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WhatsApp-Based Record-Keeping System in a Private Neurosurgical Clinic Chain

Background The demanding nature of neurosurgical practice requires a reliable system for documentation and record-keeping. The cost of electronic health record systems can limit their availability in low- and middle-income countries. That is why less expensive and easily accessible technological alt...

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Autores principales: Odeibat, Yousef M, Hiasat, Mohammad Y, Ibrahim, Bilal, Dabbas, Waleed F, Alhazaimeh, Mohammad H, Samara, Qais A, Marji, Ala, Alomari, Amer A
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Cureus 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10593181/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37876404
http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.45823
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author Odeibat, Yousef M
Hiasat, Mohammad Y
Ibrahim, Bilal
Dabbas, Waleed F
Alhazaimeh, Mohammad H
Samara, Qais A
Marji, Ala
Alomari, Amer A
author_facet Odeibat, Yousef M
Hiasat, Mohammad Y
Ibrahim, Bilal
Dabbas, Waleed F
Alhazaimeh, Mohammad H
Samara, Qais A
Marji, Ala
Alomari, Amer A
author_sort Odeibat, Yousef M
collection PubMed
description Background The demanding nature of neurosurgical practice requires a reliable system for documentation and record-keeping. The cost of electronic health record systems can limit their availability in low- and middle-income countries. That is why less expensive and easily accessible technological alternatives should be sought. In this article, we describe our adopted system for medical record-keeping based on WhatsApp (Meta Platforms, Inc., Menlo Park, CA). Methods In our chain of six clinics, each clinic has its record-keeping WhatsApp group dedicated to sharing medical data of outpatients following up in that specific clinic and of inpatients cared for in hospitals in its area. After each encounter, our surgeons share smartphone-captured pictures of their patients' medical data on the WhatsApp group of the related clinic. The medical data are then categorized and stored by the secretary on the clinic’s computer to be accessed at any time for record retrieval. Discussion Our five years of experience with the WhatsApp-based record-keeping system with medical records of 11,729 patients proved to be reliable, cost-effective, user-friendly, and efficient, and it positively impacted patient care. Responsible behavior, security precautions, and regulating policies are essential to protect patient confidentiality. Conclusion Our system can be an inexpensive alternative to the electronic health record system in small healthcare facilities. It can help physicians practicing in low- and middle-income countries to improve medical records documentation, thereby improving patient care. There is a need for policies to regulate the use of instant messaging applications in professional medical communication.
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spelling pubmed-105931812023-10-24 WhatsApp-Based Record-Keeping System in a Private Neurosurgical Clinic Chain Odeibat, Yousef M Hiasat, Mohammad Y Ibrahim, Bilal Dabbas, Waleed F Alhazaimeh, Mohammad H Samara, Qais A Marji, Ala Alomari, Amer A Cureus Neurosurgery Background The demanding nature of neurosurgical practice requires a reliable system for documentation and record-keeping. The cost of electronic health record systems can limit their availability in low- and middle-income countries. That is why less expensive and easily accessible technological alternatives should be sought. In this article, we describe our adopted system for medical record-keeping based on WhatsApp (Meta Platforms, Inc., Menlo Park, CA). Methods In our chain of six clinics, each clinic has its record-keeping WhatsApp group dedicated to sharing medical data of outpatients following up in that specific clinic and of inpatients cared for in hospitals in its area. After each encounter, our surgeons share smartphone-captured pictures of their patients' medical data on the WhatsApp group of the related clinic. The medical data are then categorized and stored by the secretary on the clinic’s computer to be accessed at any time for record retrieval. Discussion Our five years of experience with the WhatsApp-based record-keeping system with medical records of 11,729 patients proved to be reliable, cost-effective, user-friendly, and efficient, and it positively impacted patient care. Responsible behavior, security precautions, and regulating policies are essential to protect patient confidentiality. Conclusion Our system can be an inexpensive alternative to the electronic health record system in small healthcare facilities. It can help physicians practicing in low- and middle-income countries to improve medical records documentation, thereby improving patient care. There is a need for policies to regulate the use of instant messaging applications in professional medical communication. Cureus 2023-09-23 /pmc/articles/PMC10593181/ /pubmed/37876404 http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.45823 Text en Copyright © 2023, Odeibat et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Neurosurgery
Odeibat, Yousef M
Hiasat, Mohammad Y
Ibrahim, Bilal
Dabbas, Waleed F
Alhazaimeh, Mohammad H
Samara, Qais A
Marji, Ala
Alomari, Amer A
WhatsApp-Based Record-Keeping System in a Private Neurosurgical Clinic Chain
title WhatsApp-Based Record-Keeping System in a Private Neurosurgical Clinic Chain
title_full WhatsApp-Based Record-Keeping System in a Private Neurosurgical Clinic Chain
title_fullStr WhatsApp-Based Record-Keeping System in a Private Neurosurgical Clinic Chain
title_full_unstemmed WhatsApp-Based Record-Keeping System in a Private Neurosurgical Clinic Chain
title_short WhatsApp-Based Record-Keeping System in a Private Neurosurgical Clinic Chain
title_sort whatsapp-based record-keeping system in a private neurosurgical clinic chain
topic Neurosurgery
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10593181/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37876404
http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.45823
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