Emergency care for the elderly: A review of the application of health information technology. Issue 1 (March 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Shagerdi, Ghazal; Ayatollahi, Haleh; Hemmat, Morteza
• Is Part Of: Health policy and technology. Volume 11:Issue 1(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-03
• Subjects: Health information technology -- Medical informatics -- Emergency Medical Services -- Aged; Medical policy -- Periodicals; Medical technology -- Periodicals; Medical policy; Medical technology; Health Policy -- Periodicals; Biomedical Technology -- Periodicals; Technology Assessment, Biomedical -- Periodicals; Periodicals; 362.105
• DOI: 10.1016/j.hlpt.2021.100592
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2211-8837

Abstract

Highlights: The use of health information technology in the geriatric emergency medicine is increasing. It seems that telemedicine technology is the most common information technology used for the elderly in the emergency care services. Most of the information technologies are able to support part of information needs in emergency conditions. There are valuable opportunities to develop new technologies and accelerate emergency care services for the elderly. Abstract: Objective: As the need for emergency care for the elderly is increasing, applying creative solutions, such as using information technology is suggested to provide patients with more cost-effective health care services. The present study aimed to review the application of various types of health information technologies for the elderly in emergency care services. Methods: This study was carried out in 2020. Studies related to the use of various health information technologies for the elderly in pre-hospital services and emergency departments were searched from January 2019 to end of September 2020 in the databases of PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest, Ovid, and Google Scholar. Data were extracted and synthesized narratively. Results: A total of 338 articles were collected and 21 articles were selected for further review. Six health information technologies used for the elderly in the emergency care services were emergency department information system ( n = 2), clinical decision support system ( n = 6), telemedicine technology ( n = 7), electronic questionnaire ( n = 1), electronic health records ( n = 4) and personal health records ( n = 1). The most common application was telemedicine technology. Conclusion: Although a variety of health information technologies are used for caring the elderly in emergency care services, there are still valuable opportunities in this area to develop new technologies and new health policies are required to support better health care delivery.