The questions were related to the current clinical pathway for elderly patients in emergency departments, current challenges, differences between this group of patients and other emergency department patients, and current status of, and opportunities for, using heath information technologies for geriatric patients in the emergency departments. Prior to the interviews, an interview guide was developed based on literature review 30-35 and consisted of 10 open-ended questions ( Appendix I). Interviews continued until data saturation was reached. As the requirements of elderly patients can be different from other age groups who visit emergency departments, the purpose of this study was to identify the opportunities for using various health information technologies for elderly patients in emergency departments.ĭata were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 33 informed individuals in January 2020 through February 2020. However, few studies have focused on the use of health information technologies in geriatric emergency medicine, and in particular in emergency departments. ![]() 29 To date, the mentioned systems have been used for different groups of patients, and there is a large literature support for their effectiveness. 28 Telemedicine is another widely used technology that has the potential to facilitate care processes in geriatric emergency medicine. ![]() 26, 27 Nurses can use different methods of electronic documentation for elderly patients to reduce errors and overlaps in the documentation. 25 The use of computerized physician order entry (CPOE) and EHRs in emergency departments have reduced the number of radiographic and laboratory test requests and saved costs by preventing repetitive diagnostic procedures. 24 Vital signs monitoring systems have helped to reduce waiting time and mortality, accelerate diagnosis, and improve health outcomes by providing adequate data at the point of care. This system was designed based on the guidelines for the prompt management of geriatric pain and is aimed to enhance physician awareness about geriatric pain assessment and treatment. 23 For example, the use of a clinical decision support system (CDSS) has helped to improve pain management. Recently, several technologies have been developed for use in the field of geriatric emergency medicine. 20 A wide range of products and services such as electronic health records (EHRs), telehealth, mobile health (mHealth), remote monitoring tools (telemonitoring tools), assistive technology, and sensors are some of the examples of heath information technologies. 19 Generally speaking, health information technology includes a variety of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) that are used to collect, store, transmit, and display patient data. 16-18 Moreover, the availability of information-especially via information technologies-can help clinicians to make better decisions at the right time. 15 The application of health information technology in geriatric emergency medicine can be useful in various aspects, such as prevention, care support, and process management mainly by providing adequate data at the point of care. 14Īs the field of geriatric emergency medicine evolves, the use of various health information technologies (HIT) in this area has been found of particular importance. 12, 13 It is notable that, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), indviduals who are 65 years old or older are considered elderly from a chronological perspective. The lack of care optimization for the elderly can lead to adverse outcomes of care and increase readmission, mortality, and morbity. 10, 11 Therefore, emergency care processes need to be improved for this group of patients. 4 For example, in some countries, such as Turkey and the United States, more than 24 percent of emergency patients are the elderly, 5-9 and they spend more time in emergency departments than other age groups. 3 On the other hand, the number of admissions of the elderly in the emergency department is increasing every year. ![]() 1, 2 In emergency departments, the elderly usually have the longest waiting time for treatment and discharge, and the difficulty of obtaining a history due to their hearing and mental impairment makes the evaluation of elderly patients complicated and time-consuming. However, current emergency care facilities may not meet the requirements of the elderly. As the number of elderly people is increasing in different countries, hospital emergency departments have been faced with more challenges than other departments in providing healthcare services for this age group.
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