The World Health Organization estimates that millions of people suffer disabling injuries or death directly attributable to poor medical care in developing countries although it is difficult to estimate exactly how many patients are affected. The problem is particularly relevant for patients being treated in Intensive Care Units (ICU).
To address this problem, the Indus Hospital www.indushospital.org.pk in Karachi, Pakistan has partnered with Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health and Interactive Research and Development www.jhsph.edu through a program called Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) www.usaid.gov/div/model.
The U.S Global Development Lab sponsors the DIV program which is an open competition supporting breakthrough solutions to solve worldwide challenges. One of the challenges is to improve patient safety in Pakistan Hospitals but also find the most cost effective ways to deal with the problem.
The DIV program made $100,000 available to JHU and Indus Hospital to develop Stage 1 Proof of Concept ideas. This Stage 1 grant funding is going to test whether mobile technology linked with cultural training can overcome challenges and produce safe medical care in hospital ICUs in Pakistan. The hospital staff will receive training to promote patient safety by integrating safe medical practices into the daily work of the unit or clinical area.
To improve patient safety, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags will be used on the patient’s identification wristbands. Health workers will be able to access forms, procedure protocols, and important patient information by simply tapping the wristband with a cell phone. This will let health workers operate with the most up-to-date information on the patients’ condition and maintain electronic records on patient safety events.