Division of Family Medicine and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town.
S Afr Fam Pract (2004). 2022 Apr 25;64(1):e1-e9. doi: 10.4102/safp.v64i1.5491.
Referral systems play a pivotal role in coordination and quality of care and should be evaluated for their utility. The Vula App is used by various disciplines and hospitals in South Africa to refer patients. The aim was to explore the perceptions of medical practitioners regarding the use of the Vula App in the West Coast District.
A descriptive, exploratory qualitative study used semi-structured interviews with 11 medical practitioners. The highest and lowest users of the Vula App were selected from seven district hospitals. Qualitative data analysis used the framework method and Atlas-ti.
There were five themes: impact on the referral process, quality of care, coordination of care, continuous professional development, and how to improve the Vula App. Its use was well established in the outpatient and semi-urgent setting, but participants were hesitant to rely on it for immediate advice. Specialist advice via the Vula App enabled practitioners to manage patients remotely. The referral hand-over function had a positive impact on the coordination of care. Advice and feedback via the Vula App assisted with continuous professional development.
The Vula App is a useful tool to refer patients to the emergency centre and outpatient departments. It can improve the immediate quality of care and sequential coordination of care. It has the potential to enable continuous professional development. There is a need to standardise its use, to ensure electronic information flows back to the district and to integrate the data into the district's health information system.
转诊系统在协调和医疗质量方面起着关键作用，应该评估其效用。Vula 应用程序在南非的不同学科和医院中被用于转诊患者。目的是探讨医疗从业者对在西开普省使用 Vula 应用程序的看法。
采用描述性、探索性定性研究方法，对 11 名医疗从业者进行半结构化访谈。从 7 家地区医院中选择了 Vula 应用程序的最高和最低用户。使用框架方法和 Atlas-ti 进行定性数据分析。
有五个主题：对转诊过程的影响、护理质量、护理协调、持续专业发展以及如何改进 Vula 应用程序。它在门诊和半紧急环境中的使用已经很成熟，但参与者对依赖它获得即时建议犹豫不决。通过 Vula 应用程序获得专家建议使从业者能够远程管理患者。转诊交接功能对护理协调产生了积极影响。通过 Vula 应用程序提供的建议和反馈有助于持续专业发展。
Vula 应用程序是将患者转诊到急诊中心和门诊部的有用工具。它可以提高即时护理质量和后续护理协调。它有潜力促进持续的专业发展。需要规范其使用，确保电子信息回流到地区，并将数据集成到地区的卫生信息系统中。
