iPad and Health

Now that the initial hype has subsided and people have had a chance to digest what the iPad can and can't do, it has been interesting to read comments and articles on how it could be used in a health setting.

Working in community health, tablets could provide many benefits to clinicians but the issue of price is still a major factor. Looking at the pricing structure for the iPad, I doubt whether I will see my community nursing staff using the device in the future.

The following articles offer some insight into how we might see the iPad and tablets used in the medical setting.

iPad Medical Software

iPad, anyone? Hospitals looking at the mobile device

What Could the iPad do for Global Health?

AMA joins e-health records ownership debate

Australian IT reports:

AUSTRALIAN Medical Association president Andrew Pesce has signalled concerns about plans for patient-controlled e-health records.
Dr Pesce believes provider-controlled input is needed to improve quality of care and reduce adverse health outcomes.

"The current debate is very much about who should control the e-health record, with the National E-Health Transition Authority and the National Health and Hospitals Commission pushing a patient-controlled model," he told the Health-e-Nation conference in Canberra.

"We are open to patients controlling access to their summary e-record, with some exceptions such as access by emergency physicians.

"But summary e-records are fundamentally a clinical tool to aid doctors and other health professionals in sharing accurate information about an individual, and will be an adjunct to the comprehensive patient record kept by the doctor."

Dr Pesce said e-health records must find the balance between efficiency and privacy, with protection of patient privacy the critical factor in gaining acceptance.

Practical issues were also still be resolved, including whether a national database was the most appropriate storage method, and whether portable devices such as memory sticks held by the patient posed usage barriers and undermined the integrity of the record.

Blackberry finally comes to Mac

For all you BlackBerry users out there that also have an equal passion for your Mac's, you will be pleased to hear that there is now software available to make syncing a little easier.

I know from experience that in the hospital setting, BlackBerrys are still widely used. There appears to be take-up of use in the iPhone but certainly where I am located, physicians prefer the BlackBerry. Of course, it may also be the case that the people responsible for deploying hardware including telecommunications to staff are slow to review or recommend a change. Cost is also a huge factor so this may be another reason for the slow delivery of the iPhone.

Okay, back to the desktop software application RIM has provided for BlackBerry/Mac users.

RIM says BlackBerry Desktop Manager for Mac will enable users to sync their calendars, contacts, notes and tasks, update the BlackBerry software, add and remove applications, back-up, restore and encrypt data, manage multiple devices and sync iTunes playlists.
news.com.au

You can get a copy of the software by visiting: www.blackberry.com/mac

The Benefits of Mobile Health During Epidemics

I've just read an interesting article on how mobile phones are proving to be an important tool in preparing developing nations of potential disease threats.

What struck me was the initiative shown by officials to quickly find a solution to a problem and then implement it. Not only did they find a product that suited their needs, they found one that was open-source.

Perhaps it is more interesting to me as working for Government, it is rare to see Departments find and implement solutions quickly. Red tape can often bog down and complicate what initially started out as a rather simple requirement.

Good article and worth a read: Weapon against epidemics: Cell phones

Australia's Lack of IT Infrastructure During Disease Outbreaks

I have just finished reading an article that discusses Australia's lack of connected health IT infrastructure and how it may hamper containment of current and future disease outbreaks.

iSoft chief operating officer Andrea Fiumicelli says it best "If there is an e-health infrastructure, we have the potential to deal with disease outbreaks before they become pandemics. The technology is already available.

Interesting article worth reading: Continue Reading The Australian IT - Real-time data vital in swine flu fight

Effectiveness of Micro-blogging during a Pandemic event

It has been quite interesting to follow the spread of the recent swine flu outbreak that started in Mexico in terms of media and information coverage.

Our world is now so connected by air, road and sea that outbreaks cross borders quickly, proving a real challenge for health agencies around the globe.

This morning while reading my local papers, I decided to jump online and find out what the world media was reporting on the outbreak. Without even thinking about it, my first port of call was Twitter. For those of you who don't know, Twitter is somewhat of a huge hit in the online world.

Twitter is a micro-blogging platform that enables users to send and read updates from other users. Known as Tweets, these updates, no more than 140 characters long allow for a very quick method of communication between users or followers as they are known on Twitter.

Logging into my Twitter account this morning I went straight to trending topics. This is a snapshot of the most frequent Tweets occurring at any given time. Not surprisingly Swine Flu was at the top of the list.

Some of the Tweets are quite amusing, many are just plain stupid (fear mongering) but there are plenty of Tweets providing links to some really interesting reports, articles and resources on the subject.

This got me to thinking about how useful a service like Twitter or other micro-blogging sites might be if the world is faced with a Pandemic event.
A few years back when Health organizations were monitoring the Bird Flu outbreaks, we were asked to document how our skills (assuming we could not go to work) might be utilized during a Pandemic event and also to identify if our offices could be utilized as make shift medical facilities.

As an IT professional, my skills in terms of offering any medical assistance were non-existent but I did state that I could maintain and update our departments health information via the website I managed at the time. Of course, in the event that we were restricted to our homes, gaining access to any Department website is extremely difficult so I noted that security and firewalls would need to be reviewed and changed.

This was well before Twitter and some of the other micro-blogging sites out there today.

Given how quickly you can setup an account on Twitter, I would now include this in my Emergency Preparedness Plan. You could quite easily establish several people within your health organisation with access to a Twitter account and get them to update followers on any current issues, events, concerns and recommendations. The fantastic thing about micro-blogging, especially Twitter is it's flexibility.
You can send and receive Tweets from your desktop computer, web based applications and your mobile phone.

Smart phones have really started to make many in the health industry consider how they might utilize these powerful devices in a medical setting. I wonder what applications and technologies will be built in the coming years that combine services like micro-blogging along with smart applications delivered right to our phones? It's pretty cool to think about what we might be using in the future to communicate with patients, clients and the community.

Baby robot - CB2

I must admit that when I first saw pictures of the latest child like robot, CB2 I was quite put off by it.

Little confession here, I am a mad keen Terminator fan. I have always loved the premise of these movies, that one day we advance technology so far that they eventually turn on us. Yes folks, I am a complete and utter nerd, and quite proud of it ;)

Ever since I watched the Terminator movies and TV series, I have been a little wary of robots. But I told myself that as long as they remain robot like with awkward movement and snail paced actions, we could probably outrun them should they attempt a revolt.

So seeing the CB2 robot was a little disconcerting because he does look human and to top it off, he reads our facial expressions and learns from them. Pretty amazing and scary at the same time.

But looking past my possibly irrational fear of robots, it got me thinking about the potential of such technology in the health industry.

Not so much as a substitute for health professionals but more in the area of rehabilitation and education.

I could see fantastic potential as an aid in children's hospitals helping kids prepare for procedures, especially given it's ability to read human emotions. The application in this area could be quite significant.

Clearly the technology has a long way to go but I wonder where and when we will see advanced robots used by the health industry in ways we never thought possible.

Troubleshooter to manage tensions between bureaucrats and medical staff at hospitals

It will be interesting to see how this works out. If they can measure any type of success then perhaps it should be rolled out to other States and Territories in Australia!

smh.com.au reports:

A troubleshooter will be appointed to every major hospital in NSW in an attempt to ease the deep-seated tensions between bureaucrats and the doctors, nurses and other health workers they manage.

The Premier of NSW, Nathan Rees, announced the government would adopt the vast majority of the 139 recommendations made by Peter Garling in his wide-ranging review of the public hospital system.

He said the position of executive medical director would be established in every area to "improve communication with staff and give staff more of a say on decision making at a local level."

Read rest of article.