The paperless chase

President Obama's health-care-overhaul legislation mandates that health-care organizations move toward electronic record-keeping and wireless transmission of such data to increase efficiency, decrease operational costs and improve services. There's little doubt that the market for technologies that help mobile professionals access such records — or organizations track the location of patients and equipment — will continue to grow as a result. From city fire departments to private ambulance companies to health-care facilities, such providers soon will make the transition from paper charts to interoperable electronic health records using wireless technologies to transmit that data.

In fact, analyst firm Frost & Sullivan recently reported that the rate of electronic health record adoption among U.S. physicians is expected to increase over the next couple of years to such degree that EHR sector revenue will double to $2.6 billion by 2012. This is being driven by health-care reform and financial subsidies from the department of Health and Human Services that were created in response to passage of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which requires interconnectivity between public health-care organizations. The idea is that, in times of emergency, such entities will be able to seamlessly share vital information in real-time. As a result, commercial entities have begun to invest in wireless applications that can help health-care providers and paramedics/EMTs better serve their patients.

As an example, Pep-ID has developed an iPad application to provide point-of-care practitioners with the information needed to treat patients, either within the health-care campus or at the curbside. Currently, the company is calling on iPad users to beta test their app, the latest version of its subscription-based software suite that holds a library of reference tools for point-of-care practitioners. It includes a database of disease profiles and medical conditions, dosing calculators, a drug-interactions checker, illustrations and laboratory values, as well as diagnosis and symptoms generators. The next-generation version is expected to also address emergency medical records. (Those interested in beta-testing the application can apply atwww.pepid.com/iPad. Beta testers will not need a current subscription to Pep-ID in order to participate.)

Other companies are using embedded sensors that can help track high-risk patients. GTX Corp. developed the GPS Smart Shoe to help caregivers wirelessly track missing Alzheimer's and other patients. The device is embedded in the heel of a shoe. While future applications are expected to include access to a patient's medical records, the current version transmits location data through a cellular network that then is received by the health-care facility via a secure portal. From there, the information can be disseminated through e-mail or SMS to designated caregivers, who immediately receive a geo-fence alert via smart phone and computer — with a direct link to a Google map plotting the person's location — whenever a patient wanders off while wearing the GPS shoe.

The development of functional, wireless health-monitoring devices for first responders is another trend to watch next year. Currently, a consortium of academics and manufacturers are establishing guidelines for technologies that monitor firefighters' health and safety, under the advisement of the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate. It's an issue that the U.S. Fire Administration is very concerned about, specifically the increasing number of firefighter line-of-duty deaths associated with cardiovascular events. The agency is so concerned that it asked the S&T to develop technology that would help to reduce the number of cardiovascular-related deaths. The result was the Physiological Health Assessment System for Emergency Responders, or PHASER. In developing the prototype, the S&T identified medical metrics that can be used to assess firefighter health, and a wireless health-monitoring device.

Next year, S&T researchers will continue to develop a system of sensors and wireless components to measure the health of firefighters and transmit the data in real-time. Those sensors would monitor aspects of physiological health, such as temperature and heart rate, while an embedded microprocessor analyzes the data. The information then will be transmitted wirelessly by a radio carried by the firefighter.

— Mary Rose Roberts