Abstract

Purpose: Information Technology (IT) plays a critical role in supporting emergency physicians' (EPs) routines. Pagers, personal computers, and smartphones offer fast access to patient data, such as laboratory results. However, due to the inherent features of specimen processing and laboratory instruments, the turnaround time from test ordering to availability of results can be long. Lack of follow-up of abnormal results can lead to missed information that could impact patient care and safety. Despite the increasing use of ubiquitous technologies, a third of physicians remains devoid of reliable methods for ensuring that results have been received. In this feasibility study, we report the potential of using a smartwatch to deliver laboratory results to EPs at the point-of-care and to support efficiency in emergency care. Unlike mobile devices that are increasingly used by EPs, smartwatches are always accessible, even during hands-on procedures.

Method: Two EPs and four experts in human-computer interaction designed the smartwatch application following the Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM). The application was then evaluated in a pediatric emergency department through semi-simulated scenarios by eleven EPs. The primary outcome was to measure both the app perceived usability and satisfaction scores by the aim of the System Usability Scale (SUS), and the perceived usefulness and intention of its use by the aim of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) scale. Secondary outcomes were to assess the application's efficiency by measuring the delay between the reception of the notification and 1) the access to its details and 2) the visit to the patient. Finally, open questions about the positive and negative aspects of the prototype as well as potential improvements were asked and evaluated qualitatively.

Results: The prototype obtained a score of 81.4 out of 100 (good) on the SUS and a score of 5.96 out of 7 on the UTAUT scale. EPs using the smartwatch visited patients within 30 seconds receiving the laboratory results.

Conclusions: This study demonstrates the capacity of smartwatches to speed up the point-of-care delivery of laboratory results in the ED.

Keywords: Emergency department; Laboratory result delivery; Smartwatch; Usability.