Dados do Resumo

Título

Use of REDCap for Monitoring and Managing Pediatric Multidisciplinary Care

Introdução

The convergence of health and technology has driven significant changes in the healthcare model, serving as an organizational, educational, and care tool. The use of technological tools to manage the care journey, as well as risk classification, has become increasingly common.

Objetivo

To report the outcomes of using REDCap as a tool for managing care, waitlists, and operational efficiency indicators in a pediatric specialties clinic.

Métodos

A project was developed in REDCap in January 2022 with the aim of managing the waitlist, care, and operational efficiency of the therapy journey, including physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, and psychopedagogy for children without an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis. The goal was for care coordinators and managers to be able to evaluate, in real-time, the number of patients on the waitlist by risk classification; wait times for therapy initiation, treatment, and discharge; and the professionals responsible for care, among other factors.

Resultados

By 07/30/2024, 438 patients aged 0 to 17 had been registered in the system, totaling 595 referrals, mostly by physicians (92.6%) and classified as non-urgent (90.3%). Eighteen professionals provided care during the period, as well as external clinics. Discharge reasons could be marked as goal achieved, withdrawal, absence (after two unexcused absences), contraindications, leaving the health plan, or other reasons. It was also possible to track the time between the referral and the start of each therapy for each patient, as well as view summaries through descriptive statistics (mean, median, standard deviation, minimum, maximum, and sum).

Conclusões

Although REDCap is a data capture tool for research, it has proven to be an efficient tool for monitoring and managing pediatric multidisciplinary care. A new project focused on the population diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder is being designed and validated to enable care coordinators and managers to view these indicators in real-time, given the increasing demand, complexity, and costs of these services across all healthcare systems today.

Palavras Chave

Technology; Healthcare Management; Pediatrics