The Motion C5
a mobile clinical assistant for nurses
Following international pilot studies, Intel Corporation and Motion Computing have released the Motion C5 - a mobile clinical assistant (MCA) for use by nurses.
Motion Computing’s C5 is the first product based on Intel’s MCA platform, the firm reports, adding that this is part of its efforts to better connect clinicians to comprehensive patient information in real-time. The lightweight, spill-resistant, drop-tolerant and easily disinfected MCA includes wireless connectivity to access up-to-date, secure patient data and physician’s orders; radio frequency identification (RFID) technology that enables rapid user logon; a digital camera to enhance patient charting and progress notes, and track wound healing; and Bluetooth technology that helps capture vital signs.
To refine their applications for use on MCA, Intel and Motion Computing report that they worked with electronic patient record (EPR) and other clinical software companies such as Allscripts, Cardinal Health, Cerner Corporation, Eclipsys Corporation, Epic Systems Corporation, GE Healthcare, iSoft, McKesson, Nexus, Siemens Medical Solutions and Welch Allyn.
Intel also conducted a range of pilot studies in hospitals worldwide, including Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust in the UK, El Camino Hospital in California and Changi General Hospital in Singapore.
To understand the platform’s usage, usefulness and usability in the context of real clinical work practice, social scientists from Intel’s Digital Health Group conducted ethnographic studies of clinicians who used the MCA at each hospital. As Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO, pointed out: ‘The mobile clinical assistant was defined and shaped by the clinicians who will use it.’
During the first European pilot of this new type of computerised device, at the Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, phlebotomists (those who collect patients’ blood) and elderly care staff spent four weeks testing the MCA in an elderly care ward. Staff nurse Jenny Quilliam, said: ‘The MCA enabled me to have on the spot access for inputting patient details at the bedside. I could look up results, check and make referrals as part of the ward round and support case conferences by having quick access to patient details.’
Details: www.intel.com/healthcare/mca
01.05.2007
