Give Your Patients The Face-To-Face Time They Need

November 25, 2019March 7, 2024 Michelle

Face-To-Face: The Patient’s Preference

It almost goes without saying that as social creatures, people love talking to people. But in today’s modern world, machines and automation are taking the human element out of many sectors of the economy, leading people to feel isolated from the institutions they rely upon. Nowhere else is this as pronounced as in the medical field, where doctor time spent with patients in primary care visits has dropped a whopping 18% in a mere four years. Technology, while at the crux of this crisis, also lends us a solution in the form of Medical Panel PCs.

What Is A Medical Panel PC?

A medical panel PC is a type of medical grade computer, that unlike standard desktop computers, can help increase the number of times doctors spend face-to-face with their patients. Typical desktop computers are bulky, sitting under a desk collecting dust and rely upon external hardware such as mice, keyboards, and monitors to function. Medical panel PCs, like the Medix M24T from Tangent are just the opposite, featuring a sleek design and utilizing a built-in touchscreen to function. Because of this medical grade computer’s all-in-one design, the Medix M24T requires no peripherals and can stand alone.

Medical Panel PCs: Built To Connect

Medical Panel PCs may be sleeker and easier to operate than traditional desktop PCs, but where they really shine is in their ability to help doctors maintain a personable connection with patients. Medical computers like the E22B from Tangent have a front-facing 5 Mega Pixel camera that allows for a variety of uses. Doctors can take quick photos of patient’s areas of concern for later diagnosis, or use the medical grade computer’s camera to easily digitize notes. The high-quality camera can even be used for video calling, allowing doctors to have a face-to-face appointment remotely. The possibilities of using a front-facing camera to better connect with patients are limitless.

Give Patients The Personable Experience They Want

People want to be able to connect with people, and while it is not always possible for doctors to physically meet with patients, there are still avenues for them to enjoy a face-to-face connection. Medical panel PCs are a great way to restore doctor-patient relationships while also embracing the benefits of technology.

You Can’t Stop Clostridioides Difficile In The Hospital, But There Is Hope

November 12, 2019November 12, 2019 Michelle

If you work in a hospital, you may be familiar with Clostridioides difficile (C. diff), a bacterium strain that causes antibiotic-resistant infections. While the prospect of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, commonly known as “superbugs,” are scary enough on their own, a new study in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy has given us a new reason to worry about C. diff. The study, spearheaded by Kevin Garey, a professor of pharmacy practice at the University of Houston in Texas, shows that C. diff is highly resistant to seven of the most commonly used cleaning agents in hospitals. So, what can be done to stop C. diff?

The study concluded, ”no disinfectant was able to completely eliminate C. diff embedded within biofilms.” While this was in a laboratory setting, the ramifications of this conclusion are apparent: normal cleaning is not enough to stop C. diff. Surfaces that are regularly cleaned, like those of medical computers, are still at risk of housing superbugs. Even worse, medical grade PCs are constantly being touched by different medical personnel, each potentially spreading or contracting superbug bacteria.

Luckily, medical grade PCs from Tangent have a few key features built-in that can help ward off potentially infectious superbugs. Tangent’s lineup of medical computers feature an antimicrobial coating, which mitigates the growth of bacteria. While this coating does not outright kill bacteria, it prohibits the growth of it, effectively eliminating newly placed bacteria over time. This allows medical grade PCs from Tangent to be safely handled by multiple medical personnel and reduced the likelihood of a superbug spread.

Medical computers from Tangent also come equipped with passive cooling technology, which is completely fanless. Without fans, Tangent medical grade PCs reduce the spread of airborne pathogens and do not build up bacteria cesspools in their enclosures over time. Fanless cooling technology allows Tangent medical computers to be fully enclosed, ensuring that they do not contribute to stagnant, germy environments.

