When working with critical-care patients, doctors and nurses need a hands-free way to stay updated on the current status of incoming patients and their needed-care levels. This need to stay updated on new patients is even more critical in a natural disaster scenario where a large volume of patients with varying states of injuries need to be treated by a limited medical staff. Using Google Glass, we can open up new possibilities for mobile healthcare communication allowing for cloud-based coordination with other medical personnel even in a disaster scenario. In this paper, we present our 'Panacea Glass', a mobile cloud framework that allows triage personnel who require handsfree communication capabilities along with situational-awareness of patient care coverage. We implement this framework within a WebRTC-based 'Responder Theater Application' with features such as video chat application on Google Glass devices, and use of virtual beacon tracking devices. Lastly, we show experiments conducted in determining optimal settings of the application, as well as its utility within an actual 'Lake Simulation'.Index Terms-hands-free video chat, mobile cloud for health care, mobile network-as-a-service, smart triage 2015 3rd IEEE International Conference on Mobile Cloud Computing, Services, and Engineering 978-1-4799-8977-5/15 $31.00
Many patients undergo computed tomography (CT) scan before transfer to definitive care. Despite this, studies are often repeated on arrival to the trauma center. We evaluated a policy to provide formal in-house interpretation of images performed at outside hospitals. A 3-month retrospective analysis was performed. Two groups were compared. Patients in the in-house interpretation (IHI) group underwent in-house interpretation of outside images. Those images not meeting criteria were placed in the comparison group without in-house radiologic interpretation. Demographics, CT scan data, billing and productivity loss, and extrapolated cancer risk reduction were analyzed. There were no significant differences in demographic or injury data. Fewer total CT scans were performed in the IHI group (223 vs 320, P = 0.04). The IHI group underwent fewer repeated CT scans (25 vs 62, P = 0.02; odds ratio [OR], 0.53). Fewer patients were exposed to repeat CT scans (17 vs 32; OR, 0.48). Total hospital billings decreased by $188,285 ($4,592/patient) in the IHI group. Uncaptured work relative value units totaled 152.19 (3.71/patient) in the IHI group. Radiation exposure decreased by 8 per cent. Use of outside hospital imaging as the definitive evaluation of injured patients is safe and results in an overall decrease in radiation exposure and healthcare cost.
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