invented by Andrew James
( People's choice )
THOMM (Hand Over Management Module) is software that can list, prioritise, and assign very important tasks to hospital in-patients for the next shift.
About the Inventor
For the last ten years Andrew James has worked on the development of specialised clinical software projects and has actively participated in the Standards Australia electronic health initiatives. THOMM was invented by Andrew and colleagues, including Dr Paul Trevillian and Gerard Chanekon. Richard Kenderes was responsible for overseeing testing and enhancements.
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Andrew is an avid kayaker and has spent many hundreds of hours exploring Sydney's Middle Harbour while thinking about the major problems facing patients in hospitals.
“Having seen first hand what happens to family members when clinical tasks fall though the gaps created when doctors and nurses change shifts, it struck me – why not use the power of the internet to improve communications between health professionals. I initially created the concept of web based monitoring of vulnerable patients at risk of white blood cell disorders when taking a very powerful antipsychotic medication. This was such a huge success, that I went to work with specialist doctors and surgeons on a web based renal transplant management system. The THOMM system was the missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle that allowed real time review of patients and the allocation and management of tasks between the shifts.”
THOMM (Hand Over Management Module) is software that can list, prioritise, and assign very important tasks to hospital in-patients for the next shift. It can run on any computer including a hand-held tablet, allowing information to be added by doctor or nurse at the patient’s bedside, thereby avoiding loss of important data.
THOMM can also be used to prioritise patients for attention and allocate and manage particular tasks for the next shift.
At the beginning of every shift, clinicians have a hand over meeting. This is often the time when important data about seriously ill patients can fall between the cracks. But by logging into THOMM a doctor can look at a graphic map of each ward displaying bed numbers, patient names, unique identifier and colour-coded priority. Or they can also search for seriously ill patients by priority, tasks, ward map or assignees to access accurate information quickly.
As they move between patients the clinicians can assign tasks and prioritise them using the traffic light convention, and nurses can add observations during the day.
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