Improving Healthcare Team Collaboration in Hospital Transfers through Cloud-Based Mobile Systems

Abstract

It is a clinical fact that better patient flow management in and between hospitals improves quality of care, resource utilization, and cost efficiency. As the number of patients in hospitals constantly grows, the need for hospital transfers is directly affected. Interhospital transfers can be required for several reasons but they are most commonly made when the diagnostic and therapeutic facilities required for a patient are not available locally. Transferring a critical patient between hospitals is commonly associated with risk of death and complications. This raises the question: How can we improve healthcare team collaboration in hospital transfers through the use of emerging information technology and communication services? This paper presents a cloud-based mobile system for supporting team collaboration and decision-making in the transportation of patients in critical condition. The Rapid Emergency Medicine Score (REMS) scale was used as an outcome variable, being a useful scale to assess the risk profile of critical patients requiring transfers between hospitals. This helps medical staff to adopt proper risk-prevention measures when handling a transfer and to react on time if any complications arise in transit.