Epilepsy at a glance: a mobile medical record

Inefficient transfer of health information among facilities fragments care and motivates duplicate interventions. This pilot study was designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of ‘‘Epilepsy at a Glance’’ (EAG), a portable medical record that contains medical records of children with epilepsy. This mobile tool enables medical providers to expedite information sharing to decrease fragmentation of patient care. Methods: This randomized study included 30 children with epilepsy, 15 each in the experimental and control groups. The experimental group received the EAG while the control group received usual care and a medical alert bracelet at the end of the study. At the beginning and end of the study, participants completed a written survey about their contact with outside providers of epilepsy care. The experimental group was also surveyed at two follow-up clinical visits to determine the usage and impact of the EAG. Results: The experimental group brought the EAG to over 90% of outside care encounters. More than 80% of primary care, 68% of urgent care, and 100% of emergency room providers viewed the EAG at the point of care. No outside provider who viewed the EAG inappropriately altered the established long term plan of care or performed duplicate testing. Patients and outside providers were enthusiastic about the value of the EAG. Conclusions: This pilot study demonstrates the value of EAG usage by patients and medical providers, and suggests a promising use of transferring patient medical information using mobile technology. Future studies should be performed with larger groups using EAG or alternative devices to document improved care and reduction in test duplication.