The interRAI Acute Care instrument incorporated in an eHealth system for standardized and web-based geriatric assessment: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the acute hospital setting

BMC Geriatrics

Koen Milisen¹  Steven Boonen³  Philip Moons²  Anja Declercq⁴  Johan Flamaing⁵  Nathalie I H Wellens²  Els Devriendt¹ 

[1]Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Geriatric Medicine, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

[2]Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Health Services and Nursing Research, KU Leuven, Kapucijnenvoer 35, 4th floor, Leuven, 3000, Belgium

[3]Leuven University Centre for Metabolic Bone Diseases, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

[4]Lucas-Centre for Care Research and Consultancy, Policy Research Centre for Welfare, Public Health and the Family, Centre for Sociological Research, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

[5]Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

关键词: SWOT-analysis;    Software;    InterRAI Acute Care;    Hospital;    Comprehensive geriatric assessment;    Aged;   

Others  :  1090171
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2318-13-90

 received in 2013-04-17, accepted in 2013-08-29,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

Background

The interRAI Acute Care instrument is a multidimensional geriatric assessment system intended to determine a hospitalized older persons’ medical, psychosocial and functional capacity and needs. Its objective is to develop an overall plan for treatment and long-term follow-up based on a common set of standardized items that can be used in various care settings. A Belgian web-based software system (BelRAI-software) was developed to enable clinicians to interpret the output and to communicate the patients’ data across wards and care organizations. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the (dis)advantages of the implementation of the interRAI Acute Care instrument as a comprehensive geriatric assessment instrument in an acute hospital context.

Methods

In a cross-sectional multicenter study on four geriatric wards in three acute hospitals, trained clinical staff (nurses, occupational therapists, social workers, and geriatricians) assessed 410 inpatients in routine clinical practice. The BelRAI-system was evaluated by focus groups, observations, and questionnaires. The Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats were mapped (SWOT-analysis) and validated by the participants.

Results

The primary strengths of the BelRAI-system were a structured overview of the patients’ condition early after admission and the promotion of multidisciplinary assessment. Our study was a first attempt to transfer standardized data between home care organizations, nursing homes and hospitals and a way to centralize medical, allied health professionals and nursing data. With the BelRAI-software, privacy of data is guaranteed. Weaknesses are the time-consuming character of the process and the overlap with other assessment instruments or (electronic) registration forms. There is room for improving the user-friendliness and the efficiency of the software, which needs hospital-specific adaptations. Opportunities are a timely and systematic problem detection and continuity of care. An actual shortage of funding of personnel to coordinate the assessment process is the most important threat.

Conclusion

The BelRAI-software allows standardized transmural information transfer and the centralization of medical, allied health professionals and nursing data. It is strictly secured and follows strict privacy regulations, allowing hospitals to optimize (transmural) communication and interaction. However, weaknesses and threats exist and must be tackled in order to promote large scale implementation.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 Devriendt et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

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