Improving Information Accessibility: Bringing Healthcare Guidance to the Palm of Your Hand

In a busy outpatient practice, timely access to up-to-date clinical resources is crucial to delivering evidence-based care. In the olden days, books and journal articles were the go-to method. Today, technology creates a more user-friendly method of receiving the most recent information. Say goodbye to having to order the latest edition of a book and hello to automatic updates. Our Children’s Hospital Colorado antimicrobial stewardship team, clinical effectiveness and pathways teams, along with other local and state partners have partnered with Firstline, a health technology company, to design a mobile version of our infectious disease guidance. “It is another way to bring clinical decision support directly into somebody’s hand if they are not sitting at a computer, which a lot of times you are not,” Leigh Anne Bakel, MD, says.

A technology like this can change the future of treating patients. With new information comes new treatment choices, and this app is a way to put all of that content in the palm of a provider’s hand. “It’s really about judicious use, so using the right antibiotic for the right length of time but also only in the right patient and then the right dose; I think we understand overtime that antibiotics have a lot more side effects than we previously appreciated,” Sarah Parker, MD, says.

Joining us to talk about this innovative technology are Drs. Sarah Parker and Leigh Anne Bakel. Dr. Parker is the Medical Director of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program here at Children’s Colorado, as well as a professor of pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Dr. Bakel is the Medical Director of Clinical Effectiveness here at Children’s Colorado, as well as a practicing pediatric hospitalist. She is also an associate professor of pediatrics.

Some highlights from this episode include:  

• How the Firstline app works
• Why Firstline is beneficial for providers everywhere
• How Firstline will enhance rural healthcare
• The future of technology for treating patients 

For more information on how to download the app visit https://firstline.org/colorado/. Drs. Parker and Bakel would like to acknowledge the brains behind this operation.  

With Children’s Colorado: 

• Sarah Parker, MD
• Leigh Anne Bakel, MD, MSc
• Michael J Bozzella, DO, MS
• Joana Dimo, DO
• Matthew Weber, Research Assistant, MPH
• Christine MacBrayne, PharmD, MSCS
• Matt Miller, PharmD

With Denver Health: 

• Tim Jenkins, MD
  
• Katie Shihadeh, PharmD
• Maggie Cooper, PharmD

With CDPHE: 

• Chris Czaja, MD, DrPH
• Lauren Biehle, PharmD
• Rachel Schaefer, MPH

Other: 

• Local and regional providers, infection preventionists and pharmacists who gave feedback
• Firstline
• Pfizer Global Bridges Grant
• Daniel Dodson, MD, MS

For more information on Children’s Colorado, visit: childrenscolorado.org