In May 2017, the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network introduced a patient‐ and family‐facing app — the My Health Memory (MHM) app. Its initial functions included the ability to sync appointments with the native phone calendar, and include links to information about the appointment and a telehealth app when requested; an appointment rescheduling function; messaging services; and automated storage of messages sent and received through the app in the patients’ electronic health record (held at the hospital) and in the family’s phone (Box 1). Prioritising these features in the first release of the app was a result of consultation with patients, families, and clinical and non‐clinical hospital staff.
“My Health Memory” (MHM) smartphone application. The first iteration of MHM allowed patients and carers to:
-Efficiently manage appointments and minimise care delays:
receive new and updated appointments (including telehealth links straight to device) automatically from the EHR to their app
request reschedules from their app
receive appointment reminders, ensuring they come to appointments, are ready for care, and can find their way with digital wayfinding instructions
staff can asynchronously review and reschedule requests via a request list and rebook
-Exchange clinical data to support care:
access discharge summaries, care plans and reconciled medication lists from their app.
push education to the app
-Communicate securely:
clinical staff can securely message patients/carers from their workflow, and patients/carers can respond from their app.
communications are automatically saved as a progress note in the EHR, eliminating manual documentation
trial group implementation was a success resulting in a hospital wide implementation March 2018.