Research Paper on Medical Equipment

Introduction

These are small electrocardiogram devices implanted beneath the skin in the upper chest to monitor heart rhythm. This remote cardiac monitoring system was developed by BIOTRONIK to enable remote monitoring of cardiac patients. These devices continuously record the heart rhythm and relay this data via the BIOTRONIK Home Monitoring Patient device (MerlottI, 2017). Any abnormalities in the heart rhythm instantly alert the attending physician and the patient is called in for assessment. Insertion of these devices is an outpatient procedure. A small incision is made in the upper chest and the device accurately placed. The wound is then closed using a few sutures. An example of such devices is BioMONITOR 2. These devices are protected against magnetic fields of other devices including home appliances and MRI machines, hence are safe during imaging.

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BIOTRONIK has been keen on observation of privacy and security of data obtained from these home monitor systems. Data collected from an individual patient heart monitor by a cardiomessenger is encrypted and automatically transmitted to the BIOTRONIK Home Monitoring Service Center(HMSC) using mobile cellular technology. This data is tamper-proof as it is encrypted and protected behind several firewalls. This is to ensure that these devices remain maximally operational and the data obtained does not end up in unauthorized hands. Placement of these devices requires patient consent. The patients are informed on everything about the device. This information includes the way the devices work, the procedures of insertion, the durability, costs, type of data transmitted among others. After this, signed consent is obtained from the patient. All patients are accorded the same amount of confidentiality as they would in a hospital setting when consulting a doctor.

Imaging Equipment by Philips

Philips is a leading company in the global production of medical equipment. They are highly specialized in the production of top quality imaging technology. They produce the world's most sophisticated imaging equipment such as MRI machines, CT Machines, and solutions, fluoroscopy, advanced molecular imaging among others. All these equipment have been of key importance in the advancement of diagnostic medicine globally. Patients sign consent forms for imaging procedures in the hospital setup. Participants in the testing of Philip devices are obtained online, where interested individuals are required to register on their website (Nelson, 2011). Consent is also a requirement during trials for this equipment. Patient and test subject data is kept secure and only handled by authorized personnel. The type of data collected by these devices is in form of CT scans, X-ray images, MRI scans, ultrasound images, and computer analyzed reports among others. Once data is collected in the imaging labs, it is relayed to the consulting physician's monitors for reviewing and treatment. This data is then securely transferred to the hospital or organizational EMRs.

Each Philips product is accompanied by security status documents that contain product specific information on the vulnerability updates and other information such as operating system details and antivirus software. This company is using the Manufacturer Disclosure Statement for Medical Device Security to provide details on the security of its products. Each device produced by Philips is installed with anti-theft software that enables tracing in case of theft. It's also fitted with antivirus software that protects it from corruption by malware. This makes these devices both safe for patient use and reliable sources of credible and accurate data for use in diagnostics and storage in EMR (Williams, 2012).

Bedside Patient Monitoring Systems by Medtronic

A bedside patient monitoring system is a system that monitors various parameters in the body of a hospitalized patient. They monitor oxygen saturation, blood pressure, breathing rate, temperature, heart rate among others (Brunner, Kitzberger, Miehsler, Herkner, Madl & Holzinger, 2011). These systems are connected to various systems such as attending doctors' devices, nursing stations so as to relay the data to these stations. They also send alerts to these people in cases of dangerous deviations from normal parameters.

An example of such devices is The Nellcor Bedside SpO2 patient monitoring system that was developed by Medtronic. Medtronic is a global medical device and technology company with a large portion of its market being in the United States. This system continuously monitors the respiratory status of the patient. This system has enabled early detection and treatment of respiratory distress and other respiratory diseases. The privacy policies of Medtronic regarding the patient data they collect is handled differently, depending on whether it contains personal or non-personal information ((Brunner et al. 2011). Nonpersonal information is data that does not contain details that could lead to the identification of a person. Personal information, on the other hand, is information that is specifically aimed at identifying the person such as name, address, and phone numbers.

Medtronic acknowledges that these devices could be prone to cyber-attacks. However, they assure buyers and consumers of their products that they monitor their systems all the time in an attempt to stop any attempted cyber attack from occurring. Medtronic also guarantees the security of its devices in various ways. These include thorough testing for vulnerability and weaknesses, maintenance of standards above the industry and regulatory requirements, installation of tracking and anti-theft software among others. Medtronic invites participants for medical equipment testing. These participants are accorded privacy and confidentiality and their data protected from tampering of any kind. These clinical trials have previously been carried out in India and Bangladesh. Results from these trials have helped develop cutting edge technology in terms of health devices that are safe and effective hence enabling health information transfer between providers and independent research laboratories (Walker, Pan, Johnston, Adler-Milstein, Bates & Middleton, 2005).

