The Open Medical Informatics Journal

2018, 12 : 33-41
Published online 2018 August 31. DOI: 10.2174/1874431101812010033
Publisher ID: TOMINFOJ-12-33

RESEARCH ARTICLE
Teleburn: Designing A Telemedicine Application to Improve Burn Treatment

Farhang Hosseini1 , Haleh Ayatollahi1, * , Seyed Hamid Salehi2 and Kazemzadeh Jafar 3
1 Department of Health Information Management, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
2 Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
3 Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

* Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Health Information Management, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, Tel: 0098-21-88794301; E-mail: ayatollahi.h@iums.ac.ir

ABSTRACT

Background:

Due to the increasing rate of the burn injuries and a limited number of specialized treatment centers, providing medical advice and medical care at the point of need is necessary. The aim of the present study was to design and implement a teleburn system to enhance the quality of care for the burn patients.

Methods:

This study was completed in 2016. In order to design the system, information needs assessment was conducted by using a questionnaire. The participants of this phase were five specialists, five general practitioners, and 12 nurses. The setting of the study was the burn department of a public hospital and a burn center. The prototype of the system was designed based on the findings derived from the first phase, and the usability of the system was evaluated later.

Results:

The teleburn system was a web-based system with different sections for GPs/nurses and specialists. In total, 28 burn consultations were made successfully by using the system. The findings of the usability testing showed that most of the participants evaluated the system at a good level. The mean score for the specialists, general practitioners and nurses was 8.4±0.46, 7.7±0.39, and 7.5±0.51, respectively.

Conclusion:

Although it was the first time in the country that the teleburn system was designed and introduced to the clinicians, they seemed to be satisfied with using the system. This system could help general practitioners and nurses to receive specialist's advice on a timely manner to improve the treatment of the burn patients. However, more research should be conducted to determine the effectiveness of using this technology in the real work environment.

Keywords:

Telemedicine, Teleconsultation, Burn, Medical informatics, Dermatology, WHO, QUIS.