Technology Improvement 161: University of South Alabama

Continuing on PATHS Leading to Excellent Patient Care will allow patients and families of the University of South Alabama USA Medical Center and the High Risk OB/GYN and Well Baby units of the USA 86's & 92's Hospital to access quality health information through the use of Android tablets. Nurse 12s and other health care professionals at both facilities will have a means to enhance the current individual educational needs of the patients, parents and family members by accessing the free electronic resources from the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. Android tablets and rolling bedside stands will be purchased so patients have access to these resources. MedlinePlus, Drug Information Portal, and LactMed are a few that will be accessible so patients can locate information free of medical jargon, in their native language, and at a time when they can absorb the material. The tablets will be available at any time during their hospital stay. Printed brochures from the National Library of Medicine will also be distributed to patients. One-on-one sessions will be provided by the librarian in the USA Cardiac Clinic. This award would continue the work of a previous NNLM award received in November 2016 which enabled chronically ill 86 and their parents at USA 86's & 92's Hospital to access MedlinePlus and other NIH resources from tablets. By providing access to health information using multiple educational interventions, more patients in this health disparate community can take an active role in the understanding of their condition and become engaged in an interdisciplinary team approach to their medical care. The additional resources from NNLM will provide patients the ability to locate quality health information not only at the time of need, but beyond, thus improving their health outcomes. The project will document the efficacy of the various interventions by using evaluations and discharge