Pain assessment app ready for hospital sector

PainChek, developer of a smartphone-based pain assessment and monitoring application, has partnered with InterSystems IRIS for Health to integrate its application with electronic medical record (EMR) systems.

Combining the companies’ platforms will facilitate PainChek’s hospital global market entry as it aims to transform pain management in the hospital sector.

PainChek’s software-as-a-service (SaaS), artificial intelligence (AI) platform uses smart devices with cameras to accurately evaluate patients’ pain levels — saving time and money for healthcare providers since different clinicians may record different verbal assessments. Many patients cannot or do not reliably describe their pain levels, are pre- or non-verbal, or are not lucid at the time.

PainChek’s application is contracted for use in more than 1300 aged care facilities in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Singapore.

In PainChek’s first move into hospitals, the agreement sees InterSystems offer the application to its global customer base. It is hoped that this will benefit both patients and healthcare practitioners. In emergency departments, for example, triage would be more effective if accurate pain assessments could be performed on all patients.

Additionally, pain management issues commonly delay the release of patients or result in readmission, with additional costs to health systems. People with dementia occupy around 25% of hospital beds and one study found that those experiencing pain were more likely to exhibit delirium, a factor associated with longer hospital stays.

The app’s integration with EMR systems is vital to its success. It improves productivity, with pain assessments automatically entered into a patient’s record, and makes them available to clinical decision support solutions for pain management improvements.

PainChek has regulatory clearance as a medical device in Australia.

Image credit: iStock.com/Nattakorn Maneerat