A clinical quality feedback loop supported by mobile point-of-care (POC) data collection

A POC clinical information system was designed and deployed on a Motion tablet to allow data collection at the bedside by specialist auditors. Collected data is then stored in a Microsoft SQL Server Environment in real time, allowing immediate feedback through corporate level reporting. The reporting framework consists of self-service non-interactive reports and scorecards, and self-service interactive reports (dashboards) where users can seek detailed information from an organizational level down to a patient level. Information is presented both numerically and graphically, including in a traffic light paradigm, to highlight clinical risks and their relative urgency. Increased information provision to end users via the intranet scorecard and dashboard systems was able to efficiently and effectively close the audit and feedback loop within the organization. Previous variability in information provision was systematically improved to push information to the appropriate decision makers in a timely and efficient manner. Since this health service is one of the first across the country to undergo accreditation under new national standards, the system as described is a novel approach to meeting this compliance challenge. This paper will outline the design features of the system, implementation and training challenges, and proposed future directions for the application and the collected data.