More than a month ago, we wrote a post about how doctors and medical professionals can be distracted by cellphones and technology. The lesson was that technology can be a hindrance sometimes, but it obviously isn’t always a hindrance. What if all the promise and interconnectivity provided by new technology was put to use in medical instruments, potentially ushering in a new era of medical care?
What we are talking about is medical devices that communicate with each other, making the lives of medical professionals less stressful and far easier. A new study discussed this issue, albeit in a different context, with nurses and the findings were quite interesting.
The study was looking at medical errors, and how current medical devices contribute to these errors taking place. 526 registered nurses participated in the study, and 93 percent of them strongly agreed that medical devices should be able to automatically communicate with each other. 60 percent went further, saying such interconnected devices would “significantly” reduce medical errors.
91 percent of the 526 registered nurses also blamed current medical devices for a lack of hands-on time with patients, because the nurses have to adjust and deal with these devices far more than they would like. And about half of the registered nurses said they witnessed a medical error that occurred because there was no communication between devices.
Obviously this won’t happen overnight, but a transition to a medical world where devices are synchronized could greatly improve patient safety and make the lives of medical professionals much easier.
Source: Mobi Health News, “Nurses say lack of medical device connectivity, interoperability creates medical errors,” Jonah Comstock, March 12, 2015
