Effectiveness of a Mobile App in Reducing Therapeutic TAT in an Emergency Department

Effectiveness of a Mobile App (PIMPmyHospital) in Reducing Therapeutic Turnaround Times in an Emergency Department: Protocol for a Pre-Post Intervention Study

This study is a single center, non-equivalent comparison group, pre-post study in a tertiary pediatric emergency department in Switzerland. the study will compare the control and experimental groups on outcome measures before (12-month period) and after (6-month period) the intervention consisting of the implementation and use of the evidence-based mobile app-the ''Patients In My Pocket in my Hospital'' (PIMPmyHospital) app.

The primary outcome will be the mean elapsed time in minutes between the delivery of lab results and the emergency department caregivers accessing them before (i.e., on the institutional electronic medical records) and after the implementation of the app (i.e, directly on the app).

The study objective is to evaluate whether the use of the PIMPmyHospital app alters emergency departments (ED) physicians and nurses' temporal efficiency to learn about laboratory results more quickly while actively working in an ED. Temporal efficiency will be assessed by measuring the time between the release of the laboratory results in the clinical information system and their acknowledgement by these clinicians. Information regarding the app has been published previously (doi.org/10.3390/jpm12030428).

The investigators will conduct an 18-month, single center, non-equivalent comparison group, pre-post study. The study will compare the control and experimental groups on outcome measures before (12-month period) and after (6-month period) the intervention consisting of the use of the app. The study will take place in the pediatric ED of a tertiary referral and major trauma hospital in Switzerland, with an annual volume of 35,000 visits.

Eligible participants will be postgraduate residents pursuing a <6-year residency in pediatrics, pediatric emergency medicine fellows, and registered nurses from the pediatric ED (aged > 18 years). Written informed consent will be obtained from each participant in the interventional group after full information disclosure prior to study participation.

Before the implementation of the app, electronic medical records (EMR)-based data from the past 12 months will be collected retrospectively. These data include the times (i.e., HH:MM:SS) that results issued by the central laboratory were available on the institutional's EMR, as well as the times at which these results were accessed by caregivers via conventional computerized workstations. (ii) After the implementation of the app, data will be collected prospectively over a 6-month period of use. This will include the times (HH:MM:SS) when the results issued by the central laboratory are made available on caregivers' mobile app and access times, as well as concurrent or preferred access times on the conventional computerized workstations should this occur. Individual acceptance of the app on the first day (a priori), at 1 week, and then on the last day of the intervention (6 months) will be evaluated through the Unified Theory of Acceptance, and Use of Technology (UTAUT). Usability of the app will be measured by the System Usability Scale (SUS).

The primary outcome will be the mean elapsed time in minutes between the delivery of the lab results and the caregiver accessing them, both before and after the implementation of the app.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Any postgraduate residents pursuing a <6 years residency in pediatrics.
• Any pediatric emergency medicine fellows.
• To be registered nurses from the pediatric emergency department.
• Participation agreement.

Exclusion Criteria:

• none