One of the noblest uses of iPads, nowadays, help in hospitals around the world. Even though devices have been in use for medical purposes for a few years now, not all places can provide healthcare professionals and patients with access to tablets.
According to the TechCrunch, Apple wants to boost the use of devices so that they are available to all patients.
The vehicle says the program is already being tested at some hospitals in the United States, such as the Jacobs Medical Center at the University of California, San Diego; the MetroSouth Medical Center in Chicago; and Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. In this last institution, even the patients already had access to their medical information previously, but everything was much more functional with the use of iPads.
Without the iPad, doctors and nurses go through a stack of paper to then write duplicate information on a whiteboard often found on the back wall of the patient's room. Thus, there may be errors and, as Cedar-Sinai doctor Shaun Miller said, there is often room for staff to write, which leads to confusion or lack of information for the patient.
The gadgets We are also great allies for nurses, who do not have to worry about creating two versions of the same document, one for themselves and the other for the patient, with relevant information. On the iPad, the patient can access a range of educational videos, as well as learn about their situation from the reports in full detail.
Another amazing application of devices in hospitals is the ability for parents to interact with their newborn babies by FaceTime when a physical approach is not yet viable:
New parents are using FaceTime on unmodified iPads to interact with their newborns, who may be sick or premature. Because these babies need to be kept isolated from the outside world (and their germs), parents usually cannot see them in the first days of birth. But, with what nurses refer to as “BabyTime”, parents can interact with their little ones while they wait.
Allowing patients to access their own information and, in the latter case, interacting with babies (and I dare say, even patients separated by contagious diseases), is really a wonderful use of this type of device. In addition to helping patients, the work of health professionals is greatly optimized.
Too bad the reality, for now, is the application in the US. If here in Brazil there is not enough infrastructure to even have a good medical equipment in hospitals, that is to say Apple tablets for every patient and doctor. But as hope never dies, we will continue to dream.
