Prontuário Compassivo: Development and initial assessment of a palliative care digital platform in socially...

Structured clinical records are essential for ensuring the quality and continuity of palliative care, particularly in socially vulnerable contexts. Existing digital systems rarely capture psychosocial or subjective data, limiting interdisciplinary collaboration and person-centered care planning.

To describe the development and preliminary usability assessment of Prontuário Compassivo, a Brazilian digital platform designed to support clinical documentation and coordination of community-based palliative care.

This methodological study was conducted between 2022 and 2025, adopting an agile development approach grounded in the Scrum framework and guided by user-centered design principles. The platform was implemented as a responsive web system with secure authentication mechanisms, interoperability through REST (Representational State Transfer) application programming interfaces, and modules integrating standardized palliative care assessment tools. Usability assessment was conducted prospectively between February 2024 and January 2025 within the Favela Compassiva project in Rio de Janeiro. Data collection included direct observation of home visits, field diaries, and interdisciplinary meetings documenting professionals' interactions with the platform. Usability aspects explored included learnability, ease of use, navigation clarity, and integration into routine clinical workflows.

By January 2025, the system had generated 520 clinical records used by 71 interdisciplinary health professionals involved in community-based palliative care. Three analytical categories emerged: (1) routine use, (2) challenges related to features and user diversity, and (3) contextual adjustments. These findings indicate that the platform became embedded in routine home-based care activities, although its use varied depending on users' familiarity with digital tools. Iterative refinements included simplified and extended versions, reorganized navigation flows, and automated referral features.

Prontuário Compassivo demonstrated technical feasibility, contextual usability, and adaptability in resource-limited environments. Its integration of interprofessional documentation, artificial intelligence resources, and interoperability positions it as a promising digital health solution for improving documentation, communication, and continuity of palliative care in socially vulnerable settings. Future studies should conduct standardized usability testing and evaluate the platform's impact on clinical outcomes.