An Anesthesia Alert System based on Dynamic Profiles Inferred through the Medical History of Patients

Anesthesia Information Management Systems (AIMSs) have existed for many decades. However, how to turn patient records into strategic information to improve the anesthesia process is still a research challenge. We did not find systems that use data from previous procedures for issuing alerts. This data can prevent errors during procedures and aid on medical staff evaluation. We propose SaneWatch, an alert system guided by the medical history of patients. SaneWatch uses configurable rules to continuously review the patient’s history and automatically generate an anesthesia profile. This dynamic profile allows the emission of strategic alerts during the anesthesia procedures. We have implemented and integrated the system in an AIMS that has been used the past four years by more than 40 anesthesiologists in several hospitals in the city of Porto Alegre in southern Brazil. We applied the integrated system in a practical experiment. Twenty doctors tried it and filled out a questionnaire based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). An overall strong agreement of 96% was obtained in perceived usefulness acceptance assessment. In addition, 86% of users indicated that the system was easy to use. The results were encouraging and demonstrate the potential for implementing SaneWatch in anesthesia procedures. However, 12% of doctors disagreed with regard to ease of use, showing that the system needs improvements in interface related aspects.

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