Emergency Medicine is a prime candidate for the System. Large Hospitals and Clinics need to be able to adapt and improvise to varied situations and workloads. There is a shortage of Doctors, and there needs to be new ways of using their time, and shifting some of their workload to Technology and Medical Assistants.

 

Technology can provide automatic data/record collection, telemedicine, new monitoring/treatment devices, intelligent computer asssisted examinations, treatment scheduling and verification, process analysis and improvement, robotic remote presence, and may other features. These are all possible through existing and emerging technologies, using common standards and methods, at less cost.

 

Some Sample System Scenarios

• An event has occurred within the Area that has resulted in the injury of a large number of individuals

  • An attempt needs to be made on site to triage the individuals on the site with 1st responders  being able to use Intelligent Adaptive Exam/Treatment Decision Trees and/or Telemedicine Doctors 

  • Instantaneous and Automatic gathering  of information about the person (name, contacts, medical conditions/alerts) is important to assure the person gets the right care, and limit any errors in treatment

  • Hospitals need to be able to supplement their staffs to handle the increase in personnel (On-Site Doctors, Nurses, Medical Assistants, Volunteers, and local and out-of-area Telemedicine Doctors and RNs)

  • Hospitals need a quick way of converting other rooms and areas of the hospital (and possibly other make shift facilities into Examination and Treatment Rooms with portable packaged Telemedicine Medical Kits

  • The overload is so great that many of the individuals will need to be stabilized and maintained on site by the 1st responders and any volunteers in the local area not staffed by medical personnel (Telemedicine for Doctors in another area, could provide great benefit and not deplete other area staff)

• The influx in patients can be handled by a predictable amount of staff about 90% of the time(TBR), but there are peak times that additional staff is needed, but not cost effective to staff. Telemedicine  from On-Call Staff, Agreements with other area and non-area hospitals, retired Doctors, mobility challenged Doctors, or a Pool of Contract Doctors could fulfill that gap

• A sick or injured individual has been found and unable to communicate due to an injury, disability or even death. Information about the individual (name, contacts, medical conditions/alerts) would be valuable

• There needs to be a quick way of connecting wireless monitoring and treatment devices (and the resulting data from them) to the patient, as well as transferring them between rooms, emergency vehicles and the Hospital

• Things can get crazy in an ER and it would be great to be able to quickly load in custom or standard “schedules of actions and treatments”  for a patient, that automatically sets reminders, assigns to the proper individual at the time, logs events/treatments, provides treatment verification, performs automatic escalations if not performed, and allows forwarding and follow-up options

• Things can get crazy in an ER and it would be great to be able to quickly verify any medications and treatments (e.g. name of patient, picture of patient, Doctor prescribing, medicine/treatment, dosage/action, time last taken/performed, time scheduled) all using a quick scan with a tablet, phone, or viewing with intelligent glasses

• There are so many different devices and interfaces to them, that it is difficult to new devices and use them.  Being able to have a common familiar control (tablet/smartphone) with common interfaces would make them easier to use and make less mistakes

• Medical Staff does not want to have to worry about the technical support of devices, and want to make sure they are working properly. It would be of benefit if the devices were remotely monitored for errors, calibrations, or updates…  if there was an issue it could be fixed remotely or easily swapped out

• You notice a maintenance or other issues and want a quick way off reporting it and confidence that it will be performed, it would be automatically be scheduled with escalation and feedback when it was completed

• The ER departments need to better understand their work flow, time with patients, services on different patient disorders, peak hours off activity, etc. They would like to information to determine possible changes in both treatment and process

 

System Features

• The System is Object Oriented, Modular, and devices have more capability in a smaller footprint…  allowing it to be integrated into existing facilities and Information Systems, or part of a configurable low-cost cookie cutter deployments

• Modular “Plug and Play” and configured “System-in-a-Box” options to support incremental improvements and expansion

• The System provides common “Look and Feel” interfaces on Standard PCs, Smartphones, and Tablets, with online training, help, and instructions, with the devices supporting remote maintenance and support

• “System-in-a-Box” kits to expand emergency room to additional areas to handle emergency overflows within and outside off the hospital (emergency Telemedicine enabled Medical Kits, portable and storable ER Room equipment)

• Small mobile “System-in-a-Box” examination and treatment kits (carts) that can be shared and customized for specific needs.

• Support for “Brick and Mortar” and “Telecommuting”, including “on the fly” additions to add additional resources

• Public/Private Identity System to provide information about individuals as well as provide care, verification, and data storage  for individuals

• Support for the scheduling of single, reoccurring, and follow-up events for a patient (manually or with pre-defined care options)

• Role Based Scheduling, within and outside (doctors, personal services, guardians, support staff, etc.) of the Center with acknowledgement, escalation, follow-up, accountability, and audit/process improvement to cover different shifts and pools off individuals within a  functional area

• Support for full audit of events for completion, accountability, and  analysis  of the event log for training and process improvements

• Automatic Data Analysis, Reporting, and Alerts based on selectable parameters associated with different devices

• Configurable (medical, fitness, security, environmental, etc.) alerts and escalations (email, txt)

• Can use expandable HIPAA Cloud Data (and processing)

• 3rd Party Device and System Support to remove IT and support requirements

• Support for language translation

 

Note: Role Based scheduling is based on defining general roles, and then mapping shifts for those Roles to Individuals, These include the roles to perform the tasks as well as any escalations and follow-up, and it can automatically assign, reassign, and forward based on shift changes. . Sample roles could include, Shift_Supervisor, Doctor_On_Call, Device_Support, etc.

 

System Components:

• Smartphones, Tablets, and/or PCs with downloaded APPs  (and access to Cloud Data and Processing  through the APPs)

• Any desired Medical (monitoring, test, treatment) , Security, Monitoring, and/or Environmental Control and Monitoring Devices

• Incorporation of Intelligent Adaptive Examination Decision Trees

• Network Connection and Local Network (e.g. Wi-Fi, Satellite, Cellular, Microwave, etc.)

• Any desired Redundancy (lighting, power, batteries, network, solar, etc.)