Palmtops in the Operating Room

[marlof]

<a href="http://makeashorterlink.com/?V2B325791">http://makeashorterlink.com/?V2B325791</a><br /><br />The New York Times has a nice <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/22/technology/circuits/22MEDI.html?ex=1030680000&en=8a87bc09421c152e&ei=5009&partner=MSN_TECH">article</a> on the use of PDAs in the Miami Children's Hospital. Both doctors and nurses use handhelds to keep track of patient records, write drug prescriptions, read electronic reference books, and view multimedia presentations.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/bregonje/opvideo.jpg" /><br /><br />"When Dr. Redmond Burke became the chief of cardiac surgery at Miami Children's Hospital seven years ago, it was apparent to him that the records system was out of date. "I was frustrated that Federal Express could keep better track of a package than we could track patients," he recalled. "We were walking around with 5-by-7-inch index cards as the hospital database. They got lost. You couldn't access them. I wanted to have one hand on a sick baby and in the other hand, I wanted to hold that baby's information. That's where the hand-helds came in."<br /><br />Of course safe keeping of records is very important when it comes to confidential information as patient records. "Using wireless organizers to link with servers also reduced the potential for confidentiality problems. Now the hand-helds act as dumb terminals; patient information is immediately sent to the servers for storage and the hand-helds' memories are cleared. Similarly, records viewed by doctors on their palmtops are never stored on the units."<br /><br />Thanks to all the people sending in the link to this article.

[Inaki C]

Any activity in the medical environment that does ot use specific tested, reliable devices, represents a lack of responsability, even if it is used simply is for storing patient history.
It is a pity some called physicians are using Palms or Pocket PC devices to check for health matters.
I have worked closely for a company that does medical devices, for diagnosis, control and test. The amount of years it takes to certify a device for use in healthcare is large. Every component has militar quality, every device is tested during years.

Simply Plams and Pockets are less reliable than a piece of paper. Are we going to use them for healthcare ?

[marlof]

Simply Plams and Pockets are less reliable than a piece of paper. Are we going to use them for healthcare ?

I hope so. Having seen several procedures that debated the readability of pieces of paper in medical files (did you say 20 mg, I thought it says 30), or simply lost papers, I question your remark that these PDAs are less reliable than a piece of paper. I sincerely feel that even untested Palm and Pocket PC units would at least be as good (esp. if they're used wireless, so data is written on a central server, that can be protected) as pen and paper.

[Jason Dunn]

Simply Plams and Pockets are less reliable than a piece of paper. Are we going to use them for healthcare ?

They may in fact be less reliable, but they are more accurate - and when you consider the deaths caused every year due to inaccuracy (primarily drug mis-prescriptions), reliability becomes secondary. With adequate backup and deployment measures, reliability can be managed IMO.

[Busdriver]

This isn't related directly to the use of PocketPC's but it does point out how new technology can be more accurate. Saw a piece on one of the TV news magazine shows the other night about how they are putting barcodes on patient wristbands and on drug container labels. Then the nurses use a grocery store bar scanner to ensure the patient is getting the right drug, at the right time, and in the right amount. The equipment was being wheeled around on a cart so I couldn't tell you how it was interacting with a database. But the upshot of the piece was that this bar scanning technology was making the administration of drugs much more reliable and accurate than the "old way" which I assume would be reading manually written patient charts ie pencil and paper. Don't know if this was off the shelf equipment or not.