Abstract
ABSTRACT Background: Trauma registries (TRs) play a vital role in the assessment of trauma care, but are often underutilized in countries with a high burden of injuries. Objectives: We investigated whether information and communications technology (ICT) such as mobile health (mHealth) could enable the design of a tablet-based application for healthcare professionals. This would be used to inform trauma care and acquire surveillance data for injury control and prevention in Oman. This paper focuses on documenting the implementation process in a healthcare setting. Methods: The study was conducted using an ICT implementation framework consisting of multistep assessment, development and pilot testing of an electronic tablet-based TR. The pilot study was conducted at two large hospitals in Oman, followed by detailed evaluation of the process, system and impact of implementation. Results: The registry was designed to provide comprehensive information on each trauma case from the location of injury until hospital discharge, with variables organized to cover 11 domains of demographic and clinical information. The pilot study demonstrated that the registry was user friendly and reliable, and the implementation framework was useful in planning for the Omani hospital setting. Data collection by trained and dedicated nurses proved to be more feasible, efficient and reliable than real-time data entry by care providers. Conclusions: The initial results show the promising potential of a user-friendly, comprehensive electronic TR through the use of mHealth tools. The pilot test in two hospitals indicates that the registry can be used to create a multicenter trauma database.
Highlights
Trauma registries (TRs) play a vital role in the assessment of trauma care, but are often underutilized in countries with a high burden of injuries
The overall goal of this study was the development of an mobile health (mHealth) platform that would become the precursor to a multicenter trauma database to inform trauma care efforts in Oman
Since this paper focuses on the planning and pilot implementation of the mHealth registry, the implementation procedures, process, impact and system evaluations are described in detail
Summary
Trauma registries (TRs) play a vital role in the assessment of trauma care, but are often underutilized in countries with a high burden of injuries. Despite being equipped with good health information systems and electronic medical records (EMRs), a lack of in-depth data on the quality of trauma care and effectiveness of injury prevention initiatives limits the ability of clinicians and public health practitioners to develop focused interventions for injuries [6]. Given this challenge, rapidly growing economies with a high burden of injuries need efficient ways to collect such evidence instead of relying on annual reports of routine administrative data with limited clinical information [7,8]. Researchers and policymakers alike, the need for an evidence base for performance improvement and evaluation of trauma care practice has been identified [9]
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