Nurses and carers in a New Zealand aged care facility are using a new application to update patient records on tablet PCs and smartphones.

Auckland aged care facility Rosedale Village is using the home-grown Res-Call Mobile technology.

Rosedale Village manager Debbie Tunui said the technology provided “instant communication”.

“Through advanced reporting I can immediately see what care has been delivered to a specific person or group of people as well as check on the progress of the various caregivers,” she said.

Health providers across the globe are embracing smartphone and tablet PC technology in a bid to improve health care and manage costs. Auckland health software company Netsoft developed the ResCall Mobile technology, enabling nurses and carers to update patient records while on the move.

Netsoft marketing manager Michael Beaumont said with nurses and caregivers often uploading patient information at their desks hours after providing care to patients, the hand-held technology reduced the risk of patient information being misreported.

“Hand-held technology ensures caregivers can record key patient information as it happens, reducing the chance of patient information being missed during the recording process,” he said.

Mr Beaumont said the technology, which is aimed at aged care, mental health and intellectual disability facilities, was user friendly, saved time and enabled nurses and carers more time to spend with their patients.

The application is also designed to allow management to analyse the health and wellbeing of patients and provide a reflection of workloads and carer issues.