From the Department of Much Ado About Almost Nothing, Local News Division, comes this breathless story by WOWT-TV in Omaha, Neb.:
Apple has always been about innovation. The same can be said for Epic, the Verona, Wisconsin-based healthcare software company whose customers manage medical records for more than half the U.S. population, including patients at Nebraska Medicine. Now, Epic and Nebraska Medicine announce one of the first efforts to improve the patient experience using Apple’s first wearable device.
It’s pretty cool, sure, that patients at Nebraska Medicine in Omaha can download Epic’s MyChart app and that clinicians there who have sprung for a new Apple Watch can use the professional version, called Haiku, on their wrists.
Behavioral Health, Interoperability and eConsent: Meeting the Demands of CMS Final Rule Compliance
In a webinar on April 16 at 1pm ET, Aneesh Chopra will moderate a discussion with executives from DocuSign, Velatura, and behavioral health providers on eConsent, health information exchange and compliance with the CMS Final Rule on interoperability.
Patients are able to view test results, medication and appointment reminders, billing statements and secure messages from their care providers. Physicians and other professionals can get clinical summaries and, with the help of Siri, dictate notes into the Apple Watch.
“We recognize that as more of our patients use devices like the Apple Watch, we not only have to be able to use that technology to initially provide convenience for them, but we also have to envision how we can also improve patient outcomes via use of the device in the future,” Nebraska Medicine Chief Transformation Officer Dr. Michael Ash told the NBC affiliate.
But would you really want to read medical records on a screen no larger than 312 by 390 pixels? Would doctors trust Siri to understand clinical terminology and be accurate enough for a medical record?
The reminder features certainly can come in handy, telling people to check the larger screen of an iPhone or even a computer. And the next generation of the apps sounds promising, according to WOWT:
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A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Epic has development in the works based on the Apple Watch’s ability to “tap” wearers on the wrist to get their attention. Diabetic patients will be able to get reminders to test their blood sugar regularly, for example. Care organizations will also be able to use the watch to help patients get quicker access to high-demand specialty visits and services. Epic’s Fast Pass On the Go feature would allow a patient with an appointment three weeks out to get an Apple Watch alert if an earlier slot opens up — when another patient cancels an appointment, for example — and accept the new appointment time from the watch.
Also, it’s a safe bet a lot of Epic’s competitors and some people in Washington are chuckling at the statement that the EHR vendor “has always been about innovation.” Is that something you can say about technology written in the ancient MUMPS programming language?
