Daylight Savings Time
Remember the Y2k “bug”? A while back, a reader asked about the potential impact when daylight-savings time starts earlier than usual
in the US come 2007. I remember the stories about the pending
legislation, but haven't really heard anything about it from vendors or
anyone else. Of course, any medical device that generates data for a
clinical record, either via printing or into a computerized record will
have to be patched. Much like the Y2k situation, vendors will provide
current products with upgrades and older products will have to be
replaced.
within our IT shop to this issue (finally). It took about 3
conversations with our CTO and subsequent discussions with the VP of
Applications and our Director of Departmental Applications where I
showed them the notifications from Microsoft on the subject.
Finally, we have a project chartered for 2006 but no targeted funds for
remediations. Those that are at-risk (NT4 Server-based) are the
usual one-off, “well-architected”, vendor “dream” solutions that are
prevalent in healthcare.
Well aren't all device vendor's systems “well-architected, dream
solutions?” The rub for this reader is their plans to implement an EMR
and automatically capture data from medical devices – a messy (and
potentially expensive) proposition in the best of circumstances. The
upside is that pending changes to daylight-savings may provide an
incentive to start planning EMR/medical device integration far enough
in advance to actually budget for upgrades, replacements and
integration systems.
Cisco Touts Medical Grade Network Site
Cisco is touting Sweden's largest hospital as medical grade network showcase. So far Karolinska University Hospital
has simply hooked up remote sites and deployed a WLAN (800 access
points). No advanced features are reported, but they mention plans for
video conferencing, and VoIP wireless phones.
is using the Cisco Medical-Grade Network to connect as many as 14,000
users in sites around Stockholm. Two thousand of the users will access
the network via more than 800 Cisco wireless access points. Karolinska
has already started to deploy applications such as real-time video
conferencing over the Cisco network. It is developing an e-enabled
operating room which will broadcast operations and support real-time
interaction world wide. Other future applications include Cisco
Internet Protocol communications and replacing doctors' bleepers with
handheld devices and mobile phones so that they can be alerted and can
access information from a hospital site or remotely.
Update on Wireless Connectivity to Ambulances
Wi-Fi Planet has a story on the wireless market for ambulances. Cellular/Wi-Fi gateway vendor In Motion Technology is profiled; competitors Verilink and Cisco are mentioned.
Wireless Implantable Defibrillators Bring Patients Peace of Mind
This story
in the Chicago Tribune describes how new wireless implantable
defibrillators benefit patient's peace of mind. Nice publicity for Guidant, Biotronik and contract R&D shop nPhase. You can find more posts on this application under Wireless Sensors.
[Hat tip: iHealthBeat]
Canada Opens Biomed Tech Incubator
In a move that furthers their plan to turn Winnipeg into a BioMed City, the Canadian National Research Council has opened the $12 million four-story NRC Centre for the Commercialization of Biomedical Technology.
