The Wellbeing Services County of Pirkanmaa – Pirha
Pirha has adopted the Medanets app throughout its operations, across 50 wards and at a number of outpatient clinics.
The solution now helps the healthcare professionals with tools such as the Early Warning Score (EWS) that warns of changes in the patient’s condition, and the Monitored patients, Clinical forms and Medication features, as well as the Mobile photo solution developed in collaboration between Medanets and medical imaging company Neagen.
Mobile solution in use since 2011
Pirha has been using the Medanets app since 2011. Since the initial adoption, it has been expanded to more than 50 wards and multiple outpatient clinics.
I’ve found using the smart phone app to identify patients and document measurements to be quick and reliable. The Medanets Helpdesk gets back to you quickly at all times of day, and is a real help if we have problems.
Tommi Heino, Nurse, Tampere University Hospital
Software Architect Ari Ruuth of Istekki Oy, Pirha’s IT expert organisation, states that employees have really taken to the solution, with one member of staff stopping him in the corridor just to tell him: “This is really cool!”
“It doesn’t take long to familiarise yourself with the app, and it’s easy to teach your colleagues how to use it. We’ve had positive comments from employees of all ages and genders. The mobile solutions have brought benefits thanks to their nearly real-time transfer of information, their speed, and the fact they save time, to give just a few examples,” explains Ruuth.
When it comes to new technology, there are always some preconceptions about how usable it’s going to be. However, those assumptions quickly melted away when people opened the app and got to see how it works.
Ari Ruuth, Software Architect, Istekki Oy
Documenting NEWS with a mobile app makes nurses’ lives easier
Tampere University Hospital was one of the first to adopt the National Early Warning Score (NEWS) system in 2017. That year, they also made the risk scoring mobile.
Pirha’s Doctor Joonas Tirkkonen explains that the NEWS criteria form part of a modern approach to comprehensive monitoring of a patient’s condition, with the Medanets app simplifying how constant monitoring is carried out on the wards.
Documenting NEWS with a mobile app makes nurses’ lives significantly easier.
The mobile solution calculates the score, shows clinical guidelines, and indicates when the next score should be calculated. The score can be recorded without even having to leave the room, and the nurse can see right away any trends in vital functions, as well as the breakdown of the score. Any deviations from the trend help predict a deterioration in the patient’s condition and ensure necessary measures can be carried out right away.
Anniina Reinikainen, Nurse, Pirha
Currently, the NEWS system is in use throughout Pirha, and is used on around 50 wards on mobile devices. A version tailored to children’s needs (Pediatric EWS, or PEWS) was adopted at the new children’s hospital in Tampere in autumn 2019 as part of the development of their operations.
Pirha carries out more than 16,000 NEWS assessments using the Medanets app each month. As a benchmark, approximately 17,400 patients are treated in the wellbeing services county each month. As a guide, NEWS scores are calculated for patients at least once a shift, and more often for patients in a more critical condition.
The measurement results are transferred with ease from the monitors to the Electronic Health Record
Patients’ measurement results from monitoring devices are also transferred to the Electronic Health Record seamlessly in Pirha. As of 2023, there are at least 200 patient monitoring locations linked to the Medanets solution.
At Tampere University Hospital’s emergency department, based on time saving calculations carried out in 2013, the Medanets Monitored patients solution was found to save nurses 17 seconds per measured parameter. This means that on a ward where 500 monitor documentations are made per day, the gross savings would be approximately 100 hours per ward per month.
Mobile solutions speeding up risk assessments and providing clinical guidelines
Tailored assessment methods were developed for Pirha to assist determining pressure ulcer and malnutrition risk, with the assessment methods then integrated into the Medanets mobile app.
There was a need for an as simple and easy-to-use indicator as possible that could be used to assess a patient’s risk of developing pressure ulcers. It was also important to ensure that nurses know what the results mean from a nursing perspective.
Medanets’ mobile solution guides the nurse through the four statements of the assessment tool step-by-step, and once the nurse has answered the statements, the results and corresponding clinical guidelines are shown on the mobile device. Comprehensive documentation improves the reliability of information on pressure ulcers, and the data can be used to manage, evaluate and develop nursing. In addition to this, standardised documentation and guidelines support healthcare professionals in making the right clinical decisions.
The malnutrition risk for adult patients is screened using the NRS-2002 method. Medanets’ solution allows staff to carry out a mobile, evidence-based NRS-2002 screening at the point of care, instead of using the traditional paper form.
The benefits of the mobile solution are the speed of assessment compared to using a paper form or a screening in the Electronic Health Record. The nursing staff can see the results of the screening and a summary of the responses straight away. The app also provides written results and corresponding clinical guidelines. The results are immediately available in the app and the Electronic Health Record to everybody involved in the treatment process, helping develop both the safety of the treatment and its continuity.
Ultimately, identifying the risk of malnutrition and enhancing clinical nutrition improve the quality of treatment and patient safety.
Ulla Siljamäki-Ojansuu, Authorised Nutritionist
Mobile Photo solution improves patient safety and the quality of care
In 2020, Tampere University Hospital adopted the Mobile Photo solution across 24 wards. Since then, it has been expanded to more than 50 wards and over 20 outpatient clinics. The solution has improved patient safety, the quality of care, and the workflows of healthcare professionals.
Previously, images of patients’ wounds and other lesions were transferred from a digital camera to a computer, before being uploaded to the Electronic Health Record, which entailed a risk that the images could accidentally end up in the wrong patient’s health records. When using the mobile app, this risk is eliminated. The patient is first identified using their barcode, and then any photos taken of the patient are transferred automatically and immediately to their health record. This allows all those involved in the patient’s treatment to see the images soon after they have been taken and for any changes to be reacted to immediately.
The solution also helps the hospital save on costs: it is no longer necessary to open and replace expensive wound treatment products with new products just to assess the condition of the wound. A recent picture taken during a regular wound treatment process is enough.
Faster medication administration entries and reduced ambiguities
Pirha decided to also adopt the Medanets Medication solution, with the aim of bringing the administration entries for all medications into a smooth care workflow. The solution has sped up making administration entries and made it easier to record entries in accordance with Pirha’s policy. This helps improve patient safety and reduce the frequency of ambiguities related to the pharmacotherapy process.