Wireless networking offers advantages to healthcare, but evaluation key

Just as drugs go through rigorous evaluation before they are introduced into healthcare systems on both sides of the border, new technologies should undergo greater scrutiny before they are rapidly diffused in healthcare, says the VP of a US-based non-profit health services research agency."Medical technologies seem to be held to a lower standard than drugs in terms of the evidence for their use," said Vivian Coates, VP of information services and health technology assessment at the ECRI Institute in Philadelphia. "Drugs go through several clinical trials. Why aren't medical technologies put through the same rigour? They are not as well researched in terms of their effectiveness, cost, and impact on patient care."Speaking at a conference in Toronto last month on healthcare technology procurement, Coates noted that even when healthcare facilities purchase new technologies, they should use the technology in a judicious manner. "Because you have the technology does not mean that everyone who could get a scan should get a scan," said Coates, in an interview with Telemanagement. "Even if the scan is accurate, it may not change how the patient would be treated. It may mean unnecessary follow-up tests (based on the result of the scan) that are expensive and don't have an impact on treatment." Smaller healthcare facilities can look at the transition to wireless networking as an opportunity that they can seize more readily than larger academic centres. "It may be easier for smaller healthcare facilities to go wireless than larger institutions," said Coates. It's likely that community hospitals have tighter budgets than larger academic teaching hospitals, making it a challenge to implement wireless networks. Being smaller can result in less disruptive changes: community hospitals have fewer personnel, less entrenched workflow patterns, and typically more flexible management practices."A smaller hospital may have an easier time to modernize than a larger institution," said Coates. "It's a question of how committed a hospital or health system is to adopting a approach." Jim Keller, VP of healthcare technology evaluation and safety at ECRI, said hospitals can adhere to some key guidelines before going wireless. Most hospitals have experience with wireless telemetry, but it may be a great leap to implement wireless networks throughout an institution. Keller stressed the responsibility of hospitals to know their own needs, so they can communicate effectively with vendors and understand what wireless technologies will best operate in their architecture and infrastructure. Hospital IT personnel should know not only IT but understand the workflow in healthcare. Security is also a concern that should be paramount for healthcare facilities, and such facilities should not totally entrust that issue to vendors."You should know your facility first before you approach a vendor," said Keller. "The first step is to do a survey. It will give you an indication, for example, of how many readers you will need throughout your institution and how wireless signals will travel."Available technologies, such as bar coding for medication management, radio frequency identification (RFID) to track inventory, and computer order entry systems, should be implemented gradually to gain acceptance amongst hospital personnel and to avoid creating new complexities with their use, he added.Coates noted that the US Food and Drug Administration is encouraging the use of RFID in healthcare facilities because it purports to "make sure we have the right devices at the right time in the right conditions."Tablet PCs making life easier for medical professionalsImplementing any type of technology in the healthcare environment must permit healthcare workers such as physicians to be as mobile as possible and perform in real time, says Sankar Das Gupta, chairman and CEO of high-tech firm Electrovaya Inc., of Mississauga. The firm has patented a battery technology, a lithium ion Super-Polymer battery, for longer run-time than any other rechargeable battery currently in production. Electrovaya has about 96 patents issued and another 87 pending around the world. "Computer technology began with a mainframe, evolved to the desktop, then the laptop, and the next step is the tablet," said Das Gupta. Electrovaya has partnered with original equipment manufacturers such as Alias-Wavefront, SalesLink, FranklinCovey, and Soft Thinks 540 to offer technologies that offer both power and mobility. "Healthcare workers want something that is light in weight like the Blackberry, so they don't have to use paper and they can be mobile. That is the driver behind the development of our technologies."Electrovaya's Tablet PC, the Scribbler, can run for about seven hours and is light and thin in design, making it a highly portable device that meets the needs of busy healthcare workers who perform a variety of activities in a day, according to Das Gupta. In one study on the use of tablet PCs at a pediatric facility in Texas, healthcare workers said about 65 hours a week was saved collectively by staff using a Tablet PC instead of desk-top computers. Physicians can then see many more patients per week with time saved due to technology.

Wireless networking offers advantages to healthcare, but evaluation key

News | October 23, 2007

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