IN ambulances get mobile EMR access

We've reported on ambulance-based mobile telemedicine in the past, but at some point, someone was going to figure out how to put electronic medical records on board emergency transports. That someone is Wishard Health Services in Indianapolis and that point is now.

Wishard, which is affiliated with the Indiana University School of Medicine, has put laptops with mobile Internet access on board the 40 Marion County ambulances that serve the Indianapolis area. Dr. John T. Finnell, an ED physician at Wishard and director of IU Medical's informatics division, tells the Indianapolis Star that this is likely the first system of its kind in the world.

"If we're getting this data in the emergency department, why not push it out to the paramedics so they can use that same information?" Finnell asks. That's a simple question that hasn't always lent itself to simple answers. Perhaps times are changing.

For details on the Wishard ambulance EMR program:
- have a look at the Indianapolis Star story