The big: video demo of the Cisco HealthPresence telemedicine platform in a mobile clinic setting. Big screens both sides, great clarity both visual and audio, and far more streamlined in procedure and device integration, on both sides, than earlier versions Ed. Donna recalls. Is the connecting via phone dialup new? But it was interesting that the nurse handed that off to the patient…who was, as suspected, mildly ill. HITNews credits this to a Cisco/UnitedHealthCare showcase.
The small(er): Polycom is joining with Motorola to bring ‘enterprise-class personal telepresence’ (er, whatever that means) to the new Motorola XOOM. To market second half of this year. It doesn’t mention ‘healthcare’ but by the fact it’s also in HITNews means that the release was targeted to this market.
Speaking of tablets…will EHR ‘meaningful use’ standards drive physician tablet usage (XOOM, iPad, BlackBerry PlayBook)? iHealthBeat and CNBC seem to think so, especially for the iPad, although the rationale is vague (‘improve quality’). While HIT departments are designing cross-platform systems, they are used to working with BlackBerry and appreciative of the iPad’s AppStore screening ; reportedly GE Healthcare is offering a free iPad 3G to doctors who sign on for its Centricity Advance EHR software platform before March 31, as it prepares to roll out a dedicated iPad app for the system in the second quarter.