Value of Big Data Collection

'Big Data' in healthcare refers to vast amounts of data collected from various sources such as imaging machines, bedside monitors, wearable devices, electronic medical records, laboratory record among others. This data has been used to improve patient care in various ways. First, vast data on individual patients has helped in faster diagnosis and treatment. This is due to the availability of accurate health history of the patient and consolidation of the relevant documents during that specific hospital visit. These documents include laboratory results and imaging reports. Second, big data has helped reduce the costs of healthcare. This has been achieved through various ways that include a reduced length of hospital stay and better accuracy of prescriptions. Better communication between various specialists at the hospital has aided in faster diagnosis and hence reduced the length of hospital stay. Third, it has helped in better management of the human resource with the aim of better patient care. Data has helped monitor the professional abilities of health care staff. It has also helped monitor the renewal of permits and licenses that are required for physicians to practice medicine. Data has also proved important in keeping track of which employees took care of individual patients of administered specific treatment in case of follow up purposes (Khan, Latif, Afzal, Ahmad & Lee, 2013)

Big data collection has however faced its share of shortcomings. Data collection and analysis in health care has lagged behind that of other sectors. This could be attributed to some of the standards required of big data in healthcare as opposed to other sectors. These include confidentiality and security. Consolidating medical data from its widespread sources has also posed a major challenge. This is because this data is spread in areas such as different hospitals, departments, government offices, service providers and other areas. This also requires a lot of financing which could pose a challenge to organizations with low cash flow. Data collection requires the acquisition of devices that are very costly. It also requires cooperation between the manufacturers of these devices and the EMR service providers. These associations could be strenuous to organizations that lack adequate funding (Khan et al. 2013).

The outcomes of analysis of this big data can be used to aid advancements in the health sector and improve patient care. Careful analysis of this data has brought advancements in preventive medicine. This has been through analysis of factors such as genetic and lifestyle predisposition to disease and taking of steps to prevent disease development. It has also helped identify groups of people at risk of immunizable diseases and aided the administration of vaccines. Big data has also helped reduce adverse medication effects. This has been achieved through improved accuracy in the prescription of drugs and safe doses. It has also helped improve the health of the general population through analysis of population data and identification of disease trends.

Training Design

Basic EMR training outline for ancillary staff.

The first process in this training plan is the identification of the best EHR program and tools that will meet the practice needs of the involved parties.

The features and functions that will be involved in the development of the EMR training of the ancillary staff will be;

Innate functionality which is easy to use and user-friendly. This will constitute concepts that any person can pick up quickly, figure out and use immediately at the most basic level with the least training and experience.

The training plan is flexible and customizable to meet the needs of the ancillary staff.

The workforce of this EHR training program has workflows that resemble most of the existing paper-based processes as well as contain a comparable communication program to enable passing information among the ancillary staff.

The training plan has the ability to run programs that can be operated through various devices that have the necessary interfacing capabilities for instance; desktops, laptops, phones, and tablet/Ipad (Jung, Kim, Chung & Park, 2014).

The system has risk identification capabilities for instance; guidelines and compliance alerts.

The training program is upgradeable so as to enable the ancillary staff being trained to adopt new technologies such as big data handling, cloud-based computing, and patient-generated health data management.

Contents of is a Basic EMR Training Outline for Ancillary Staff

The EMR training plan should contain basic computer skill provisions and tests. The Ancillary Staff need to take computer classes so as to equip them with the required basic skills needed in the EMR department.

The training includes the various concepts of the EMR. The question to be answered here is, "What is an EMR?"

The benefits of training EMR for the Ancillary Staff

The training should contain learning of the benefits of EMR to the patients.

What is the information that is contained in an EMR?

The training should include learning how to use EMR

The training will equip the Ancillary Staff with abilities to improve healthcare delivery and reduction of costs (Tierney et al. 2013).

Value of Gaining Information Relative to a Competitor

Assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of competitors is key in any organization's goal of standing out and being a step ahead of everyone else. Gaining information...