USAGE OF ANESTHESIA INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES IN 2020 – A SHORT SURVEY

Jan Bruthans,Jan Bláha

doi:10.14311/ctj.2020.4.01

Abstract

The theoretical aspects and benefits of Anesthesia Information Management Systems (AIMS) are well described in literature already. However, certain existing systems are much less researched with most studies concentrating on the USA. In our study, we sent a link to a Google questionnaire to 403 European hospitals and to 382 European authors who have published in the last five years in a renowned anesthesiologic journal. We have not researched AIMS usage in the Czech Republic, as we have covered this topic in our previous study. We asked responders for information on their AIMS (name, vendor, length of use) or to explain why they do not use one. We received 14 responses from the hospitals and 38 responses directly from the authors. With the return rate of 8 per cent we evaluated our study in qualitative terms. Among the 23 respondents that use AIMS there are 12 different systems including two self-developed systems. A number of these systems have not previously been mentioned in the literature. Most use their systems longer than five years but only three respondents are implementing AIMS at the moment. Both these findings show slower progress in this field than in the USA. Typical reasons given from non-users were financial constraints and inability to recognize benefits of AIMS. Incompatibilities with other medical software and medical devices in use were also mentioned. The heterogeneity of AIMS used and perceived barriers corroborate our previous study from the Czech Republic.

Highlights

The most vital parameters need to be recorded during anesthesia every five minutes
Simple systems that automatically record available parameters are known as the Automated Anesthesia Record Keeping System (AARKS)
AARKS decreases the workload of the anesthesiologist [3] and recorded data is more exact [4] since anesthesiologists tend to “smooth out” their manual records [5]

Summary

Introduction

The most vital parameters need to be recorded during anesthesia every five minutes. The paper anesthesia records still widely used do not differ significantly from the first records introduced more than one hundred and twenty years ago [1]. Simple systems that automatically record available parameters are known as the Automated Anesthesia Record Keeping System (AARKS). First attempts to capture patient data electronically throughout anesthesia took place more than forty years ago [2]. AARKS decreases the workload of the anesthesiologist [3] and recorded data is more exact [4] since anesthesiologists tend to “smooth out” their manual records [5]. Some information must be entered manually (e.g. medication given), which might result in an omission, as in paper anesthesia records [6, 7]

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion