SECURITY

Health Analytics Center Brings Mobile Tech to Hospitals

Rebecca Kutzer-Rice | Date: 06-03-11 | Comments

IBM is bringing Watson-like technologies to hospitals and other health care organizations through its Health Analytics Solution Center. Projects include integrating electronic medical records with mobile devices and improving remote monitoring of patients recovering at home.

At IBM�s Health Analytics Solution Center in Dallas, technology and health care specialists are working to bring the latest technologies to doctors, nurses and others in the field. Recently, IBM announced a major expansion of the center, which will now focus on key issues like electronic medical records and smart phones.

As a part of the expansion, IBM is doubling the staff of specialists at the center and focusing on new technologies, including mobile devices like smart phones and tablet computers. IBM will bring Watson-like technologies to the center to better analyze and understand medical information.

According to IBM, nearly 30 percent of medical specialists and physicians use a tablet computer or similar device�an adoption rate five times faster than the general public. With this adoption comes the increasing need to use these devices to access EMRs (electronic medical records) both in their office and while visiting patients.

How physicians interact with records is also changing, as they now must take notes on tiny keyboards and use voice-activated software.

IBM is working to transform the EMR user experience by updating voice-recognition programs. It has teamed up with Nuance Communications, a voice-recognition company, and Health Language, which specializes in medical-terminology management, to create Watson-like voice-recognition technology that has a basic understanding of medical language.

The project goal is to enable computers to recognize and extract important patient data from images, pathology reports and other medical information. Ultimately, such a process could improve patient care and reduce the information load on doctors.

The center�s expansion will also bring attention to remote patient monitoring. New technologies now allow health care providers to monitor vital statistics like temperature and blood pressure remotely. Smartphone applications even let patients record when they take their medicine. Remote monitoring alleviates space demands on hospitals and allows patients to recover in the comfort of their own homes without compromising medical care.

Since its opening in 2009, the Health Analytics Solution Center has worked with over 150 hospitals and other health care organizations to bring them access to health analytics experts and technical specialists.