Archive for category Information Technology
Brush up on your Ultrasound skills with the iPhone Sonosite app
Posted by Harvey Castro, MD in ACEP Updates, Apps, Critical Care, ED Management, Informatics, Information Technology, Medical Malpractice/Risk Reduction, Residency, TheCentralLine.org, Tricks of the Trade, Twitter, Ultrasound on February 2nd, 2010
Sonosite has released a FREE iPhone app that will help improve their ultrasound skills.
The videos are amazing! Containing many tips, pointers on techniques, great sample cases, image gallery.
The app even has an abbreviated manuel for the Sonosite. The app also contains the latest news concerning sonosite machines.
Here are some screen shots:
For a sample video click here
If you do not like the app, you are out time but not money.
Emergency Room Communication
Posted by Harvey Castro, MD in ACEP Updates, Apps, ED Management, Informatics, Information Technology, Medical Errors, Medical Malpractice/Risk Reduction, Residency, TheCentralLine.org, Triage, Tricks of the Trade, Twitter, Uncategorized on February 2nd, 2010
One of the key ingredient to running an efficient Emergency Room is good communication. Depending where you work finding charts, immediately finding a nurse or calling radiology can take longer than expected. Huntington Hospital is currently using an Iphone/Ipod device that allows the health care staff better communicate with each other. It does this via VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), basically the set up the system in the hospital to call each other using these devices instead of the hospital PBX or screaming across the ER. The Voalte One system provides voice, alarm and text services all on one device. Overall helps reduce the noise level and makes it easier for the staff to text each other or call each other.
Over all points:
- Receive Voice calls, alarms, and text messages all on a single device
- Easily manage multiple text message conversations
- Intuitive user interface and ringtones
- Allows simple alarm acceptance or rejection
- Custom, user-generated “quick messages” facilitate instant messaging of common items to other users or a web-based client
Overall I see both pros and cons, on one side I think it would be useful to have one device to do it all.
On the other side, I worry that it might make it to easy to interrupt us from patient care. In the end it is all about the balance act.
Huntington Hospital is a 636-bed trauma hospital. For more information, visit www.huntingtonhospital.com
Company website: www.voalte.com
AED NEARBY iPhone app
Posted by Harvey Castro, MD in Apps, Informatics, Information Technology on February 1st, 2010
AED Nearby app is an iPhone app that will help you find the closest AED. The concept is great and hopefully it will save a life. My main concern would be that the public would spend more time downloading the app then trying to find the AED and taking other steps before doing the basics. Call for help (911)/AED, start CPR.
Itunes direct Link
iPad and Medicine
Posted by Harvey Castro, MD in Informatics, Information Technology, Residency, Twitter on January 28th, 2010
iPad Medic
After Apple announced the iPad device, I immediately began to think of all the medical applications that could be used for this device.
Currently the app store has about 140,000 apps and is growing at an amazing rate. The medical app store has about 1,920. Health apps number about 3,100. According to Apple, most of these apps should work on the iPhone and will transfer to the iPad as long as you use the same login. It will be interesting to see what the apps that were created initially for the iPhone will look like on the new iPad device. It is interesting also to note that the device does not have a camera, however the iPod Nano does. My guess is the device would take up more bandwidth if it had a camera.
I am curious to see if the iPad will work with apps like Skype and Google Voice. If they do, then with a $20, 3g plan, you could use the device as a 2nd phone. For example Google Voice allows you to set up a local phone number that others can use to call you. If you do not answer then you will get a transcribed text with the first couple of lines of the missed callers message!
What medical applications can we expect from this device?
Patient education company Blausen makes an amazing product that has short video animations on multiple medical diseases. They are very basic and range from half a minute to two minutes. Electronic medical records would be interesting. You have to wonder how they would work in the ER. I cannot imagine keeping up with an expensive device in the ER. At least one I can’t put in my pocket. I can see myself losing it during a code or dropping it as I run to the floor for a “code blue.”
I am interested in hearing from our readers and seeing how other ER doctors use technology at work. Currently, I use Pepid, although it is expensive, it has almost everything I need in the app.
Feel free to post if you are likely to purchase the next iPhone (new cell phone carrier to be announced in June), iPad wifi only will be out around March 27 and the iPad with wifi/3g service around late April in the United States. The rest of the world will get it after June which will be just in time for the new iPhone.
I look forward to your emails and post,
Harvey Castro MD
Picture from iPhone life magazine.
