Streamlining the ER Process

Inspiration

One of our team members had a memorable childhood experience in the ER, one that lasted over 6 hours. It inspired us to work toward streamlining ER processes so that patients are not waiting so long before being attended to by ED personnel. In doing preliminary research on triage, we discovered electronic triage through Johns Hopkins Hospital using an algorithm called HopScore. This further inspired us to integrate technology to make the registration and triage process faster. To do this, we created an iOS app and suggested a new hospital policy. We were inspired by Detroit Medical Center’s 29 minute initiative to reduce the amount of waiting time for patients who are levels 1-3 on the ESI.

What it does

Our app allows users to set up an account using basic information. They can do a questionnaire to be advised whether they should go to an Urgent Care or an ER. The app also provides them with locations of ERs and Urgent Cares nearby as well as approximate waiting times. Our app allows users to enter registration information commonly requested by Emergency Rooms and generate a QR code. Once they arrive at the Emergency Room, a triage nurse will scan the QR code and this will eliminate the need to spend time doing paperwork. Our policy changes include:

1. Mini registration done by triage nurse using data from the QR code and taking the patient’s vitals. This information can be imported into HopScore and then the triage nurse will approve of the level or urgency.
2. The patient will be given a definitive waiting time of 30 minutes if they are emergent or urgent.
3. Formal registration will occur while the patient is waiting in the treatment area.
4. The patient will be re-evaluated by a triage nurse using HopScore if they are waiting for more than one hour. ## How we built it Our app was created using snappy.appypie.com. We referred to numerous scholarly articles to support our policy changes and questionnaire. ## Challenges we ran into We faced the most challenges with designing the QR code generator with the correct fields and creating the questionnaire. ## What we learned We learned about the inner workings of triage and how to create an iOS app. ## What's next for Streamlining the ER Process We hope to advance the app by linking it with smart watches to import heart rates to the app. Incorporate HopScore program into the app.

Built With

• appy-pie