TY - JOUR
T1 - Leveraging Health Information Technology for Fall-Risk Management in Home Care
T2 - A Qualitative Exploration of Clinicians’ Perspectives
AU - Alhuwail, Dari
AU - Koru, Güneş
PY - 2016/11/1
Y1 - 2016/11/1
N2 - Falls have a detrimental impact on home care outcomes. This study investigated home care clinicians’ perspectives on (1) how the currently adopted health information technology (IT) solutions supported fall-risk management activities, (2) various shortcomings of these solutions, and (3) ways to improve upon them. Within a case study design, qualitative data were collected through interviews and focus groups at one suburban home health agency in the United States. The clinicians mainly used the electronic health record but experienced substantial difficulties with documenting and accessing fall-related information. Improvement opportunities include providing better workflow support and usability, implementing medication alerts, facilitating fall-related information exchange, and leveraging the IT capabilities at patients’ homes. Additional IT solutions can improve the awareness, assessment, and intervention dimensions of fall-risk management.
AB - Falls have a detrimental impact on home care outcomes. This study investigated home care clinicians’ perspectives on (1) how the currently adopted health information technology (IT) solutions supported fall-risk management activities, (2) various shortcomings of these solutions, and (3) ways to improve upon them. Within a case study design, qualitative data were collected through interviews and focus groups at one suburban home health agency in the United States. The clinicians mainly used the electronic health record but experienced substantial difficulties with documenting and accessing fall-related information. Improvement opportunities include providing better workflow support and usability, implementing medication alerts, facilitating fall-related information exchange, and leveraging the IT capabilities at patients’ homes. Additional IT solutions can improve the awareness, assessment, and intervention dimensions of fall-risk management.
KW - fall-risk management
KW - health information technology
KW - health IT adoption
KW - home care
KW - performance improvement
KW - quality of care
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84990205582&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1084822316640266
DO - 10.1177/1084822316640266
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84990205582
VL - 28
SP - 241
EP - 249
JO - Home Health Care Management and Practice
JF - Home Health Care Management and Practice
SN - 1084-8223
IS - 4
ER -