Evaluation of generic medical information accessed via mobile phones at the point of care in resource-limited settings

Abstract

While mobile access to primary literature remains important and serves an information niche, mobile applications with condensed content may be more appropriate for point-of-care information needs. Further research is required to examine the specific information needs of clinicians in resource-limited settings and to evaluate the appropriateness of current resources in bridging location- and context-specific information gaps.

Use of Mobile Devices to Access Resources Among Health Professions Students: A Systematic Review

“…They served as a primary tool for accessing health information resources or locating the evidence to support evidence-based practice or clinical decision making in patient care settings [25,28,29,33,34,37]. They were also used for distributing learning resources and tools to enhance, consolidate, reinforce, or monitor medical and nursing students' learning [16,18,19,21,22,28], and help them study for exams [18,19,25].…”

“…The findings of the study showed that the residents across four residency programs (internal medicine, pediatrics, emergency medicine, and family medicine) had a significantly higher percentage of correct responses when using the medical apps for questions on drugs, diagnosis/definition, and treatment/management. PubMed4Hh had an advantage over the medical apps only for the epidemiology type of questions [33]. However, the findings of another study revealed that the majority of trainee doctors, when directly supervised, consulted senior medical staff as the most popular and frequently sought information source in the workplace followed by their peers and other staff in the medical/nursing team.…”

“…The use of mobile applications to improve learning and enhance workplace performance and communications were also reported in 10 studies. Examples of these applications included a multiplatform journaling app Evernote [25], the iPad "air-play-mirroring" for presentations, FaceTime, Dropbox [29], Skyscape [33], KeyNote [17], DocTool Cross Library Search Tool [23], PDFExpert for reading and editing PDF files on the iPad, and QuickOffice [18]. Various clinical tools were used to access EMR (DICOM viewers), make call schedules, and access PACS and EMR remotely via the Citrix Receiver [24]; Cisco WebEx Meeting videoconference software was installed for iPad users to make didactic and case-conference lectures anywhere with an Internet connection; the ResponseWare app was embedded into the iPad to offer the capability of audience response during resident training events [24].…”

“…One year following the deployment of the tablet computer program, the results of a performance examination (CNS-SNS, a neurological surgery examination) showed a statistically significant improvement in global scoring and improvement in 16 of the 18 individual areas evaluated. The majority of the residents devoted more time to studying outside the hospital due to introduction of the tablet computers and mobile resource [33]. Sharpe and colleagues found a positive impact of the implementation of the Radiology iPad Toolbox on radiology residents' education and learning experience [24].…”

Mobile Health Monitoring

“…Studies indicate that lack of timely access to patient information [14], discontinuity of the communication, and lack of coordination between service provider and health care team members [15] are the main causes of medical errors. The use of mobile devices in terms of emergency situation and telemedicine is crucial for instant access to patient information, entry and data processing of medical records on time, and when the shift health care services changes for providers of health services [16,17].…”