Title: iRevive: a pre-hospital database system for emergency medical services

Authors: William W. Tollefsen, Mark Gaynor, Marissa Pepe, Dan Myung, Matt Welsh, Steven Moulton

Addresses: Boston University School of Medicine, 1115 Old Farm Rd, Valhalla NY, 10595, USA. ' Boston University School of Management, 595 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston MA, 02215, USA. ' Boston University School of Management, 595 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston MA, 02215, USA. ' Boston University School of Management, 595 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston MA, 02215, USA. ' Harvard University, Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 233 Maxwell Dworkin, 33 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. ' Boston University School of Medicine, Pediatric Surgery, Dowling 2419, One Boston Medical Center Place, Boston, MA 02118, USA

Abstract: Most emergency medical service (EMS) events are documented by hand. We have implemented a new paradigm: the electronic Patient Care Record (PCR) for emergency medical field usage with a system called iRevive that functions as a mobile database application. This paper discusses a field trial of iRevive in the context of improving the design and usability of the handheld device by incorporating feedback from users. Also included is a brief overview of our nation|s EMS system, emphasising the urgent need to adopt new types of information technology to link pre-hospital information with the hospital record, a description of iRevive and a discussion on barriers to implementation. iRevive is a mobile database application that is designed to facilitate the collection and management of pre-hospital data. It allows point-of-care data capture in an electronic format and is equipped with individual patient sensors to automatically capture vital sign data. Patient information from the field is wirelessly transmitted to a back end server, which uses web service standards to promote interoperability with disparate hospital information systems, various billing agencies, and a wide variety of research applications.

Keywords: computerised patient care records; emergency medical services; healthcare data integration; iRevive; electronic reports; patient reports; medical reports; mobile databases; handheld devices; pre-hospital information; hospital records; data collection; data management; data capture; patient sensors; wireless transmission; wireless communications; mobile communications; web service standards; interoperability; EMS workflow; EMS documentation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHTM.2005.007008

International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management, 2005 Vol.6 No.4/5/6, pp.454 - 469

Published online: 02 May 2005 *

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