Drawing on research for “Improving Patient Rounds,” a 2008-2009 Picker/Gold
Graduate Medical Education challenge grant, the Georgia Health Sciences University
(formerly the Medical College of Georgia) has developed a PFCC BASICS mobile
app. The application aims to educate not only students but also providers, staff and
healthcare consumers, including patients and their families, about patient- and
family-centered care fundamentals. The app will soon be available from the Apple apps store.
Mobile apps aim to improve education and care
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Two new mobile applications, one of which enables a virtual roller coaster ride through the upper-respiratory system, are among the resources enhancing education and patient care at Georgia Health Sciences University.
The Upper Respiratory Virtual Lab, a real-time, 3D, interactive simulator of the upper-respiratory system, bridges the gap between what students see in textbooks and the gross anatomy lab, said lead developer Nick Klein, a GHSU medical illustration alumnus who works in the Medical College of Georgia Curriculum Office.
The application was the brainchild of Dr. Bill Dolen, Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, Klein said. “He came to us last year with a library of rhinoscope images
compiled in the ’80’s and ’90s,” he said. “The idea was to make an interactive
educational tool for students and physicians.”
That library evolved – with the help of high-resolution CT data from innumerable scans of the upper-airway system, the willingness of several team members, like third-year medical student Thomas Freeman, to be scoped themselves and real-time 3D game a mobile and web application developer with Information Technology and Support Services. The result was an application that allows students to “fly through the upper-respiratory system” as if they were inside the body.
“It’s as if they’re interacting with the anatomy,” Klein said. “This helps them bridge the conceptual gap between a cross-section in the anatomy lab and their first rhinoscopy.”
The first version of this application was designed for use on personal computers, but a free iPad version was rolled out earlier this year. Within weeks, 15,000 people had downloaded it, a number that’s now climbed to over 25,000.
“What we found is that students are using it to study, but a large number of downloads come from nurses and otolaryngologists who are showing patients what will happen during a certain procedure,” Klein said. “People are also using it to educate their patients.”
Another novel mobile application was produced with patient care, quality and safety in mind. The PFCC BASICS application, developed by the Center for Patient- and Family-Centered Care and ITSS, will launch this month.
The application aims to educate not only students but also providers, staff and health care consumers, including patients and their families, about patient- and family-centered care fundamentals, said Christine O’Meara, Program Development Coordinator for the GHSU Center for Patient- and Family-Centered Care.
The high-tech application, like its low-tech precursor, a paper handout developed
by the center in 2010 through Picker Institute funding, reinforces principles and guidelines such as dignity and respect, information-sharing, participation and collaboration.
“Users can access GHSU Medical Center’s PFCC Standards of Care, but the app’s real gem is the interactive PFCC Checklist. As partners in care, patients and their families can use the PFCC checklist as a handy reference tool,” O’Meara said, citing uses such as ensuring that health care providers wash their hands, give them the opportunity to ask questions and provide clear and thorough discharge instructions. “The app can be used to help assess how well we are teaching, modeling and following our own patient- and
family-centered care standards.”
The checklists reflect industry-recognized safety and communication standards, patient satisfaction measures and evidence-based guidelines for effective communication and engagement with patients, she said.
“We field-tested the application with students, doctors-in-training, physicians and patient advisors because it was important that the final product reflect input from our intended audience,” O’Meara said. “In fact, patient advisors say they would also like to see the paper version, the PFCC Card, available in the patients’ rooms so that patients without smart phones can learn about PFCC and the checklist.”
The application is available for download from GHSU Mobile, www.georgiahealth.edu/mobile/georgiahealthmobile.html,
and will be available soon on Apple iTunes.
Toview the Upper Respiratory Virtual Lab on a PC, visit www.georgiahealth.edu/urvl.
To download it from iTunes, for use on a Mac, iPhone or iPad, visit http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/upper-respiratory-virtual/id435530624?mt=8.
