This tool converts all the information from the patient’s electronic health record into an easy-to-interpret visual schematic. This enables healthcare professionals to quickly identify the most critical health areas and make decisions more safely and efficiently. The ultimate goal is to improve the quality of life for people cared for at home and to reduce risks such as falls, pressure ulcers, emergency visits, or even hospitalizations or institutionalizations.

The project is structured in three phases. The first phase took place during 2024, with the creation of an expert group and the design of the visual map prototype. Then, in July of that year, a pilot test was conducted with 404 patients across 12 areas to validate the map’s functionality.

Now the second phase begins: the clinical trial, which will start this May and run until May 2026. Twenty primary care teams (EAPs) from the Camp de Tarragona will participate: 10 will use the risk map and 10 will continue with usual care. The aim is to verify whether the tool helps reduce unnecessary emergency visits, the number of falls, pressure ulcers, deaths, and avoidable hospital admissions.

In a third phase, the experience of the professionals who have used the tool will be evaluated: whether they found it useful, easy to use, and satisfactory for their daily work.

Alert fatigue

According to Núria Hernández, the study’s principal investigator, the map aims to combat what is known as “alert fatigue,” that is, the large amount of information accumulated in clinical records that often hampers quick and safe decision-making.

The project is led by the Patient Quality and Safety Research Group of the ICS Camp de Tarragona, the only group in Catalonia accredited by IDIAP Jordi Gol in this research area, and is supported by the Department of Health, the Carlos III Health Institute, the Research Support Unit of Tarragona and Reus, and the Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine.