it includes the following alternatives:
- Respiratory symptoms and/or fever, no COVID-19 infection suspected
- NO testing for COVID-19 infection, no respiratory symptoms and/or fever
- Exposed to COVID-19, patient suffering from respiratory symptoms and/or fever, MUST be tested
- COVID-19 infection confirmed
- No COVID-19 infection is suspected
References:
1. Nasjonal rapport fra spesialisthelsetjenesten 2020: Forskning og innovasjon til pasientens beste.
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