6 9
O C T O B E R 2 0 1 4 | O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E
to paper," she says.
The tablets make it easier for staff to move from patient to patient,
she says, and they no longer worry about losing a paper in the process.
Plus, the docs love them because the tablets come with a stylus that
lets them sign records when they're on the move.
Many facilities are following suit. Using tablets with EMRs saves
time, and many of the new apps even let patients access their records
from a HIPAA-secure app on their smartphone, so they can take them
with them when they visit different doctors. "One of the problems in
the healthcare world is siloed medical information," says Dr. Misra. "A
number of platforms work to change that."
Some facilities are also having patients use tablets in the waiting
room to fill out questionnaires, which are then copied immediately into
their records.
Samuel Seiden, MD, associate chief medical informatics officer at
the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, says that
the hospital has found a new app offered by its EMR company "very,
very helpful" so far. This is something several big-name services are
developing, he says, and many can be used with either smartphones
or tablets. With these, doctors can receive calls from patients at home
and can pull up their medical records, write prescriptions and send
them to the pharmacy without leaving the app — or the comfort of
their couch.
5
Calm pre-op jitters
Mobile devices can cause distraction, but that's not always a
bad thing. Having children use tablets pre-loaded with games
before going under anesthesia keeps them calmer than oral sedatives
do, allows for quicker recovery times and makes for happier patients,
according to a study Dr. Seiden recently completed.
D I G I T A L O R
