Improving patient care process supporting both medical and non-medical activities through ICTS

Clinical processes that have a direct impact on the patient must ensure safety and quality of treatments. Clinical processes are characterized by activities related to the provision of treatment or diagnosis to the patient, but are enabled by a number of ancillary activities that directly affect the care effectiveness. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are a key lever to enhance process management both on the medical side, especially improving data management and information delivery to clinicians, and on the non-medical side, i.e. supporting logistic activities on the move. This paper aims to explain how ICTs and above all Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC) and Mobile&Wireless (M&W) technologies could be integrated to provide complete information management and pervasive process support in order to improve care processes. Moreover, we will deepen the analysis of processes related to the operating theatre, which pose a good example of a composite and complex environment where clinical activities need to be concerted with a number of preparatory activities. Content and evidence related to this scenario were generated as part of a research project aimed to design, develop and implement a set of organizational models, acknowledged procedures and ICT tools to improve actual support, safety, reliability and traceability within the management process of surgical kits and instruments in the operating room.