Table 2.
When can shared care records become entirely ‘paperless’?
| A. When electronic records (like paper) are: | |
| 1 | As secure as a paper document only held by the patient, and/or by her health centre or hospital with all other versions personally unidentifiable |
| 2 | Hand-held and not connected by any wiring, but never subject to flat batteries or power cuts |
| 3 | Easily readable anywhere by any authorized person (especially the expectant mother herself) |
| 4 | Able to accept free text as easily as using a pen (e.g. an adequate keyboard, or reliable voice or handwriting recognition) |
| 5 | Portable but theft-proof (or not worth stealing) |
| 6 | Open source – not tied to any specific commercial enterprise |
| 7 | Crash proof – guaranteed never to be ‘network down’ |
| 8 | Virus proof |
| 9 | Amendable anywhere and at any time by any authorized person using a technique at least as easy, universal and visible as a pen |
| 10 | Able to highlight vital information as easily as circling or using a red pen |
| 11 | Easily accessible – without constantly changing, multiple, forgettable passwords |
| 12 | As cheap, flexible and easily revised as paper (unless management is prepared to fund the far greater expense of a fully functioning electronic system) |
| 13 | Important entries on previous pages can be as quickly and easily noted |
| 14 | Never deletable in seconds by human error |
| 15 | As easy to jot down a series of events without losing the place (e.g. time of decision, arrival in theatre, start of anaesthetic, etc.) |
| 16 | When it is possible for the complete record to be photocopied and the copy to be securely transferred anywhere it may be required |
| 17 | Usable without compulsory time-consuming fresh training at each new hospital or health centre |
| 18 | When complex maternity software can be radically revised as cheaply, frequently and easily as the revision of any hand-held record |
| 19 | When the evidence base is sufficient to justify the far greater cost of installing and regularly re-writing complex software |
| B. When chronologically arranged, flow-patterned questions and all allowable answer options: | |
| 1 | Are internationally standardized |
| 2 | Take adequate account of all interested parties |
| 3 | Are workload/cost classified and logically prioritized |