Mary Stepanski

Systems Technician, SR.

UVa Health System, Department of Anesthesiology

Charlottesville, VA

“Pendragon software has been a wonderful tool; there is no comparison between other software products and  the value of Pendragon Software’s exceptional  technical support and the low cost of site licenses.“

Prior to using Pendragon Forms, case documentation was completed by hand in notebooks.  The resident coordinator would have to perform the tedious task of deciphering handwritten notes and calculating information for annual ACGME reporting. 

Forms Development Time:

Creating and implementing the forms was very simple, “form design time was nothing”. The data collection system took only a few months to test and implement and the Pendragon Forms solution was deployed to over 50 residents by July 2000 after a small pilot test group evaluated both the software application and the hardware.   Printed reports were used to demonstrate data integrity and to increase the comfort level of new handheld users.

Installation:

The UVa Heath System Department of Anesthesiology is comprised of 110 Faculty attending physicians, residents, CRNA’s, clinical nurses and fellows who see patients in the Pain Management Center, Virginia Ambulatory Surgery Center, the UVA Health System’s hospital operating rooms, acute pain service and radiology.

UVa Residents and Acute Pain Service Coordinators use Pendragon Forms to collect patient and procedure data at UVa anesthesiology service locations in order to document completion of program requirements and residents use Ethernet HotSync^® cradles synchronize data to a single server. 

A cumulative monthly case report details both completed and unmet program requirements. Program directors use data and ad hoc queries to schedule resident activities in different centers ensuring that ACGME criteria are met.

Benefits:

Since deployment, more than 20,000 cases have been documented electronically using Pendragon Forms.  Documentation mobility enables residents to efficiently collect information at the point of activity and provides the flexibility to complete records at any location. Using forms also facilitates data collection and analysis that would be too labor-intensive using paper forms.

The Pendragon Forms database has improved accuracy and management of program data credibility.  Queries and reports are quickly available because complete program information is maintained in one place on a network server.