App to reduce ED congestion wins two innovation awards

Return to eHealthNews.nz home page

eHealthNews editor Rebecca McBeth

An app that reduces congestion in hospital Emergency Departments by finding care in the community for patients has won two innovation awards.

Emergency Q won the 2018 Hi-Tech award for most innovative hi-tech solution for the public good and also recently won The Race for Space.

Available as an app on iOS and Android, Emergency Q asks patients questions to determine if they need to be in ED and tells them how long it would take to be seen for their condition.

For non-medical emergencies, it shows users other options in the community, how long it would take to be seen and treated there and how much it would cost. 

The app was piloted at North Shore Hospital ED and over a year it reduced patient volumes by 12 per cent, saving patients 21,600 hours in waiting time and significantly relieving pressure on ED staff and beds.

Healthcare Applications chief executive Morris Pita says the idea came to him after comparing a personal experience at a hospital ED with the ease of ordering a pizza online.

While sitting in ED waiting to be seen was like being in an “information black hole”, Pita could see online that his pizza had been ordered and paid for, when it was cooking and when it would be delivered.

He says many patients go to the ED unnecessarily, but often do not know whether they are in the right place and, if not, what the other options are.

“It became clear the more research I did that a significant proportion of people who were presenting at ED could’ve been appropriately seen in primary care,” he explains.

“I thought ‘how could we create a system that joins the dots?’, giving patients the information they need to make an informed choice.”

When patients arrive at North Shore ED they see a screen with a feed from Emergency Q showing them what conditions the ED is set-up to deal with and what conditions can be attended to in primary care, along with expected wait plus treatment times.

Patients can download the app, which asks questions to determine whether they are having a medical emergency and, if not, it shows the option of an out-of-hours clinic nearby, along with the cost and wait plus treatment time.

Pita says that while there is a cost for adults attending an OOH clinic, many people did not realise that the clinic is free for children aged 13 and under.

Of the 58,000 patients who presented at ED during the pilot period, 7000 left within five minutes of arriving and went to the after-hours clinic instead.

Pita says the pilot is still being evaluated, but there have been significant cost savings for the DHB and the reduction in patient volume has allowed staff to focus on those patients who really need their expertise. It has also freed up space in the ED, which can be used in different ways.

Emergency Q is now moving from pilot to commercial phase and Middlemore Hospital is next to start using the technology.

Return to eHealthNews.nz home page