An observational study to assess an electronic point-of-care wound documentation and reporting system...

The integration of information technology into daily patient care potentially provides a means to standardize care and enable continuous quality improvement through improved communication among care teams. A 2-month observational study was conducted on 38 residents with pressure ulcers at a 51-bed skilled nursing facility to rate the Ease of Use and Wound Management Effectiveness of a point-of-care electronic wound documentation system. Nine nurses evaluated the use of handheld "smart phone" devices equipped with a digital camera to document pressure ulcer assessment and treatment at point of care. Ease of Use (five items) was scored on a 5-point Likert scale (5 = very easy); Wound Management Effectiveness (eight items) was scored on a 5-point Likert scale (5 = very effective). Statistically significant mean changes in nurses' ratings were found for baseline compared to 2-month follow-up by paired t-test. Ease of Use ratings across the five criteria increased from an overall mean of 3.3 at baseline to 4.7 at follow-up (P = 0.5), while Wound Management Effectiveness increased from an overall mean of 3.3 at baseline to 4.4 at follow-up (P = 0.5) . The greatest gains for single items were reviewing wound progress (mean difference = 2.35; P = 0.000) and recognizing changes in wound status (mean difference = 1.78; P = 0.001) within the Ease of Use and Wound Management Effectiveness scales, respectively. The smallest change occurred in reading charts and notes (mean difference = 0.89) and ability to determine resident's risk level (mean difference = 0.39). Further research is needed to assess use of a wound documentation system in this and other settings, as well as to ascertain validity and reliability.