Linking Pediatrics Patients and Nurses With the Pharmacy and Electronic Health Record System Through the Inpatient Television: A Novel Interactive Pain-Management Tool

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Implement a novel pain-management interface that is used to bring real-time, patient-reported pain assessments to the inpatient television and evaluate the impact of implementation on the pain-management clinical workflow, patient engagement, and nursing pain reassessments. METHODS: We developed a pain-management tool interfacing 4 stand-alone technologies: a television-based, interactive patient care system; electronic health record system; nursing call system; and pharmacy inventory–management system. The workflow is triggered when pain medications are dispensed by sending an automatic pain assessment rating question via the patient’s television at a predefined time. To measure the effects of implementation, we calculated patient and/or parent use rates and pain reassessment timely documentation rates. Data were extracted from the electronic health record for a period of 22 months and covered pre- and postimplementation. RESULTS: A total of 56 931 patient records were identified during the study period, representing 2447 unique patients. In total, 608 parents and/or patients reported their pain through the tool. Use rates were 6.5% for responding to the pain rating prompt and 13.3% for the follow-up prompt, in which additional nonpharmacologic strategies to eliminate pain were offered. A modest increase was found in the mean timely documentation rates on the basis of nursing documentation standards (26.1% vs 32.8%, a percentage increase of 25.7%; P < .001) along with decreased median time to pain reassessment documentation (29 minutes versus 25 minutes, a percentage decrease of 13.8%; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: With this novel tool, we offer a potentially scalable approach in supporting the pain-management clinical workflow, integration of technologies, and promoting of patient and/or parent engagement in the inpatient setting.