The use of technology in medicine takes another step forward with a program being road-tested now at Creighton University Medical Center. Several Creighton residents are using wireless-enabled handheld devices to obtain immediate access to the latest patient information at their fingertips.
Long gone are the days of reading a patient’s chart hanging on a hospital bed. For years now, doctors have checked results of patient tests on desktop computers located throughout the hospital. Soon even this method will be obsolete as more and more doctors access real-time patient information via handheld devices on their way to see a patient, or during the patient visit.
Several doctors at Creighton University Medical Center are currently using the Lab and Radiology Access (LARA) system on handheld devices and are providing feedback for its ultimate design. LARA provides fast and secure access to patient vital signs, laboratory results, radiology reports and medications. It is expected to be made widely available sometime in October.
“This system is great,” said Hema Korlakunta, M.D., one of the Creighton residents using the LARA system. “I can confer with the patient about test results and can even show the results to the patient,” she said. “I don’t have to leave the room to check the computer or get a printout. It’s made patient care much more efficient, and I can use it anywhere in the hospital any time of the day or night.”
Samuel Caughron, M.D., a resident in the Department of Pathology, is the physician behind development and implementation of the LARA system at Creighton. According to Dr. Caughron, LARA’s features and design are being guided by the physicians who will ultimately use the system. Rather than purchase a generic product from a vendor, Dr. Caughron opted to custom-fit the technology to Creighton’s needs and then make the result available to other hospitals. Dundee Logic is the programming service provider.