Charting

Importance of Charting

While Game Techs are not providing direct medical care for patients and families, it can be argued that providing documentation of interactions is an important aspect of the profession. Not only can this provide an easy source of trackable metrics, but can help provide continuity of care for long term or frequent admission patients. Documentation can remind staff to provide formal referrals at re-admission, help carry over coping/socialization plans, and increase exposure of the role to other team members. Each hospital program has different philosophies on what is considered "chart worthy" information so you may need to advocate to have this access granted for your role. Reaching out to other social/emotional support teams such as Child Life or Creative Arts can give insight into their process and can be used as starting template. As the Game Tech profession grows, exploring and creating standards of care will become increasingly important and which may include standardization of charting.

Potential Content to Chart

- Services Provided

- Time Spent (both with patient and working on projects tied to them)

- Response to interventions (change in mood/affect, verbal gratitude/excitement, increase movement/tolerances, pain levels [will need to be verbally prompted before and after intervention to effectively track])

- Intervention/Game preferences

- Presence during co-treat sessions

- VR screening results (if they pass/fail established guidelines)

- Future and Long term goals

- Source of referral

Examples from Established Programs

Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

Lurie Children's charts using EPIC and game techs use a combination of flowcharts and narrative notes. All interactions are documented using drop down menus in the flowchart and if interactions are more complex (co-treat, long term goals, etc), the data is pulled into a narrative note, where the game tech provides more detail as needed. Examples used under Provided Service include: introduction, normalization, socialization, co-treat, procedure support, education, and troubleshooting.

Epic Flow Sheet