The project studies the effect of digitisation in an emergency department from multiple perspectives. The project will map how patients find their way to the emergency department in different ways, and will investigate how the introduction of new digital solutions impacts patients and staff.

The load on the country's emergency departments is increasing. Large patient flows lead to long waiting times or may create “crowding”, i.e. when many patients stay at the same time in the emergency department. There are several reasons for this and they are often linked to the inflow, throughput and outflow of patients.

Digitisation of healthcare can increase the possibility of using healthcare resources as efficiently as possible. WHO says that digitisation can radically change the results in healthcare, if the investments are implemented in an appropriate way. To make this possible, more knowledge is needed about how digital solutions affect care, patients and staff when they are introduced. We also need to consider people who do not have the opportunity to use digital options.

Understanding positive and negative effects 

The project will look at how patients and staff can receive support through digital tools before and in connection with an emergency visit. How do patients experience quality of care? How is the work environment affected by introducing more digital solutions? The project is conducted together with the emergency department at Skaraborg Hospital. By understanding the positive and negative effects of digitalisation more thoroughly, knowledge can be developed how to digitalise health care in a sustainable way.

Four sub-studies

The project has four sub-studies. The first sub-study will aim to describe in what way information was obtained and how information and other support helped the patients/guardians in the decision-making process before seeking emergency care. The sub-study will also describe and analyse patient’s use and influence of digital support. The study will be a qualitative interview study with patients at the emergency department at the Hospital of Skaraborg.

The second sub-study will be a literature review with aim to analyse and summarise the state of knowledge regarding the digital solutions that the patient uses as support to their decision-making process to apply to emergency departments.

The third study will be a quantitative questionnaire study with patients at the emergency department at the Hospital of Skaraborg. The questionnaire will be developed from the result of the first sub-study. The aim is to get a deeper understanding of ways information was obtained and how it was helping the patients/guardians in the decision-making process.

The last of the sub-studies will be an intervention study at the emergency department at the Hospital of Skaraborg. It will be in the form of action research and will be designed together with the department when they implement digital tools. The study will analyse and explore how the implementation of digital tools, linked to the inflow and throughput, affects patients and personnel.