It's so much easier for me to do home-visit medical care because I only need one smartphone using Melp, and I can import the data directly into my EMR.
Kinohana Clinic - Internal Medicine, Home Care
The Kinohana Clinic is an outpatient clinic for internal medicine, smoking cessation, and memory loss, located in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo. The clinic also provides home care and contributes to the community healthcare in Setagaya Ward.
We interviewed Dr. Naraoka, the director of the clinic, about the background to the introduction of the Melp web-based medical interview system and how it is uniquely used.
- What made you decide to introduce Melp?
It all started when Melp was introduced in the mailings of the "Family Medical Care Research School" conducted by Dr.Hanafusa of Shinjuku Hiro Clinic. I was just thinking that I wanted to do something about my medical records, so I thought, "This is good! So I contacted them immediately.
- How did you feel when you actually took the demo of Melp?
We were all so surprised that the data was instantly sucked into the medical record. That was the most decisive factor for us. I thought it was amazing.
When you actually started using the system, how was it for you?
I asked the clerical staff about it yesterday, and they said that it is good because they can see the information in the medical records in advance, so we don't have to take the time to input it, and they can see at a glance why the patient is coming to the hospital.
The nurses used to manually input the medical questionnaires, but now they don't have to do that at all, so the nurses can focus on their original work, which is very popular.
How do you operate the web-based medical interview system?
For those in their 40s and 50s who are able to use the system, we tell them to fill out the entire questionnaire at home. The elderly are not used to using tablets, and many of them have chronic diseases, so we don't lend them tablets to fill out the web-based medical questionnaire.
After all, the most common users are in their 20s. People in their 20s say it's very good because they can fill out the questionnaire at home easily.
Do you sometimes get feedback directly from patients?
Before a consultation, I ask some people, "How do you like the web questionnaire? Some patients in their twenties especially say, "I don't want to come here and fill out the questionnaire again on paper". The web-based medical questionnaire is very good because they can do it at home comfortably, and it has been highly evaluated.
Well, I see. Can you tell us about the good points of using the system?
The best thing was the corona questionnaire.
Just the day after we created the Covid-19 questionnaire, the first Corona patient came out of the questionnaire. I was really surprised because it was so timely.
The patient was also very happy to know that she had contracted corona, but was glad to find out sooner.
Some people want to take PCR tests for covid-19. Setagaya Ward has a PCR center, so you can get it. Our clinic uses a turn-by-turn appointment system, so if you write there that you want corona PCR, we will look at your medical questionnaire right away.
While the patient and I are talking, the office staff can make an appointment, and we can divide the workload and talk more and more.
This is really helpful for me because I can't do this with paper.
I think we need to go paperless because this is the kind of age we live in now. The sooner we catch the information, the less time we have to wait for it.
- Thank you very much. I just looked at the questionnaire and saw that there was a questionnaire for home-visit medical care, what kind of use is this for?
I walk to do home-visit medical care. I used to go some distance by car, but now I go to 7 or 8 private homes a day on foot. It's a neighborhood, but it's hard if you don't pack light.
I thought it would be a good idea to create a melp home-visit medical care questionnaire on my smartphone, which is much easier than a tablet, and I tried the first one the other day.
It was so easy to input the data that I was able to transfer it to my iPad when I got home and send the data without having to clean it up.
Until now, I had to write down notes on paper, come back to the clinic, and retype them again, but now I don't have to do that anymore, so I can finish in about half the time.
- There have not been many doctors who have used Melp for home-cisit meidcal care, so this is the first time I have received feedback. Thank you very much.
- Finally, is there anything you would like to tell?
I can't think of any improvements, but it would be good if you would spread your service more to clinics, so that patients wouldn't get stuck in the waiting room, or if we could know in advance what patients are coming to the clinic for.
Patients also come to the clinic with a purpose, but they don't know that purpose until they come to the clinic.