A COMPUTER BASED TRIAGE SYSTEM TO SUPPORT OBSTETRICIANS IN ASSISTANCE PLANNING

The purpose of this paper is to describe a computer based triage system which is going to be implemented at the Emergency Department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University Hospital “P. Giaccone” in Palermo. Within the hospital there is not a system of obstetric and gynecologic triage. The number of accesses to the obstetric-gynecologic ward is not high, but the triage system could facilitate and improve the process of assistance planning, from the classification of patients who access the ward for an efficient patient-care. The use of the system will help obstetricians to follow a protocol for the classification of patients, guiding them through the analysis of the parameters needed to assign the patients the appropriate priority.
Obstetricians and gynecologists will be trained to use the triage system. We will implement a blended training model. Specifically, a first period of training will include several moments in which different training methodologies and techniques will be used: active didactic strategies will be envisaged, and e-learning and face-to-face learning program will be integrated. After the first phase of blended training program, a phase of training on the job will follow, in which both the obstetricians and the gynecologists will be trained directly in their own workplace both on the use of the triage system and on the use of treatment and intervention modalities for specific cases. At the end of the training process the effectiveness of the training model will be measured through evaluations of knowledge and skills acquired to use the triage system, and through evaluations of impact on improving assistance of patients.