The study objective is to evaluate whether the use of the PIMPmyHospital app alters
emergency departments (ED) physicians and nurses' temporal efficiency to learn about
laboratory results more quickly while actively working in an ED. Temporal efficiency will
be assessed by measuring the time between the release of the laboratory results in the
clinical information system and their acknowledgement by these clinicians. Information
regarding the app has been published previously (doi.org/10.3390/jpm12030428).
The investigators will conduct an 18-month, single center, non-equivalent comparison
group, pre-post study. The study will compare the control and experimental groups on
outcome measures before (12-month period) and after (6-month period) the intervention
consisting of the use of the app. The study will take place in the pediatric ED of a
tertiary referral and major trauma hospital in Switzerland, with an annual volume of
35,000 visits.
Eligible participants will be postgraduate residents pursuing a <6-year residency in
pediatrics, pediatric emergency medicine fellows, and registered nurses from the
pediatric ED (aged > 18 years). Written informed consent will be obtained from each
participant in the interventional group after full information disclosure prior to study
participation.
Before the implementation of the app, electronic medical records (EMR)-based data from
the past 12 months will be collected retrospectively. These data include the times (i.e.,
HH:MM:SS) that results issued by the central laboratory were available on the
institutional's EMR, as well as the times at which these results were accessed by
caregivers via conventional computerized workstations. (ii) After the implementation of
the app, data will be collected prospectively over a 6-month period of use. This will
include the times (HH:MM:SS) when the results issued by the central laboratory are made
available on caregivers' mobile app and access times, as well as concurrent or preferred
access times on the conventional computerized workstations should this occur. Individual
acceptance of the app on the first day (a priori), at 1 week, and then on the last day of
the intervention (6 months) will be evaluated through the Unified Theory of Acceptance,
and Use of Technology (UTAUT). Usability of the app will be measured by the System
Usability Scale (SUS).
The primary outcome will be the mean elapsed time in minutes between the delivery of the
lab results and the caregiver accessing them, both before and after the implementation of
the app.