The NHS Long Term Plan, published earlier this year, outlines the importance of technology in healthcare.
The healthcare sector is set to undergo a step-change over the next decade as it digitally transforms its processes and utilises technology to improve patient care.
And, with the increased burden on the healthcare sector and its staff, increasing the time spent on providing quality care is a difficult task.
Full digitalisation is some time off, and the health service remains dependent on outdated processes, from paper records to manual patient checks
But new technology, such as computer vision and AR, could alleviate some of the issues faced by NHS staff by enabling more-streamlined practices, quicker administrative tasks, and improved healthcare workflows.
Sophisticated but simple
Improving efficiency plays a crucial role in helping the NHS to deliver superior care.
However, full digitalisation is some time off, and the health service remains dependent on outdated processes, from paper records to manual patient checks.
On top of this, an ageing population and rapid developments in new treatments are creating unprecedented demand, straining systems, and leading to delays and errors from over-pressured staff.
The NHS has already taken steps to ease these challenges, implementing technology to improve communication as well as patient care.
For example, the NHS Apps Library provides patients with a catalogue of mobile apps to help with anything from managing prescriptions to communicating with clinicians. Yet more can be done to resolve the challenges that frontline staff are facing.
Smart mobile scanning can help to ensure that the right treatment, medication and support is given to the right patients at the right time, without delay
Imagine if all healthcare workers had instant access to real-time patient information at every stage, from the point of admission through to discharge.
By establishing a mobile platform, where staff have access to detailed records from a mobile app on a familiar smartphone by scanning barcodes on wristbands, labels and supplies, this can be a reality.
Smart mobile scanning can help to ensure that the right treatment, medication and support is given to the right patients at the right time, without delay.
Barcodes and alphanumeric codes are ubiquitous in all aspects of healthcare – to identify patients, medication and supplies.
Employees typically use dedicated scanning devices to scan these codes during regular workflows. But there is a growing trend to replace this costly hardware and infrastructure with flexible, intuitive mobile apps on smart devices.
Given the prevalence of smartphones and mobile apps in their everyday lives, employees welcome the convenience they bring to their work. Put simply, innovations in computer vision mean any camera-enabled device can be transformed into a powerful scanner – a data capture tool – to connect barcodes with any hospital data source and bring it to the clinicians and nurses on the wards.
Then, by adding augmented reality (AR) to the mix, any real-time information can be overlaid onto the device screen.
Given the prevalence of smartphones and mobile apps in their everyday lives, employees welcome the convenience they bring to their work
For example, healthcare apps on smart devices can scan medication information into a record in seconds—fully digitalising a hospital’s medication administration workflow procedures and improving safety in the process.
Or, by scanning a patient’s wristband, staff have instant visibility of dosages, allergy information, patient history, lab workups or inventory.
The AR-overlay displays this real-time information instantly after the barcode is scanned. It’s easy to envisage the time savings and reduced human error this approach provides.
Using this type of smart scanning injects new levels of speed, accuracy and flexibility to healthcare.
Mobile data capture and display devices deliver the same speed and accuracy as traditional, inflexible dedicated scanners. What’s more, the cost savings can help equip all staff with smart mobile scanning, rather than teams having to share a small number of dedicated devices. As a result, information and insight flows faster and more freely throughout the system, enabling staff to achieve more in less time and avoid errors.
The uses for mobile scanning apps in healthcare are numerous. From tracking medical equipment to automating manual data entry, mobile computer vision helps free up time to care for patients.
As the NHS enters the new decade, mobile computer vision and AR technologies can be key components in alleviating pressure on staff and building a healthcare system fit for purpose
For example, scanning instruments etched with barcodes before and after surgery is a key process to achieve transparent, cost-efficient and reliable tracking of surgical equipment.
Certain apps benefit from advanced software that scans multiple barcodes at once, found on specimens, blood bags, or medication, to search, find and highlight specific items.
Digital healthcare for the 21st-century patient
The UK is looking for a healthcare model which places care and efficiency at its heart. Speeding up processes and providing doctors, nurses and clinicians with improved insights will help them devote their time and energy to their patients.
The NHS recognises the importance of embracing technology and digitalising practices in its long-term plan. By doing this, it can become more agile, and use operational changes to help improve quality of care across the organisation.
This kind of digital healthcare does not necessarily need largescale investment into new IT systems to be feasible. It can be done with highly cost-effective mobile devices and software.
This kind of digital healthcare does not necessarily need largescale investment into new IT systems to be feasible
Smart devices are not only easily accessible for staff, but also provide a platform to consign siloed operations and paper records to history.
As the NHS enters the new decade, mobile computer vision and AR technologies can be key components in alleviating pressure on staff and building a healthcare system fit for purpose.
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