A growing number of Delaware healthcare providers are using an iPad video solution to help determine whether pediatric respiratory patients require transport to another hospital for treatment, or can be treated in their initial emergency room.
In the past, many children brought to an ER have been directed to other hospitals for further consultation, according to a Delaware Public Media report. That's no longer the case, thanks to health technology. Now ERs in Delaware can share information on a child's health using a video app deployed over the Apple iPad with hospital ER-based pediatric experts at other facilities.
"When we would we just get a phone call, it was very easy for the critical care team to say, 'I can't see the patient. Send them to our emergency room,'" Nicholas Slamon, a specialist in pediatric critical care at the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, told Delaware Public Media.
Now iPads are being deployed and already being used at Beebe Healthcare in Lewes; they also will be in operation at Wilmington-based St. Francis Healthcare this month. There are more than 20 regional hospitals participating in the program, and about 45 carts housing the iPad video device are in action on pediatric floors intensive care units and ERs, according to the article.
Other Delaware-based providers are using similar tools for patient-facing tasks, such as surveys and patient self-evaluation. One is Christiana Care Health System, where nurses use iPads to collect data on the patients' experiences for its iRound program, according to the report.
Allegheny Health Network in Pennsylvania, last year, ran a pilot program using iPads to enhance emergency medical services for home-based patients while reducing emergency room visits and hospital admissions, FierceMobileHealthcare previously reported.
What's more, a New Hampshire hospital recently reported reducing communication lag time between nurses and doctors from 28 minutes to less than 5 minutes using a smartphone-based platform.
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