A group made up of five students from the different faculties and colleges of the University of Santo Tomas (UST), in the Philippines, won in a recent competition for their Electronic Care Key system.
According to a recent press release, Electronic Care Key (ECKey) is a patient assistance system that seeks to improve efficiency of patient care by providing an integrated card, a mobile application, and a kiosk.
Coming from different backgrounds and disciplines, each student was in charge of one aspect of the system’s development.
The Computer Science student covered the assessment of the project’s programming feasibility.
The Industrial Engineering student worked on finding ways to improve the existing processes while the Physical Therapy and Med student provided medical-related inputs.
It was the Advertising student who developed the interface of the app and kiosk in order to make it user-friendly as well as visually appealing.
What is Electronic Care Key?
The idea behind ECKey was inspired by a ride-hailing app. Instead of booking a ride, the system will allow the user to book an appointment with a doctor.
Improvements were made that included incorporating the one tap database type system that is being used at the UST Health Service, and diversified through the addition of several features.
The main features of the Electronic Care Key system will provide the following benefits:
- Security
Each user will have a profile upon accessing the system which will provide a better tracking system for people. This will lead to better management of patients’ records.
- Efficiency
The app will help enhance the efficiency with the provision of an online directory; an online booking feature for appointments with doctors; and notifications for real time updates.
- Accessibility
The E-charts will be updated in the online profiles of the patients. Hence, the system will provide the patients with an easier way for them to view their medical records.
Additionally, the doctors will have access to the different test results of their patients at a glance.
- Emergency Response
With a simple tap on the patients’ smartphones, an emergency situation can be reported immediately, without delays and redirections.
Competition details
The aim of the competition was to involve students in the quest of producing innovative breakthroughs in areas of medicine, technological advancements or health care solutions, which can lead to significant improvements in existing products and services.
The 18 participating teams, which came from different schools, were judged with the following criteria:
- Novelty (20%)
The initiative should demonstrate a leap in innovativeness and introduces a substantially new technology or process concept.
- Robustness (20%)
Innovativeness has achieved solutions strong enough to withstand intellectual challenge, and produces unanticipated benefits.
- Impact (20%)
The initiative should potentially address any issues or areas of concern.
- Adaptability (20%)
The proposal responds to changing circumstances and environment.
- Clarity (20%)
The innovation can be easily understood and followed, is accessible to Associates, and conveys compelling solutions that can be easily adopted.
The competition showed that concrete change in the current system used in institutions such as hospitals can be improved.
