2nd I 2012 t h e D ig it al He alt h c ar e jour n al WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES How they impact the future development of healthcare HOW TO MAKE A SMART MEDICAL CART Streamline workflows | 10 KINECT EFFECT A WORTHWHILE INVESTMENT Reaches into hospitals & senior centers | 8 Computers in everyday care | 12

Contents Published by Advantech Co. Ltd Address No. 1, Alley 20, Lane 26, Rueiguang Road Neihu District, Taipei, Taiwan 114 Tel +886-2-2792-7818 www.advantech.com Toll Free Advantech Europe 00800-2426-8080 Email [email protected] Editorial committee Joyce Chou, Tammy Chiu, Wendy Wen, Mariëtte Dusseldorp, Reinier Middel, Richard Ponce Editorial support Frauke Frerichs-Waldmann makomti www.makomti.de All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited. 2 Introduction 3 Cover Story Eco Partner Speaks Trends Application Interview Country Focus WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES...

Introduction Patient-centered health care Within the healthcare sector we talk about solutions where you need reliable PCs with small footprints that are easy to clean with hospital detergents. The demand for medical PCs is increasing exponentially to meet the growing need for access to timely and accurate information. Advantech’s medical products include medical certifications to meet specific safety requirements, both in terms of design (rounded corners), and electrical specifications (radiation and leakage currents). In reality, we go beyond the requirements. For example, designing isolated...

Cover Story WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES How they impact the future development of healthcare By John Koon, Publisher Medical Electronic Device Solutions The medical device market is heating up. The growth comes from the demand for services from the aging population and the ideas that healthcare problems can be solved by the fast changing wireless technologies worldwide. Three areas are gaining a great deal of attention and are experiencing rapid changes: Telehealth, (the concept of delivering healthcare services via telecommunication, sometimes called mobile health, mHealth or wireless health), Home...

Multiple organizations including Qualcomm have been promoting the concept of wireless health and how it will enable “access” via mobile technology such as smartphones or other wireless devices, both in the USA and other countries. For example, Qualcomm initiated a program called Wireless ReachTM, which invests in projects that use mobile technology to benefit underserved communities by enhancing the delivery of health care and other areas such as education. Erica Whinston, Senior Manager, Wireless Reach TM, Qualcomm, said, “3G and next-generation mobile technologies allow for connectivity anytime...

Cover Story Wireless technologies offer the aging population the chance to live independently with safety. For example, Grandcare Systems is a server (sometimes referred to as Point-of-care) connected to many sensor devices, which can be installed at a home via wireless communications including Bluetooth, ZWave and X.10. Depending on the configuration, the system can link with a blood pressure monitor, digital weight scale, motion sensor, mattress weight sensor, door sensor, pulse oximeter (by prescription only), and even a pair of shoes with built-in GPS. This comprehensive solution will be...

time. Many patients complain that when they visit their doctor’s office the time is short and they don’t get the attention they deserve.They state that their doctors don’t even look at them; during the visit doctors are busily entering data into their desktop computers. But this will start to change. The portable tablets enable doctors to face and interact with their patients while doing touchscreen entry. For patients, tablets allow them to enter personal information directly when they check in, which will save the steps of data entry normally required when converting data to the Electronic...

Eco Partner Speaks KINECT EFFECT Reaches into hospitals and senior centers In the year since Microsoft launched Kinect for Xbox 360, the controller-free device has been adopted and adapted for a growing number of non-gaming uses, many of them in the healthcare field. For the elderly, a fall is never just a fall. Marilyn Rantz’s 80-year-old mother fell and broke her shoulder, and died within six months. “Falls lead to functional issues and other health problems, and can be a precursor to mortality,” said Rantz, a University of Missouri nursing professor. But what if technology could help prevent...

interdisciplinary research to study aging and eldercare technology. quality of life of older adults, but may even extend their lives. Several apartments in Tiger Place have a Kinect mounted near the ceiling in the living room, “With Kinect, we can gather – walking speed, stride length, step time, and we can see detailed trends over time to determine subtle changes and determine very early whether there is functional decline and fall risk,” Skubic said. Royal Berkshire Hospital At the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, England, stroke patients are using Kinect for Xbox 360 as part of their rehabilitation....

Trends How to Make a SMART Medical Cart Streamline workflows Josh Dunbar, CEO of Elliott Data Systems, Inc. In today’s changing healthcare environment, nursing and IT face many challenges in adapting technology and workflow. Both IT and medical staff are tasked with implementing new systems to meet deadlines, regulations, and create workflow efficiencies. These advancement in technology change the way that medical staff members work and present new opportunities to increase efficiency and patient safety. The mobile workstation cart, sometimes called a COW (Computer on Wheels) or WOW (Workstation...

Adding medication storage to a cart can provide a basic platform to improve on the “one-to-one” workflow. Many carts can have some type of locking medication storage added to them. This creates an opportunity for clinicians to retrieve medications for multiple patients, separating and securing them until they reach the bedside. Such carts can bring additional challenges to the hospital. Medications prepped by nurses before entering a patient room might defeat barcode safety checks, and meds can also be left in a cart and not returned to a central repository after a patient is discharged or transferred....