Thousands of transportations without real need - future technology solutions and novel methods to answer the challenges in emergency and acute care

BACKGROUND Increasing numbers of elderly people will increase the costs of future emergency, hospital and home care services. Increasing numbers of patients use the emergency services every year. The aim of this research is to identify what kind of support and change future technologies can bring to the current challenges of emergency care and acute care.

METHODS In this research we conducted focus group interviews involving experts from emergency, hospital and home care.

RESULTS As a result of the data analysis we identified an example case that describes how different technologies, such as intelligent data driven decision support, communication tools, vitality sensors etc., could be used in non-critical care situations that still need immediate support. Additionally, it was revealed that there is a need for better communication and information transfer between home, emergency and hospital care personnel related to patient journeys.

CONCLUSIONS Technologies are creating novel opportunities for providing support in non-critical patient situations but their usage varies a lot between the different emergency and hospital units in Finland. According to our research, however, these technologies will enable increasing numbers of non-critical patients to be taken care of at home without unnecessary transportation.