Amidst all the buzz about clinical data sharing and the accompanying alphabet soup of acronyms (EHRs, EMRs, PHRs, RHIOs and HIEs, not to mention ARRA and HITECH), it's easy to forget that the annual HIMSS conference is also a showcase for technology of the hardware variety—physical products and gadgets you can see, feel, and, in some cases, hold in one hand.
Keep in mind that there were about 900 vendors with booths in two exhibit halls so large you measure them not in square feet but in acres.
According to my pedometer, I walked about 26 miles over the course of six days—a literal marathon of keynotes, sessions, and tours of vendor booths. So with apologies to the other 896 vendors at the show, here are four products that impressed me. I have only one complaint about three of the technologies—along with many others at the show—but I'll get to that later.
Show me the way
I logged more than 15,000 steps on the first full day of the conference, in large part because I kept getting lost. While wandering aimlessly around I (finally) noticed one of the 30 NCR Wayfinding kiosks set up around the three conference halls.
Using a touch screen monitor, I entered the number of the booth I was trying to find (you could also search by company name) and up came an interactive map to my destination that I could print out and take with me. It's easy to see how the technology would help improve the patient experience, especially in large, aging, and sprawling hospital campuses.
The way-finding kiosk, made by Duluth, GA-based NCR is in use at Houston, TX-based The Methodist Hospital System along with some of the NCR's other products, including a patient portal and a payment manager.
Scan me
A compact, portable ultrasound machine that can be used at point of care, such as in a physician's office or the ER, GE Healthcare's Vscan is bulkier than a smart phone—but not by much. At 3 by 5.3 inches it weighs less than a pound. It has a wand about the size of a granola bar and a neat little USB docking station that syncs with a computer to upload images. The battery lasts for about an hour of scanning. The device is operated with a thumb wheel that looks a lot like the iPod control. And the voice recording feature means you don't have to have a third hand to operate it. Images from the device can be viewed and stored in the patient's medical record.
Although the main purpose of the device is clinical, because the size of most images is relatively small and come in common file types such as jpeg, mpeg, and mp3, patients can share them with friends and family online. You can annotate the images with a stylus—writing "It's a boy! with an arrow pointing to the proof, for example. The device uses "GE's high-quality black and white image technology and color-coded blood flow imaging," according to the company. I'm no clinician, but the sample images looked pretty good to me. And yes, you could tell it was a boy.
Entertain and educate me
Several products at the show aim to make patient education simpler and more enjoyable for the patient and less time-consuming for caregivers.
Using a remote or pillow speaker and a menu interface designed for a fifth-grade education level, patients can use the LodgeNetRX® Interactive Patient Television System to make non-clinical requests, such as ordering more pillows and blankets, or scheduling a visit from a case worker or spiritual counselor.
It also allows patients to view, on-demand educational videos customized to their illness or condition, order meals from menus customized to their dietary restrictions, and when they're ready for a break, watch videos of puppies customized to . . . well, the puppies aren't customized, but they sure are cute.
LodgeNet, based in Sioux Falls, SD, says that in most cases it can use a hospital's existing coaxial cable network and televisions to install the program and that it can interface with existing clinical systems for bedside care management. The product is currently in use at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and the VA Medical Center in Washington, DC.
Drop me like a laplet
It's a laptop. It's a tablet. It's a . . . laplet? The most recent version of Panasonic's Toughbook® line of computers has a screen with three hinges—one that opens and closes the screen like a traditional laptop and one that allows the screen to rotate and fold into tablet mode.
Panasonic claims the "triple hinge design significantly reduces hinge failures." It's not exactly feather light (3.7 pounds with two batteries), but thanks to an ergonomic grip it was surprisingly comfortable to hold with one hand in tablet mode.
The computer has two batteries, which last up to 10 hours, and they're "hot-swappable," meaning you can pull one out and replace it without having to shut down the computer. Plus, the hard drive pulls out so that if something does happen to the computer (it can withstand impact from a height of about 30 inches) its data stays safe.
Similar to previous models, the keyboard has an irrigations system of sorts, protecting against liquid spills of about six ounces (200 ccs). Please let's not talk about the kind of liquids that might land on this laptop in the hospital setting, OK?
Sanitize me
There was one noticeable trend at the show—many of the products I demoed, including three described here, had touch screens. Wave of the future, right? Well as much fun as they are, there's an obvious problem in the hospital setting: infection control.
If you're going to have a way-finding kiosk in your lobby, you better have a hand sanitizer kiosk right next to it. I should know: I'm writing this week's column from home, where I'm laid up with the worst cold I've had in a long time.
And I totally blame the touch screens.
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