One patient tracker leads to another
Idea got start in UAMS ED
A patient tracker used throughout the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) had its beginnings when an information technology support person for the emergency department (ED) was asked to replace the "white boards" that were being used to keep up with patients' location.
"[ED managers] decided they didn't want to use the white boards anymore, but wanted something that could be displayed," says Terry Lewallen, the UAMS IT software developer who was given that mission.
Lewallen designed what he now says was "an archaic system — like large TVs — that staff could see from anywhere in the department."
After a while, Lewallen says, managers from a new UAMS clinic, the Center for Aging, heard about the system, came to look at it, and asked him to design something similar for them. He did that, more clinics made inquiries, and before long he had done several such projects, each "a little different" from the others.
In the summer of 2004, realizing he was making more and more work for himself with the need to provide support for all these different trackers, Lewallen adds, he and his IT colleagues came up with the idea of doing one basic design that could be customized to serve the needs of different clinics.
Now, "instead of different designs, we have tables that describe the [various] configurations, but all the patients reside in the same database," he says.
"One clinic may want to have the appointment date and whether the patient showed up on time or not, another may want the physician's name while radiology doesn't want the physician listed," Lewallen notes. "We just talk about which information they want displayed."
The ED system, however, is "such a unique animal" that it must continue to be maintained separately, he says.
Versions of the patient tracker are in place at a number of UAMS locations, Lewallen says, including — in addition to those already mentioned — the ear, nose, and throat clinic; two areas that provide chemotherapy; and the pharmacy that supports both chemo rooms. Another 12 clinics, he adds, are in line to have trackers installed.
There is also the possibility of making the patient tracker available for use outside the UAMS environment, Lewallen says.
To those interested in developing a similar system, he advises "making sure the users do some really good research on what they want it do to," asking themselves, "What is the data we need and how do we want to use it?"
Typically, Lewallen points out, what he is given as the basis for the design changes several times before completion. "We go back and forth, I give them the design, and they say, ‘Can you do this, too?'
"That's fine," he adds, "but the more research the users do [in advance] to provide to the designer, the better for both sides."
A patient tracker used throughout the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) had its beginnings when an information technology support person for the emergency department (ED) was asked to replace the "white boards" that were being used to keep up with patients' location.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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