Mobile Clinical Assistant Developed for Point-of-Care in Hospitals

A new mobile clinical assistant (MCA) device allows nurses and doctors to document a patient's condition instantly, reducing their workload and increasing the quality of bedside care.

The MCA is a medical-grade, and easy-to-clean handheld device that integrates a wide range of features into a groundbreaking mobile point of care solution. Its features include a 10.4-inch pen-touchscreen, radiofrequency identification (RFID) sensing, barcode scanning, and a digital camera. The CliniScape completes the missing link in hospital technology, allowing nurses and doctors to document a patient's condition, reducing their workload and increasing the quality of bedside care.

Franco Martegani, CEO, Philips FIMI, a division of Philips Medical Systems (Best, The Netherlands) stated, "With the mobile clinical assistant, doctors and nurses can take more informed decisions, more quickly and with less risk of avoidable errors, whilst avoiding the drawbacks of conventional handheld devices, such as short battery life, complex user interfaces, the risk of spreading infection or the need to carry a cumbersome barcode reader or digital camera.”

Designed as a semi-sealed device without any I/O ports except for one universal serial bus (USB) slot behind a protective cover, the MCA can easily be wiped clean with disinfectant to reduce the spread of infection. The MCA category was defined by Intel's Digital Health Group with input from nurses and physicians worldwide and has the support of a number of leading healthcare electronic medical record (EMR) vendors who have optimized their point of care software to take full advantage of the integrated features delivered by the MCA.

The device's durable design makes it suitable to withstand knocks, drops, and the general daily activities within the hospital. At less than 1.6 kg, the lightweight device is designed to minimize fatigue when being held flat due to a handgrip on the back of the unit.

The CliniScape MCA is based on a 1.2 GHz Intel Core Solo Processor with a 60 GB hard-disk drive, 1 GB SDRAM, WLAN 802.11 b/g/n, Windows XP Tablet PC (personal computer) edition (Vista planned) and an easy to read 10.4-inch XGA touch-screen with digitizer. The device integrates a number of technology features together on a single platform, including: an RFID reader for single swap user-authentication and real-time verification of patients, medication, blood containers, and other clinical specimens; optional built-in barcode reader to support bar-code based identification protocols; Bluetooth for cordless connection of devices such as a heartbeat or blood-pressure sensor; telephone headset or dictation microphone; 2 megapixel camera for real-time capture of digital pictures of patient's condition; and medical-grade compliance to allow its use in clinical areas where traditional laptops or tablet PCs are not allowed.

The CliniScape MCA also acts as a mobile point of care solution for accessing Philips' wide range of clinical applications, such as the IntelliVue Clinical Information Portfolio (ICIP) and iSite picture archiving and communication system (PACS), an enterprise-wide medical image and information management system.


Related Links:
Philips Medical Systems