Because of these airtight enclosures, Tangent medical computers are also rated for IP water resistance. This allows them to be easily cleaned with common cleaning agents. While Professor Garey’s study concluded that no regularly used cleaning agents in hospitals were effective at completely killing C. diff, they did find that Clorox, OPA, and Virex were the most effective at reducing C. diff spores. These cleaners, in conjunction with Tangent’s antimicrobial enclosures, can help curtail the growth and spread of superbugs like C. diff.

With antibiotic resistance on the rise everywhere around the globe, it’s more important than ever to keep your hospital as safe as possible from potential superbug infections. Tangent medical grade PCs can help your hospital stay clean, and remain a place for patients to become healthier.

Will AI Replace Doctors In The Near Future?

October 31, 2019October 31, 2019 Michelle

Every day there seems to be a new artificial intelligence (AI) that can compare our faces to celebrities or swap faces with friends. But recently the New Yorker published a story about how AI could one day take over the news rooms, and the implications of such a feat. AI are becoming increasingly complex, as their capabilities and level of intelligence increase beyond mere entertainment value and into labor value. Given the upward trajectory of AI intelligence, could AI one day take over the medical field, replacing both doctors and medical grade PCs entirely?

Can AI Replace Doctors And Medical PCs?

To answer this question, we first have to take a look at what exactly an AI is. Large AI are typically programs on custom built PCs that unlike normal programs, are not created to perform input output operations, but rather to ‘think’ about operations to produce an output. This is how AI filters that can swap faces in real time work, by thinking about what a face is and how they should be swapped instead of merely copy and pasting two faces. Medical grade PCs, on the other hand, typically rely on traditional software for the role of computing power and use Doctors and other medical staff to do the thinking for them. This is where the potential for AI to replace Doctors creeps up, as in theory a sufficiently powerful AI could do the thinking of a Doctor and the operating of a medical grade PC.

Are AI more Developed Than Medical PCs?

While this may seem like a scary notion for medical personnel, the good news for them is that medical AI are not as developed as they are marketed as being. The most famous medical AI would have to be IBM’s Watson, which IBM touted as learning how to be the best AI doctor after it successfully displayed its thinking power by winning Jeopardy in 2011. However in the years since, IBM Watson’s delve into the medical field has been over ambitious. In reality, IBM Watson’s capabilities are more in line with being a useful AI powered tool that doctors can access on their medical PCs rather than a complete replacement.

One of the reasons for Watson’s failure stems not from the actual AI, but how it(and AI in general) are marketed. AI, despite popular conception, are not actually all that intelligent. In reality, AI are normally trained by teacher programs to pick up on pattern recognitions. They are rewarded or punished for picking answers, and over time learn to pick up on which answers are right. For instance, the AI filter for face swapping probably had to learn to recognize a face in still images, then in video before it even began learned how to swap them. AI like Watson are marketed as learning computers, implying an active learning approach, when it’s more as though they are taught computers.

Combining AI And Medical PCs

However, this isn’t to say that AI does not have a valuable place in the medical setting. Medical PCs with access to medical AI can be a great tool for doctors and medical personnel. Researchers from NYU School of Medicine and the NYU Center for Data Science performed a study on the ability of AI to add value to medical diagnoses made by radiologists. What they found was that AI could detect cancer related patterns that the doctors could not, but also that doctors would find patterns new to the AI. In this way, the study suggested that AI tools on medical PCs could help augment medical staff rather than replace them.

Medical PCs, Doctors, And AI Working Together

While it may seem like medical AI are the next step in the evolution of Medical pcs, it’s more fair to say that they are the next iteration of software for medical PCs. Large AI, like IBM Watson, are making headway in learning how to diagnose and recognize the patterns of symptoms, and this can directly benefit doctors in many ways. However, relying solely on AI to make these decisions is not reliable. Using AI powered tools on medical PCs is a solid middle ground for the current state of AI, allowing doctors to get second opinions on x-ray images and to make sure their mistakes are kept at a minimum. A combination of doctors, medical AI, and medical PCs can help keep your hospital at the cutting edge of technology while making sure that diagnoses are safe and accurate. Medical PCs from Tangent are are at the edge of medical PC technology, and can help your hospital prepare for the use of AI tools.