[TAO] Recommended Article By Catherine Britain: Halamka: Google Glass could be the new iPad for doctors

[Catherine Britain]

Hi TAO listserv,
Your friend, Catherine Britain, has recommended this article entitled
'Halamka:
 Google Glass could be the new iPad for doctors' to you.

Here is his/her remarks:
Unfortunately the Mobihealthnews Q1 2014 report was sent instead of this
article.
 

My apologies.  This is the article I wanted you to see.

Cathy

Halamka: Google Glass could be the new iPad for doctors
Posted By Jonah Comstock On April 14, 2014 (1:45 pm) In Uncategorized

Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital has begun working with a startup called
Wearable
 Intelligence to deploy Google Glass in the emergency department. The
hospital
 has four Glass devices shared among 10 emergency department physicians,
including
 CIO John Halamka, who thinks Glass has the potential to, in some ways, be
the
 new iPad.

"So I said a couple of years ago, if you had a tablet computer with a 12
hour
 battery life, that can be dropped several feet without damage and can be
disinfected,
 you'd actually have the ideal clinician device," he told MobiHealthNews.
"The
 iPad is good, but a little large. The iPad mini fits in a lab coat pocket,
so
 really close. For procedure oriented specialists though, having something
you
 wear is even better than something in a lab coat pocket, because it's
awkward
 to say 'I see you're having a heart attack, let me just go look at my
mobile
 device and I'll get back to you.' It just doesn't work to reach into a
pocket
 or turn away from the patient to go get that data."

Practically, Halamka doesn't think the tablet is going away, as, for now,
Glass
 is not a great tool for data entry. But he does expect the desktop computer
to
 be largely replaced by a combination of smartphones, tablets, and wearable
computers
 in the next few years. 

"I don't have any copies of Windows 8 in the enterprise, because I think by
the
 time Windows 7 stops being supported, the desktop won't exist as a
platform,"
 he said.

To address HIPAA and FDA concerns, Beth Israel uses Glass as a client to
display
 information that's stored on the hospital server -- something slightly
easier
 for Beth Israel, because it has an in-house EHR that made integration
easier.
 There are three authentication safeguards for the devices, which are also
kept
 at the hospital in a locked safe. First, they don't work at all outside of
the
 hospital's secure WiFi. Second, when the physician puts on the Glass, he or
she
 has to scan a personal QR code in order to access any data. Finally, to
access
 patient data, physicians must scan a second QR code on the wall of the
patient's
 room. According to Halamka, using QR codes makes the user experience both
secure
 and efficient.

"Literally, all I do is look at the door of the room as I'm walking into the
room
 and the app immediately changes context and shows me the information about
the
 patient I'm about to see," said Halamka. "There's zero extra steps. I don't
say
 'OK, Google Glass'."

The software allows physicians to access at a glance information about
existing
 conditions, medications, and allergies. They can also use voice recognition
to
 send secure messages to colleagues in the hospital. On his blog, Halamka
shared
 a story about using the technology.

"For example, I was paged emergently to one of our resuscitation bays to
take
 care of a patient who was having a massive brain bleed," he wrote. "One of
the
 management priorities for brain bleeds is to quickly control blood pressure
to
 slow down progression of the bleed. All he could tell us was that he had
severe
 allergic reactions to blood pressure medications, but couldn’t remember
their
 names, but that it was all in the computer. Unfortunately, this scenario is
not
 unusual. Patients in extremis are often unable to provide information as
they
 normally would. We must often assess and mitigate life threats before
having
 fully reviewed a patient’s previous history. Google Glass enabled me to
view
 this patient’s allergy information and current medication regimen without
having
 to excuse myself to login to a computer, or even lose eye contact."

Halamka said a number of doctors from other hospitals have already contacted
him
 asking for more information about the technology. He says the Wearable
Intelligence's
 set up should work for most hospital EHRs that have a web API, and that an
intuitive
 user experience is the key to making the technology work.

In the future, Glass could have more use cases. A video from Wearable
Intelligence
 suggests it could also be given to EMTs, used to take photos and short
videos
 of symptoms for the EHR, or used for teleconsultation, as is being done at
Rhode
 Island Hospital. Even augmented reality, allowing surgeons to see medical
imagery
 overlaid as they operate, is in the realm of possibility.

"I'm a CIO with 20 years of experience, so you'll never get me to say, 'one
technology
 will solve all problems for all people'," Halamka said. "But wearable
computing
 absolutely is a workflow-enhancing technology for procedure-oriented docs
like
 emergency physicians, cardiologists, endoscopists, and surgeons. So, I
actually
 expect we're going to get a BYOG phenomenon. Bring Your Own Glass. I expect
there
 will be a number of docs who decide Google Glass is their client of choice,
and
 we'll be there with the server tools to support it."


Article taken from mobihealthnews - http://mobihealthnews.com
URL to article:
http://mobihealthnews.com/32035/halamka-google-glass-could-be-the-new-ipad-for-doctors/

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