The quality of our nation's health care is Topic A for many
Americans today. Even with lawmakers passing a massive health care reform bill
earlier this year, there's much uncertainty about the subject. But,
fortunately, IT companies have remained highly active in improving the way
doctors and other health industry practitioners have done their jobs—regardless
of political shifts. Here are several solutions that are making a difference
right now:
LifeTrac. When a patient is experiencing a stroke,
heart attack or other trauma-related emergency, timing is everything. But, too
often, ambulance crews are routed to hospitals that are the closest
geographically to patients, without taking into consideration their current
capacity and available resources. With LifeTrac, emergency department staff use
a dedicated workstation connected to a private computer network to share the
availability of their resources. EMTs contact the central communication center
to access this information and match the patient with the best hospital. The
system can tell EMTs whether the closest hospital is too busy to adequately
treat a patient, and which alternative hospitals are available and not
operating at maximum capacity. Patient info is then automatically forwarded to
the receiving hospital. So far, results are more than encouraging: In Central
Alabama, LifeTrac has been credited for cutting the death rate in severe trauma
cases by 12 percent.
Anvita Health. Anvita is developing what it calls a
"clinical analytics" software solution, a tool designed to mine and
analyze medical data to uncover new insights and improve the quality of health care.
It can access millions of data points within subsecond time involving health
insurance claims, electronic medical record data, lab reports, prescription
summaries and other information. It's the kind of solution that can, for
example, alert a pharmacist that a proposed medication could conflict with a
patient's allergy and guide the pharmacist or doctor to a more appropriate
alternative drug treatment. It can also provide an extra layer of analysis in a
hospital setting. For example, by ranking diagnostic-imaging tests for their
effectiveness and safety on an individual patient-by-patient basis, the system
can support staff decision-making about what to order.
Anoto Digital Pen Technology. When nurses make
their rounds in long-term care facilities, they often take detailed notes. With
the Anoto solution, they write down patient information using what looks like a
standard ballpoint pen. But it's actually a digital pen, with an advanced image
microprocessor and a mobile communications device for wireless connection. By
capturing normal handwriting digitally, the patient information is
automatically converted into data for health care network systems. The solution
is being used by long-term care facilities in states such as Arizona,
California, North
Carolina and Wisconsin.
It improves patient care by making it easier and faster for health care workers
to communicate problems they encounter at bedside, which in turn allows for
faster preventative action to be taken.
Ignition. This iPhone app allows doctors to access
vital patient records on the road. It's essential for physicians like Dr. Aka
Gvakharia of Cardiology of Virginia, who is always en route because he covers
three hospitals and two health systems in greater Richmond.
The solution allows users to access data from their PCs or Macs via an iPhone
with optimal speed, security and reliability across 3G and WiFi connections. In
Gvakharia's case, he routinely accesses case files while walking in hospital
parking lots, which arms him with the patient information he needs before he even
walks into the ER. "When it comes to cardiac care, time and information
are both critical," says Gvakharia. "With Ignition, I can quickly
access the records that are on my office PC, look at prior EKGs and
echocardiograms, and review prescriptions. This gives me the information I need
to decide the best course of action."
