Create a patient touchscreen that improves hospital effectiveness

Valencian telecommunications company Tecatel has developed a multimedia application that integrates patient data, the necessary medical devices and the entertainment of those hospitalized in one apparatus and which is already operational in five Spanish hospitals.

The Spanish digital television systems and services company Tecatel has launched, through the Telcatel IPTV division, 'Telcatel Medip', una pantalla táctil antibacteriana para ofrecer entretenimiento a los pacientes hospitalizados y que permite acceder al personal médico a la historia clínica del enfermo, a technology that improves management efficiency and is already operational in five Spanish hospitals. Using an articulated arm, the touch screen is installed, of 19 Inch, “at the foot of the bed” and can adapt to the patient's position, even people with disabilities.

The screen offers, on the one hand, entertainment services (radio, DDT, internet browsing, email, games or e-books) patient in order to have “the same functions as at home” in an environment of comfort and losing “the feeling of isolation”. On the other hand, allows medical staff (doctors and nurses), via encrypted code cards, access patient data: your medical history, medical tests or electronic test results “without having to go with the history under your arm”, has specified to Efe the director of IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) company, Carlos Moro. It also enables applications for the management of room maintenance and in this area, optimize times for staff in charge of this role.

The display can be equipped with a digital camcorder (webcam) to monitor patients and integrate the hospital's computer system to transfer medical data. The center can incorporate value-added services such as satisfaction surveys into technology, choosing the menu, informed consent or visiting times. Five Spanish hospitals already have this device, one of them for a year, and another will equip their beds with the system, while the construction projects of new hospitals intend to implement this technology, according to Tecatel's manager.

“There is a current in the European Union to integrate the entire medical history so that patient data can be accessible from another hospital, also from abroad”, according to Moro, who adds that there is discussion about the right device. In this sense, ensures that laptops, tablets and PODs have the drawback of battery “and they go hand in hand” while the articulated arm holding the screen is permanently connected to the hospital's computer network and the electrical grid.

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