Tablet PC Nursing

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) has made the 2008 edition of the Emergency Response Guide (ERG) available for Windows Vista and Windows XP. The ERG 2008 software for Windows XP / Vista can be downloaded at: http://hazmat.dot.gov/pubs/erg/ERG_Windows_Setup.exe

At the recent Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference there was a demonstration of the Contoso electronic medical record (EMR), a prototype created by Microsoft to show the Windows Presentation Foundation 3D features and where we are headed with patient medical charts.

See the video at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=dZWEQwzGFp4

GE Healthcare IT has announced a collaboration with Intel Corporation and Motion Computing® to join forces on a mobile computing solution designed to eliminate the manual collection of patient vital sign data. The solution incorporates the Motion C5 mobile clinical assistant (Tablet PC) into vital sign collection using Centricity Enterprise in-patient electronic medical record (EMR) software and GE Healthcare’s DINAMAP® patient monitoring devices.

See the GE Healthcare press release at: http://pressroom.gehealthcare.com/proom/internet/NewsandEvents.jsp?release_id=14025

MedGadget blog about Dinemap/Motion C5 Tablet PC at: http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2008/03/dinamap_to_marry_motion_c5_mobile_tablet.html

Although not specifically Tablet PC news, here is an interesting application of consumer electronics in healthcare.

Spectrum Health of Grand Rapids, Michigan has announced a strategic relationship with Cerner and Microsoft Corp. in developing the Cerner Care Console™ solution, a consumer-centric technology that empowers patients to take an active role in their care.

The solution integrates Spectrum Health’s knowledge about the patient experience with the Cerner Millennium® healthcare information technology (HIT) computing platform, and Microsoft Windows Media Center. Cerner has also incorporated the use of Xbox 360 retail consoles into this system to offer patients gaming and entertainment experiences.

Spectrum Health is currently piloting the Care Console system in one of its units at its 750-bed Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids.

Features of the Care Console system include:

• My Health Notes – Facilitates patient/provider communication by allowing patients to write electronic notes to their physicians with questions about their care.
• My Education – Provides patients with access to health education prescribed by their care team. Access to reliable health information encourages patients to become informed about their condition and medical decisions.
• My Care Team – Provides patients a pictorial introduction to the individuals responsible for their care and explains their roles.
• My Schedule – Presents patients with an itinerary of their specific events for the day as well as a patient-specific task list.
• My Hospital – Presents patients with information about their hospital, including lists of services and maps.
• My Opinion – Invites patients to provide real-time feedback regarding their hospital stay. This enables point-of-service adjustments to care to address patient concerns and supports rapid cycle improvement.
• My Entertainment – Enables patients to watch live TV, select movies, listen to music, and play Xbox games or play online games.

See the full Cerner press release at: http://www.cerner.com/public/NewsReleases.asp?id=27184&cid=8153

The National Library of Medicine has released WISER for Windows.

WISER (Wireless Information System for Emergency Responders) is a system designed to assist First Responders in hazardous material incidents. Developed by the National Library of Medicine, WISER provides a wide range of information on hazardous substances, including substance identification support, physical characteristics, human health information, and containment and suppression guidance.

I've used the Windows Mobile version for years. It is a great reference for nurses that are first responders or first receivers.

Download at: http://wiser.nlm.nih.gov/register.html?plat=win

Microsoft presented their vision of personal health management in the future at the recent MIX08 conference. A ripped copy (not the greatest quality) of the video presentation is available on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F1u36Y-qlE

New surprise OneNote powertoy coming on Monday according to OneNote Testing blog. See: http://blogs.msdn.com/johnguin/archive/2008/02/28/a-nice-surprise-and-powertoy-should-be-ready-on-monday.aspx

Microsoft has announced (http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2008/feb08/02-13AmalgaPR.mspx) the Amalga (formerly Azyxxi) family of Enterprise Health Systems.

Components of the Amalga family include:

• Amalga - a unified intelligence system that provides a single point for unified access to the wealth of information present in a healthcare organization.
• Amalga Hospital Information System (HIS) - a fully integrated, single solution hospital information system.
• Amalga RIS/PACS - an integrated Radiology Information System (RIS) and Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS).

For more information see: http://www.microsoft.com/amalga/default.mspx

It will be interesting to see how Tablet PC technology will be integrated into these Microsoft healthcare technologies.

Microsoft Research has released a very cool prototype Tablet PC application. It is called InkSeine. I heard about this project several months ago; but until this week this application was only available to Microsofties. It has been called "Windows Journal on steroids". It has a new user interface specific to the Tablet PC that utilizes gestures to select menu items. It is a free download. I just downloaded the application and have started working with it.

Information and the download can be found at: http://research.microsoft.com/InkSeine/. Additional information can also be found at the InkSeine Development Team's blog at: http://community.research.microsoft.com/blogs/alpineinker/default.aspx. GottaBeMobile also has additional information at: http://www.gottabemobile.com/GBM+InkShow+InkSeine.aspx

Reports are circulating about the impending release of Windows Vista Service Pack (SP) 1 Release Candidate. I hope that SP1 deals with some of the issues that make Vista run so sluggishly.

Bink.nu and ZDNet are reporting that Microsoft will be releasing the Release Candidate (RC) test build of Windows Vista Service Pack (SP) 1 to selected testers the week of December 1.

The further report that Microsoft will release the SP1 RC test to the general public in the second week of December.

The Bink.nu article can be seen at: http://bink.nu/news/vista-sp1-release-candidate-expected-next-week.aspx

The Bink.nu article can be seen at: http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=985