As the transformation of our world by digital technology continues, and smartphones and tablets guide the way we communicate, camps must leverage this technology to improve the flow of health information and do everything in their power to reduce unnecessary risk and liability. Given the many opportunities for serious mistakes and costly mishaps when delivering health care each summer, camps are adopting Electronic Health Records (EHRs) now more than ever.

Technology has been successfully used in many industries to improve safety and decrease human error. In the camp setting, Electronic Health Records have the largest impact in three specific areas: (1) collecting and reviewing health information, (2) the administration of medications, and (3) tracking illnesses and injuries.

Paper records can be cumbersome, easily misplaced, and cannot be readily used for any meaningful decision analysis. Electronic Health Records offer complete documentation that is both legible and organized, making a camp clinic more efficient and helping camp health staff avoid mistakes. An EHR can guarantee that all crucial information is obtained and send automatic alerts to those who have missing information. An Electronic Health Record maintains security and privacy, allowing only authorized staff to review individual camper and staff health forms before the start of camp.

Identifying and addressing medical concerns before campers and staff arrive will help ensure a safe, healthy, and successful experience for everyone. However, timing is key. Waiting until the week before or scrambling to complete a health form on the first day of camp doesn’t provide health staff with enough time to accurately review records. Also, a camper medical form submitted in January for a camp in July is likely to be out-of-date and inaccurate. It is crucial to make sure camps do not collect health information for campers too early. With the use of an EHR, if families submit their camper’s health information prior to the start of summer, the software should allow them to provide updates to critical data like medication dose changes, new allergies, or recent vaccines they may have received since the form was initially submitted.

Medication errors are the most common type of medical error and a significant cause of adverse health events in the pediatric population. Using an EHR at camp eliminates the problem of illegible handwriting and transcription errors. An Electronic Medication Administration Record, or eMAR, can ease and simplify initial camper check-in and ensure safer and faster medication administration throughout the camp season. This technology aids summer camps in documenting when medications are given to campers and staff and will ensure that they follow the “five rights” of medication administration – right patient, right drug, right dose, right time, and right route.

Tracking visits to the camp clinic on paper can also be time-consuming and inefficient. With multiple user access and data entry, an Electronic Health Record can improve the flow of daily clinic call, and most importantly enable meaningful use of the collected illness and injury data. An EHR enables camp health staff to generate rapid reports and analyze medical data so they may eliminate risky situations from day- to-day activities. A camp nurse may analyze illness rates each week, and uncover a gastrointestinal illness starting to spread throughout camp, while a camp director can review injury trends after each session, to discover that a waterfront activity at camp is a cause for many sprained ankles, and more dangerous than they initially thought. An Electronic Health Record can aid camp health staff in their efforts to curb illness before it spreads and prevent future injuries from happening.

The less immediate and obvious benefits of Electronic Health Records are just now starting to be seen as EHRs are being used to propel camp medical research efforts. Recent studies have evaluated head lice, food allergies, and disaster and emergency preparedness at camp, and with electronic epidemiologic data collected through Electronic Health Records, camps can now make informed decisions as they work to improve health and safety each summer.

Adopting an Electronic Health Record at camp is not always an easy decision. Every camp exploring an EHR should review their goals and needs to help guide decision-making and throughout the implementation process. It is important that every camp assess its readiness to make the change from paper records to an EHR to ensure a successful transition.

1. Are the camp’s administrative processes organized, efficient, and well-documented?
2. Are clinical workflows efficient, clearly mapped out, and understood by all camp health staff?
3. Are camp health staff comfortable with technology?

Change is not always easy, and current processes may actually become less efficient with an EHR. Camp health staff should be prepared and expect to change practices they may have had in place at their camp for years, in order to adopt new best practices with an EHR. A designated leadership team and thoughtful implementation plan can help the camp more easily adapt to the new system.

As camp healthcare providers, our goal is to ensure the health and safety of all campers and staff while they are away from home. We do this by using every tool at our disposal. We have instant access to social media in our pockets and on our wrists, and with Electronic Health Records we have the ability to access up-to-the-minute patient data instantly as well. There is no doubt that EHRs can raise the standard and quality of care delivered at camps. Relying on handwritten instructions is a thing of the past, and easy-to-use, intuitive tools to verify allergies and medications, and to track illnesses and injuries is no longer a luxury, but a necessity to make sure that we can keep everyone at camp healthy and safe.

Dr. Michael Ambrose, Founder and CEO of CampDoc, earned his M.D. from the University of Michigan Medical School and is a board-certified pediatrician. He has published camp health research and helped present these studies at conferences for the American Academy of Pediatrics, the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine, the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine, and Pediatric Academic Societies. Dr. Michael has been involved in camping and camp health for over 15 years, and having spent several summers in camp clinics, remains devoted to the continual improvement of the camping industry and creating innovative solutions for camp doctors and nurses.