Revolutionizing Patient Care

From airlines trying to do something different, to a police department seeking to evaluate its effectiveness in the roads, Google Glass is constantly applied in many useful ways, even if there have been several difficulties. Even so, you can add Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) to the list of useful Google uses. On his blog, BIDMC chief information official John Halamka shared that his medical center ran a lead program that used Glass for an in-house patient information system that was designed in the emergency department. Here’s how they used Glass: A QR code is placed outside an emergency department room, which a physician can check out using Google Glass. After checking, Glass shows the physician everything there is to know about the individual in the room, such as vital signs, lab results, issues, and other info. This re-imagines the status quo up until now, which includes having to redirect attention away from a patient in order to use a computer and read any related details.

Integrated with the ED Dash panel, a program that medical centers use to observe patient circulation, the customized application uses Glass’ action support to communicate with the user interface, its camcorders to evaluate QR requirements and execute various speech instructions. The medical center made a few variations to Glass, such as iPhone pairing, including an exterior battery pack, allowing straight scrolling by slanting your head, and other optimizations.

patient_careFortunately though, BIDMC is not the only medical center in the country that plans to change the way physicians take care of their sufferers the Rhode Island Hospital, which will use Glass in its emergency department. Both plan to provide their applications using Glass in the E. R., though RIH will originally restrict the program to E.R. sufferers affected with skin rashes or other skin-related issues and who are okay with a Glass-wearing physician.

Ultimately, both hospitals’ programs provide a lot of potential in enhancing patient care while also improving doctors’ performance. All of a sudden, having an ambulance team equipped with Glass, which would let a physician back at the medical center know exactly what to prepare to immediately provide patient care the moment they step in the medical center, is not that far-fetched of an idea. BIDMC will move out the program, which was in testing up until now, in a matter of weeks, while RIH will most likely move out its program after its following six-month study is over.