A novel smartphone application for the tracking of procedural numbers and trainee experience in gastrointestinal endoscopy

Objectives The tracking and documentation of procedures in gastrointestinal endoscopy including therapeutic interventions is an essential but challenging process. The University of Alberta has developed a smartphone app to help facilitate this task. This study evaluated the functionality, usefulness, and user satisfaction of this app. Methods Four Gastroenterology (GI) residents and two therapeutic endoscopy fellows participated in the study. The trainees submitted all their data into the app from the procedures in which they participated hands-on for one year, data was collected and analyzed on the app and the website associated with it. Results Trainees were able to register the procedures immediately after each procedure without difficulty, this data was available to be reviewed at anytime in the app and associated website. Furthermore, the data collected was able to be transformed into tables and graphs on the app website. The total number of procedures and therapeutic interventions performed were easily accessed in the app and website at anytime. The app facilitated the calculation of the cecal intubation rate in colonoscopy and the cannulation rate in ERCP for the therapeutic endoscopy trainee. Trainees reported excellent experience with the app capabilities. Conclusions A novel smartphone app was useful in collecting meaningful data submitted by gastrointestinal endoscopy trainees, furthermore, through an associated website, it was capable to create graphs and tables to show and facilitate the calculation of meaningful data such as key performance indicators.