2003 C.I.P.A. Winners
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to 2003 C.I.P.A. Winner)
Fraser Health Authority
Patients Get Faster Care with Mobile Band Aid
Overview WebMed Technology has designed and implemented a solution that transmits patient reports and digital photos to consulting nurses and doctors at a central facility, reducing and eliminating expensive and time-consuming trips by patients to hospitals. Objectives Key objectives:
WebMed Technology has addressed the need to reduce and eliminate costly hospital visits by patients that could be cared for at home. Specifically, many minor wounds, bedsores and burns can be treated locally by nurses, rather than transporting a patient to a hospital. This not only reduces health care costs but also improves operational efficiency and reduces the strain on patients. Summary Description Remote medical diagnostics software is designed to empower homecare nurses and physicians with tools that will improve their efficiency on the job and the quality of patient care. WebMed Technology has developed a software solution for use with iPAQ Pocket PCs powered by the Sierra Wireless AirCard 750, a wide area wireless PC Card. Operating on the Rogers AT&T GSM/GPRS cellular network, the AirCard 750 transmits patient information and digital pictures at approximately 56kbps. Field practitioners use the wireless, web-based solution to transmit patient data and compressed digital photos of patient wounds and other conditions to consulting nurses or doctors at a central facility. The reports and color photos -which are taken with digital cameras and then transferred to the iPAQ Pocket PCs -can be quickly and efficiently evaluated by doctors or consulting nurses via an Internet web-browser. Treatment recommendations are then posted via the web interface for review by the field-based practitioner. This process reduces and eliminates expensive and time- consuming trips by patients to the hospital -thus reducing costs on the health care system. The mobile solution has helped ease the suffering of patients and saved hundreds of thousands of dollars for the British Columbia health authority. The solution is under current review for possible widespread adoption by British Columbia health agencies as well as other large health care organizations. Currently the solution is being used by the Fraser Health Authority in BC which serves approximately 1.3 million people in BC's lower mainland. Care providers in Ontario have also implemented Pixalere, and interest has been expressed from across North America. A Canadian physician in Kenya is also using the system to receive treatment recommendations from specialists in Canada. This treatment simply would be impossible without this type of technology. Innovative Use of Technology WebMed Technology Inc. is a world-class Canadian developer of health care software solutions. Our Mobile Wound Care Solution, Pixalere, allows homecare nurses to capture and transfer wound assessment data, including full colour digital images, to a secure web server. Specialists are able to review the assessment data anywhere, anytime, and provide instant treatment recommendations. The Pixalere database allows for extensive reporting options, including heal rates, product usage and comparisons, and demographics. The Pixalere Mobile Wound Care Solution provides wound care professionals with instant access to the most up-to-date, wound assessment information via the Internet, thereby speeding up patient care, reducing heal times of chronic wounds, improving communication and reducing visits to hospitals and doctors' offices. According to a 1999 National Association for Home Care (NAHC) study, one-third of all patients in home care suffer from chronic wounds, which account for more than two-thirds of the total cost of home care. With 70-80% of all home-health supply costs relating to wound care, the NAHC estimates the total average cost of healing a wound at home to be $13,000. Pixalere can dramatically reduce the cost of healing wounds. A literature review in the clinical trial report written by the Fraser Health Authority found that wounds could heal up to twice 50% faster if specialists had timely access to data provided with tele-health applications such as Pixalere. Fast wireless access was the key to making this new system a reality. It required a robust yet affordable mobile computing solution equipped with wireless data transmission capability to allow practitioners to easily transmit both patient records as well as digital images. The goal was to link specialists and home care practitioners to hospital databases via the Internet, providing physicians with secure, mobile access to patient data and photographs, that allows for instant treatment recommendations and prioritization. Website: www.fraserhealth.ca
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