An ambulance arrives at the emergency room of the Chi Mei Medical Center. The nurse, equipped with MICA-101, immediately admits the patient, examines their condition and performs an ECG which is transferred immediately to a cardiologist via mobile phone; the cardiologist then consults with the ER doctor to determine a course of action. After the emergency preparation work is complete, the staff begin a cardiac catheterization operation. The entire process in the ER from time of arrival to operation is less than 15 minutes, thanks to the MICA-101 Mobile Clinical Assistant.
In the ward at the Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, a nurse at a patient's bedside uses MICA-101 to query the hospital's database and retrieve medical records and X-ray images. Data in hand, the nurse explains the patient's condition to family members and they are made fully aware of the situation in less than a few minutes. MICA-101 makes daily work more efficient and cuts the nurse's rounds in the ward from two and a half hours down to 50 minutes, giving the nurse more time to take care of patients.
These remarkable treatment capabilities have become the norm over the past year in many of Taiwan's hospitals. With attention focused on improving the quality of medical care, the application potential of MICA-101 is becoming increasingly popular.
"Cutting the Cord" and Fulfilling a Patient-centered Philosophy
Advantech's MICA-101 is a professional mobile computer platform for hospitals. It features small size, sturdy design and long run time, as well as wireless technology that enables real-time data access. It makes hospital workflow paperless and more accurate.
Compared to traditional SOPs, this new approach provides immediate data, images and medical records at the patient's bedside, allowing caregivers to dispense the most appropriate medical care. Equipped with a barcode scanner and RFID reader, drug delivery and patient identification is safer and more accurate.
The Medical Secretary and ER Medicine Director of Chi Mei Medical Center, Hong Rong Lin, said, "In order to save lives, physicians often run the race against time. Traditional nursing stations are inefficient; they keep nurses constantly on the run between the wards and the station. But since 2000, Chi Mei has been using E-healthcare and M-healthcare technology and has completed many projects. After introducing multimedia transmission services in 2010, we now want to make the ER process more streamlined via wireless networking. Advantech's MICA-101 is just the thing to meet our needs."
According to statistics, Chi Mei Hospital receives more than 183,000 out-patient visits each month and the ER receives more than 14,000 visits, making up about 25% of all emergency admissions in Tainan. However, each ER intake processing takes on average only 13 minutes and patient satisfaction is 97%. Hong Rong Lin said. "Advantech's professional services combined with MICA-101's advantages gave us strong support to upgrade our medical service and the next step is to combine MICA-101 with our information systems to help doctor diagnoses."
Portable Devices Enhance Efficiency of Ward Rounds Shin Kong Hospital uses MICA-101, which is based on Intel MCA architecture, for its easy integration and portable features. The hospital opened in 1992 and is comprised of 35 departments with over 900 beds. In order to provide more accurate medical services, the hospital undertook a management and care project to use mobile devices.
They researched the feasibility of PDAs and workstations. They found PDAs could not be integrated with their systems and the small size also limited functionality. Workstations were dismissed as too heavy and their use would affect operational efficiency. The IT Department Section Chief of Shin Kong Hospital, Pei Long Tsung, pointed out that they need lightweight equipment which can integrate with existing systems. They must be easy-to-clean, quiet and durable, and help them complete their daily work. MICA-101uses an Intel Atom processor, and it can integrate with legacy hospital information systems. It is portable, features a 10.4-inch screen, and weighs only 1.5 kg, making it a lightweight and handy device. For these reasons the hospital chose MICA-101 for use in their medical care operation.
In the past nurses had to return to workstations to input data, but now they can do it immediately from any location via the MICA-101. The screen is much larger than a PDA, making it easier to communicate with patients and record data. In addition, the embedded camera can capture hospital conditions, wireless capability enables real-time access, and the fanless feature ensures quiet operation, important when a nurse is near a patient's bedside. MICA-101 can also be easily cleaned by hospital staff with medical-grade solvents, reducing the risk of infection.
Pei Long Tsung said that they were looking forward to further enhancing the hospital's quality through advanced technology and devices, and that there may be applications for MICA-101 in the ER, trauma case handling, anesthesia monitoring, or in staff and patient identification.MICA-101 is suitable for handheld and medical cart applications, allowing medical personnel to provide immediate bedside service. Combined with its light weight, portability, generous screen size, hot-swappable battery, and other peripheral support (RFID,barcode reader, fingerprint recognition),MICA-101 becomes an exclusive "mobile care assistant" for patients.
As medical services race against time, MICA-101 significantly enhances quality and performance of medicalcare.
MICA-101 Enhances the Quality of Medical Care
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