Extra high requirements are made on all systems in health care that they are functional and usable,´something, however, that is not always the case. At Emergency Admissions at Sahlgrenska University´Hospital many systems are in use at the same time and it happens that much overhead is caused by having to fill in the same information in different places. In addition, data that is gathered is to a large extent saved in free text format, which means that it cannot be used in a larger context such as research, quality control or for decision support. Data is saved in the patient file only for the treatment process of the individual patient.

A data collecting system with decision support functionality could be a first step towards reducing Emergency Admissions’ costs and patients’ waiting times by providing a structured method of data collection. It is also possible that it could contribute to safer care for patients as the system could warn the staff on occasions where there may be a risk of a patient suffering from a serious, acute illness that might be difficult to diagnose.

An analysis has been performed at Emergency Admissions at Sahlgrenska to distinguish possible users of a new system for collecting data with decision support. The results showed that the nurses in reception were the most suitable target group.

A prototype of a user interface for gathering initial patient data at reception has been made at Emergency Admissions at Sahlgrenska. This prototype has decision support functionality for ranking the most probable diagnoses as well as providing advice on suitable tests and examinations to perform. The focus has been on usability and on adapting the system to the needs of the users.

It is highly important that future users, the staff at Emergency Admissions, continue to participate in the future further development of the data gathering system so that their needs and requirements are not overshadowed by the new technology.