Developing a Mobile COVID-19 Prototype Management Application Integrated With an Electronic Health Record for Effective Management in Hospitals

This article aimed to develop a mobile application for the management of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We analyzed the pilot version with satisfaction through a survey and an interview with health workers from Sidi Said, a local hospital located in Meknès, Morocco, which receives patients suffering from COVID-19. Methods: We have formed a team effort that involves health professionals, specialists from various fields and who participated in the design process of this project. It is a review of the existing literature and interviews with health professionals seeking to trace all the functions of this application. The user interface graphics, whether at the hospital or patient application level, were reviewed for effective usability by a multidisciplinary team. After having had to develop the pilot version of the application, the usefulness and the gratitude of the application were evaluated by eight patients and carers by means of a utility test, based on a real scenario, a utility survey. The objective is to ensure communication between the mobile application and the decision support application at the emergency services level to facilitate the detection of people who had developed COVID-19 as well as follow-up at home for detected patients. Results: The COVID-19 mobile management application provides capture functions and can afford information that helps in the prescription of appropriate drugs to patients at home. It is used to identify people who have been in contact with people who have tested positive for COVID-19, to carry out a large-scale screening by sending alert messages to these people, and to follow up via geolocation. There is also the possibility via Bluetooth, for the monitoring of patients without the activation of the Geolocation option. The approach adopted aims to reduce congestion in hospitals by identifying people suffering from respiratory illnesses or who may be contaminated, and monitoring them remotely. We offered six functions to achieve the objective of this project. Main: Respiratory crisis journal, medication recall, appointment, survey of people contacted, personal equipment and dashboard, daily traceability and monitoring, and geolocation. We have integrated the application of the electronic healthcare registration system in hospitals. To simplify usability, the frequently used functions, which are relatively important, can be found on the main page under the heading “COVID-19 monitoring” (in French: COVID-19 monitoring), and “Medication log” (in French: Journal medication). In addition, during graphic design, art therapy was used to improve the psychological stability of the patient. Eight participants were employed for the evaluation. For scenario-based tasks, out of ten tasks, all participants can record the entries in detail. The system use scale score was 94 points, indicating that the system was satisfactory for the patients and the staff who tested and manipulated it. Conclusion: This article confirmed that patients were satisfied with the follow-up at home and with the caregivers of the hospital. In addition, this made it possible to accurately record their symptoms and, therefore, facilitated an early detection of COVID-19. This was very useful for analyzing crisis trends, responding to a broader detection, avoiding contamination within the same family and provide effective support for COVID-19 positive patients at home. Through integration with the electronic health record, patient health care information can be used by health care decision-makers to manage treatment plans and support medical interventions. Currently, all patients who have been followed remotely are cured. We intend to generalize this concept for the monitoring of other diseases than COVID-19 later.