As
the desire among physicians to use smart phones within their
practices continues to steadily grow, MEDITECH has been
working proactively to assist hospitals in making the
technology more accessible. Several customers, including Doylestown Hospital, have already seen
success with using mobile technologies as rounding tools to
view Electronic Medical Record (EMR) data. Meanwhile, several
other sites are in various stages of the planning process.
We recently sat down with Phil Raffa, director of client
services for physician products, to learn more about the
benefits of smart phones, and how our customers can get in on
the action.
MEDITECH:
To start off, Phil, how can MEDITECH customers benefit from
our smart phone solution?
Raffa: This feature, which is available to all
licensed Physician Care Manager (PCM) customers, provides
physicians the ability to access patient information anytime,
from anywhere. They can view select patient information from
the EMR by way of their mobile device, so long as they have
normal cellular reception or are on a wireless network.
MEDITECH:
What kind of technology setup is required? And what specific
devices are supported?
Raffa: We purposely made this solution agnostic,
allowing physicians the freedom to work on a number of
devices—rather than just one specific operating
system—so long as the handheld supports Web browsing
with Microsoft Pocket Internet Explorer, or the Apple Safari
browser. This includes smart phones from BlackBerry, Samsung,
Motorola, and Apple among others. It is also important to
point out that the data is not actually residing on the
handheld, but rather, on a separate server, so all
information remains secure. And providing access to the
rounding tool can be as simple as creating a launch button on
the device's home screen or saving the URL to your list of
favorites.
MEDITECH:
How would you recommend customers start preparing to take on
this technology?
Raffa: Mainly, customers should ensure they have an
available server. Whether that means the hospital purchases a
new server, or frees up an existing one, this hardware will
be required to allow physicians to do their rounding from
anywhere. Once a hospital is ready to begin discussions with
MEDITECH, the site should contact its EMR specialist, to
review a rollout strategy as well as variables such as
software versions.
MEDITECH:
What would you say is the smart phone's biggest advantage for
physicians?
Raffa: Greater portability and accessibility to data,
regardless of which MEDITECH platform a hospital is currently
using. No matter where physicians are: at home, at the office,
or merely on the other side of the hospital, their patient
information is right at their fingertips. And getting set up
is actually part of the very first phase of a PCM
implementation, so it is much more of a reality than some
might think.
MEDITECH:
What have the initial responses from early adopters been like?
Raffa: So far, we've been getting some great
feedback from physicians on how smart phones have been
helping with their rounds. It is exactly what we hoped to
hear. That kind of response is what really gets us excited
about providing tools that can help physicians take better
care of their patients.
MEDITECH
Medical
Information Technology, Inc.
MEDITECH Circle
Westwood, MA 02090
781-821-3000
www.meditech.com