Mobile Apps that Promote Patient Safety and Better Treatment

Patient safety is a value at the core of modern and high-quality healthcare, but it also presents a complex problem.

The Institute of Medicine defined patient safety as "the prevention of harm to patients", while the AHRQ describes it as practices "that reduce the risk of adverse events related to exposure to medical care across a range of diagnoses or conditions."

Though awareness of patient safety in the medical community is growing, implementing systematic approaches similar to those used in other industries is proving difficult.

Patient safety can be improved, and better health outcomes can be achieved, by empowering all patients to play an active part in their health and health care, and by implementing new technologies, particularly mobile devices and apps.

Mobile technology in health care allows easier communication, makes reference material or information suited to patients more accessible, supports decision making processes, and can also improve patient safety.

Nowadays, many clinicians are using various mobile apps to improve patient safety and avoid liability. Here, we listed some of the most popular apps that promote patient safety and better treatment.

Patient Safety Manual App

The Patient Safety Manual app, created by Cranworth Medical and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, brings more than 50 safety and clinical guidelines and clinical scores, allowing health care providers to quickly access the plethora of information required for the safe treatment of their patients. 

The app's content deals with common clinical situations, including optimum fluid management, common drug doses, and clinical scoring systems.

The Patient Safety Manual app is available for free on both Android and iOS platforms.

Our score: 78%
Links: Android, iOS

TeamSTEPPS Pocket Guide App

Patient safety experts agree that communication between health care providers and other teamwork skills are essential factors in the delivery of high-quality health care and the prevention of medical errors.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is the leading national agency for research to improve the safety and quality of health care. 

They are the ones behind the development of the TeamSTEPPS Pocket Guide app based on the Team Strategies & Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety teamwork system, which is also known as TeamSTEPPS. 

The TeamSTEPPS Pocket Guide is a handy quick-reference app ideal for every professional who has completed the AHRQ TeamSTEPPS training. 

The app contains summaries of all of the helpful tools and strategies to improve patient care and safety taught in the course.

The TeamSTEPPS app is available for free on iOS and Android devices.

Our score: N/A
Links: Android, iOS

CheckAid App

Surgical interventions are an essential component of health care. Despite the positive impact needed surgeries can clearly have on a patient's health, any surgical procedure itself carries a significant risk, as well. 

The safety of all patients who undergo surgery remains one of the most important priorities for healthcare teams all over the globe. One tool that is very commonly used to ensure a positive patient experience and significant risk reduction is a surgical safety checklist, particularly the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist, which helps ensure that important safety steps are reliably followed for each and every operation.

There are many mobile apps based on the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist, including CheckAid app which is a simple, portable tool for implementing standardized checklists before, during and after surgical procedures.

The app is available for free for iPhone and iPad.

Our score: 81%
Links: iOS

AirSignout App

Patient sign-out is considered the most dangerous procedure in medical practice, with up to 80 percent of serious medical errors involving miscommunication during handoffs.

The AirSignout app is a free and practical quality assurance tool for iOS platforms, intended to help handoff communication and to provide a secure and convenient means to manage and record patient information involving key issues and safety concerns.

Sign-out data can be securely exported from AirSignout app via email, iMessage or AirDrop using a password protected 128-bit encryption.

AirDrop can be also used to securely transfer entire lists and cases to the entire team, meaning that the lists and cases can be continually updated or revised without having to re-enter data, providing added convenience.

The AirSignout app is a perfect solution for Emergency Department doctors and residents, as well as internists, especially when they have a long list of patients to sign out.

Our score: N/A
Links: iOS

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APSS - Actionable Patient Safety Solutions App

Every year, the Patient Safety Movement Foundation (PSMF) produces evidence-based Actionable Patient Safety Solutions (APSS) for hospitals to implement so that they are able to decrease the number of preventable deaths.

The Patient Safety Movement Foundation has developed 31 solutions to over 16 patient safety challenges that hospitals everywhere are faced with today.

Each of these solutions was developed by a dedicated work group composed of multidisciplinary teams of patient safety experts, health care technology professionals, hospital leaders, and patient advocates. Furthermore, the information provided is updated every year by multidisciplinary workgroups.

All Actionable Patient Safety Solutions (APSS) can be accessed via the handy APSS app, which is available for Android and iOS devices for free.

Our score: N/A
Links: Android, iOS

Kanal's MR Risk Assessment App

MRI scans can pose a serious risk to certain patients, such as those who may have any sort of implant, device or foreign body that may be adversely affected by the magnetic fields used during MRI scans.

There are multiple factors affecting the safety of patients during MRI scans, which include not only the type of implant but also its location, the type of MRI scan being done, the part of the body being imaged, the strength of the magnet, the configuration of the MRI machine, and other issues and considerations.

Dr. Emanuel Kanal, director of MR services at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and a well-known expert on MRI safety issues, has developed the MR Risk Assessment app for iPhone and iPad users to address some of the most common safety issues involved in MRI scan procedures. This app is there to help providers determine whether a patient can be safely imaged using an MRI scan.

The MR Risk Assessment app is intended for MR technologists, radiologists, and MR physicists, particularly those who have attended one of Dr. Emanuel Kanal's MRMD/MRSO MR Safety Training Courses.
However, the app's price of $99.99 may be off-putting to some users.

Our score: N/A
Links: iOS