Industry Watch

Robotics

Scottsdale Healthcare Shea Medical Center in Arizona installed a SpeciMinder autonomous mobile robot in April in its central laboratory. Supplied by Swisslog Healthcare Solutions, the unit is designed to transport specimens, tissues and other items between receiving and testing stations within the four walls of the lab. Once the bot’s payload compartment is loaded, a destination button is selected and the robot automatically picks the most efficient delivery route. After all deliveries are made, the robot returns to its charging station and remains there until summoned.

Cool features of SpeciMinder include human-like voice commands that notify staff of its presence, laser guidance that ensures avoidance of people and objects, and the ability to interface with automatic doors along its route. The robot requires no facility modifications during installation, and its route can be quickly mapped and modified. It can transport a 50-pound payload at normal walking speeds through hallways as narrow as 27 inches.

“We expect the SpeciMinder to help us achieve consistent, enhanced turnaround time and improved efficiency by relieving staff of manually moving specimens within the lab,” says Susan Bittikofer, lab manager at Scottsdale Healthcare.

SpeciMinder is available for either purchase or lease.

You can learn more at www.swisslog.com.

Video

The eVideon Healthcare IPTV system being installed at Blodgett Hospital goes way beyond high-definition TV broadcasting; the solution can even communicate individual patient needs to other areas of the hospital, such as guest services, cafeteria or housekeeping.

Television is about to get a whole lot more interactive at Blodgett Hospital, a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based patient-care facility. The hospital has contracted with technology provider Optimal Solutions to install the eVideon Healthcare Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) system, a complete IP-based solution that provides HD-quality TV, movies, personalized educational content and hospital information to any Ethernet port. eVideon Healthcare also offers survey/tracking options that allow hospital staff to track patient comprehension for improved patient outcomes and clinical workflows.

Using this system, there is no need for coax cable or in-room computers. The installation replaces Blodgett’s current RF analog television distribution system. The Web-based components of the content management system allow non-technical staff to manage and modify programming provided to patients. Content is streamed to each room’s TV as well as waiting rooms, staff lounges, cafeterias and any other TV location. See www.evideon.com for more information.

Conferences

A record-breaking 31,225 attendees found their way to sunny Orlando, Fla., for the 2011 Annual Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Conference and Exhibition, which was held Feb. 20-24. Total professional registration at the conference also saw an increase to 14,639 registrants, compared to 13,672 registrants in 2010.
HIMSS11 featured more than 400 education sessions and more than 1,000 exhibiting companies and organizations. Keynote presenters included: Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor and member of President Obama’s economic transition board; the Honorable Kathleen Sebelius, United States Secretary of Health and Human Services; Michael J. Fox, actor and founder of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research; and Richard Boyd, chief architect for Lockheed Martin Virtual World Labs. For more information about HIMSS events, visit www.himssconference.org.

Security

Biometric systems that are designed to automatically recognize individuals based on biological and behavioral traits such as fingerprints, palm prints or voice or face recognition are “inherently fallible” and no single trait has been identified that is stable and distinctive across all groups, according to a report issued Sept. 24, 2010 by the National Research Council.. The council advises that additional research is needed at virtually all levels of design and operation to strengthen the science and improve the system effectiveness of biometrics.

The systems provide “probabilistic results,” meaning that confidence in results must be tempered by an understanding of the inherent uncertainty in any given system, the report says. The report identifies numerous sources of uncertainty in the systems that need to be considered in system design and ­operation.

“For nearly 50 years, the promise of biometrics has outpaced the application of the technology,” says Joseph N. Pato, chair of the committee that wrote the report and distinguished technologist at Hewlett-Packard’s HP Laboratories, Palo Alto, Calif. “While some biometric systems can be effective for specific tasks, they are not nearly as infallible as their depiction in popular culture might suggest.”

Copies of “Biometric Recognition: Challenges and Opportunities” are available at www.nap.edu.

E-mail Tools

It is estimated that one in five outgoing e-mails contain content that poses a legal, financial or regulatory risk for businesses and their employees. But VaporStream e-mails are safe, secure and intentionally not stored or documented – just like a verbal conversation. A VaporStream e-mail does not leave a residual message and vaporizes after it is read. These e-mails cannot be carbon copied, forwarded, saved or printed. The technology uses 256-bit encryption, resides in RAM and the head and body are separated in transit.

VaporStream was just named a “Cool Vendor in Healthcare Provider” by Gartner, a leading analyst firm. It operates in software-as-a-service (SaaS) mode and integrates with Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes and all major mobile platforms such as BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and the iPhone. The service costs $7.50 per month per user. Enterprise pricing varies by company size and scope. More information: www.VaporStream.com.

Technology

READING, Pa. and RALEIGH, N.C., Sept. 14 — The Reading Hospital and Medical Center (TRHMC) is implementing a system that features video-on-demand access to the hospital’s entire library of educational videos at the patient bedside, simplifying education delivery for the hospital staff and improving information retention for the patients. The 671-bed hospital’s endeavor is an extension of its Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP).

TRHMC has partnered with TeleHealth Services to create the patient education and entertainment experience. The TIGR (telephone-initiated guided response) interactive system is an addition to TRHMC’s use of evidence-based treatment guidelines to promote consistency of care and positive patient outcomes. More information: www.telehealth.com.

Coding

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Sept. 13 (BUSINESS WIRE) — 3M Health Information Systems has released the 3M ICD-10 Code Translation Tool, now fully integrated with 3M’s medical vocabulary server, the 3M Healthcare Data Dictionary, to provide a single-source solution for translating and converting ICD-9 based applications to ICD-10. The ICD-10 national coding standard is scheduled to be implemented on October 1, 2013 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“Beginning the transition process now allows facilities to take strategic advantage of ICD-10’s potential for in-depth analysis of disease patterns and treatment outcomes, streamlined and accurate reimbursement and overall healthcare quality improvement efforts,” says Ray Terrill, senior vice president for 3M Health Information Systems. More information: www.3Mhis.com/i10tool.