Quantitative Findings from a Controlled Trial of the Linked Care Digital Medication Reordering Solution in Mobile...

Digitalization in healthcare promises efficiency gains, in the present case particularly addressing medication management. In mobile care, staff often spend substantial time traveling to collect patients' health insurance cards, visit physicians to obtain prescriptions, pick up medication at pharmacies, and deliver it to patients. The Linked Care project developed an integrated IT solution to streamline medication reordering in mobile care settings.

To evaluate whether an electronic system improves the efficiency and quality of the medication reordering process compared to usual care.

A non-randomized controlled trial allocated nurses and caregivers to intervention (Linked Care) or control groups. Standardized and project-specific self-reported outcomes on workload (psychological stress), time expenditure, errors & information loss, and usability were obtained via online questionnaires. Data was analyzed using mixed-effects models as well as repeated measures ANOVA for trend analyses.

Workload was consistently lower in the intervention group, whereas time expenditure showed no significant differences. Errors and information loss improved significantly in the 6-month follow-up. Usability ratings ranged from "excellent" to "good".

Using Linked Care was associated with reduced self-perceived workload (psychological stress) and improved error prevention, with high usability; however, self-perceived time savings were negligible.