Implementation and Evaluation of a Web-Based Distribution System For Anesthesia Department Guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures: Qualitative Study and Content Analysis

Abstract

Background Digitization is spreading exponentially in medical care, with improved availability of electronic devices. Guidelines and standard operating procedures (SOPs) form an important part of daily clinical routine, and adherence is associated with improved outcomes. Objective This study aimed to evaluate a digital solution for the maintenance and distribution of SOPs and guidelines in 2 different anesthesiology departments in Switzerland. Methods A content management system (CMS), WordPress, was set up in 2 tertiary-level hospitals within 1 year: the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the Kantonsspital Lucerne in Lucerne, Switzerland, as an open-access system, followed by a similar system for internal usage in the Department of Anaesthesiology and Pain Medicine of the Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, in Bern, Switzerland. We analyzed the requirements and implementation processes needed to successfully set up these systems, and we evaluated the systems’ impact by analyzing content and usage. Results The systems’ generated exportable metadata, such as traffic and content. Analysis of the exported metadata showed that the Lucerne website had 269 pages managed by 44 users, with 88,124 visits per month (worldwide access possible), and the Bern website had 341 pages managed by 35 users, with 1765 visits per month (access only possible from within the institution). Creation of an open-access system resulted in third-party interest in the published guidelines and SOPs. The implementation process can be performed over the course of 1 year and setup and maintenance costs are low. Conclusions A CMS, such as WordPress, is a suitable solution for distributing and managing guidelines and SOPs. Content is easily accessible and is accessed frequently. Metadata from the system allow live monitoring of usage and suggest that the system be accepted and appreciated by the users. In the future, Web-based solutions could be an important tool to handle guidelines and SOPs, but further studies are needed to assess the effect of these systems.

XML Data and Knowledge-Encoding Structure for a Web-Based and Mobile Antenatal Clinical Decision Support System: Development Study

“…Planning can be used to take advantage of the knowledge of the world. Knowledge in AI refers to information and conditions about the world and how actions change and affect the world [ 17 ]. AI planning approaches can be used to represent what is known about the current state of the world and the available actions.…”

Collaborative desing in web aplication development to improve tuberculosis diagnostic

“…A digital solution for the maintenance and distribution of guidelines and standard operating procedures (SOP) were implemented in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the Kantonsspital Lucerne in Lucerne and in the Department of Anaesthesiology and Pain Medicine of the Inselspital in Switzerland this kind of system is important and gives support to the daily clinical routine, this investigation evaluated the systems' impact by analyzing content and usage, after one year of usage the system was accepted and appreciated by the users made the daily routine easier, it shows that web-based solutions could be an important tool to handle guidelines and SOPs in hospitals [8]. Health care is changing focusing on patient-centeredness.…”