Abstract
Purpose :
The aim of this study was to compare the measured effective assessment time and the re-evaluation time for new admitted patients using the standard medical record or employing smartphone technology (Paxos® software), which allows real-time collaboration via an electronic health encounter record, in order to reduce the time spent during patient evaluation, thus enhancing the overall response time.
Methods :
This is a prospective, observational and comparative study performed at the Association for Preventing Blindness (APEC) in Mexico City from February to October 2017. A research fellow teamed up with a third-year resident to evaluate patients on their first consultation. A complete registration was obtained from the patient's consultation time; the research fellow employed the Paxos® software and the ophthalmology resident used the standard medical record. Data regarding consultation time was captured for effective assessment time and re-evaluation time for new admitted patients. A Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank test was employed to assess significance between groups. In addition, Pearson correlation coefficient (r) was obtained between assessment time and years of age from all included patients.
Results :
A total of 50 patients were included in this study. The effective assessment time using the standard medical record was 130.4 ± 72.24 minutes, whereas using the Paxos® software was 106.6 ± 68.92 (P < 0.0001). Main re-evaluation time using standard medical record was 107.1 ± 72.08 minutes, whereas using Paxos® was 93.08 ± 102.7 minutes (P < 0.0001). In addition, a negative correlation (r = -0.114; P = 0.428) was found between the effective assessment time and patients’ years of age using the standard medical record, whereas a positive correlation (r = 0.152; P = 0.301) was evidenced using Paxos®.
Conclusions :
Both the effective assessment time and the re-evaluation time were significantly reduced when employing the Paxos® software. In addition, the negative correlation found using the standard medical record signified a more prolonged consultation time on younger patients, whereas the opposite was evidenced when using Paxos®, demonstrating a more efficient use of time in younger patients.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.