Medical Grade PCs With New And Legacy Ports

Medical Grade Computers With New And Legacy Ports

The medical grade computers of today look a lot different from their predecessors. They are smaller, faster, and more hygienic than earlier computers. While you have probably noticed most of these changes, there is one subtle area that is easy to forget: input and output ports. Input and output ports, shortened as IO ports, have changed dramatically in the last 20 years. USB ports and cables have taken over as the dominant method to transfer data. However, many devices still use legacy ports, such as serial ports. These serial ports support many medical devices that hospitals continue to rely on.

What Are Serial Ports?

Serial ports work in much the same way that standard USB ports do today from a functional perspective. Serial ports can be used to connect printers, PC peripherals, and legacy medical devices to medical grade computers. From a technical perspective however, they differ drastically.

The term “serial ports” actually refers to a collection of different standard ports, much like how there are different versions of USB in use today. These ports are also referred to as COM ports, however this term actually refers to the software mark for reading the hardware port itself.  Three COM port standards were widely used, with the most common being the RS-232 version. This version is sometimes also referred to as RS-485/422. 

Do Medical Grade Computers Still Need RS-232 Ports?

RS-232 ports were once widely used for data transfer between devices. As USB took over serial communication ports, RS-232 ports were removed from motherboards to make room for them. Likewise, devices switched over to USB cables to better connect to new medical grade computers. 

While the transition to faster USB largely made sense, in some niche areas it did not. Medical devices that were meant to last for years were built with COM ports in mind. These devices are still compatible with modern medical grade computers in every other regard, but required adapters. 

While adapters are certainly fine for most applications, they can become a hassle when they inevitably become lost. As adapters require USB ports, there’s a good chance that doctors will have to unplug them when not using their legacy devices. Before long, doctors lose these adapters, giving IT more headaches.

Medical Grade Computers With Serial Ports

Not every medical grade computer company stopped including these ports, however. Many Tangent medical computers still come with legacy ports like RS-232. The Medix T-24B comes equipped with 4 DB9 serial ports standard. Doctors can make use of up to four legacy medical devices at once, without needing to keep track of a variety of dongles to do so. 

The KW Series from Tangent also features 2 RJ48 Serial ports for legacy devices as well. With a wide range of IO ports to choose from, Tangent’s lineup of medical grade computers has something for every medical device.

Keeping Legacy Equipment Online

Tangent medical grade computers are built with the reality of hospitals in mind. Sometimes your doctors and nurses will use older equipment that functions fine on a routine basis. Tangent’s computers are designed to keep this legacy equipment functional, and your hospital moving. For more information, contact Tangent Sales today.

24 7 support for medical grade computers

Why 24/7 Support Is Crucial For Medical Grade PCs

Emergencies can strike at a moment’s notice. While dealing with the Pandemic, hospitals and other businesses in Louisiana also had to contend with Hurricanes. While many of these hospitals came out of these hurricanes with only moderate damage, some were not as lucky. Some areas are still recovering even today. On a smaller scale, issues are constantly arising in hospitals, especially when it comes to computers. While 24/7 support for medical grade computers may not appear to be as important as other preparation work, your hospital can only benefit from its retention.

Tangent’s 24/7 Support Service

Tangent Offers 24/7 U.S. Based Technical Support

24/7 support is exactly what it sounds like. If you ever have any trouble or questions about a Tangent medical grade computer, you can call their hotline at any time on any day. Regardless of the circumstances, a Tangent approved representative will be there to help.

For issues big and small, Tangent’s dedicated team of representatives are available to help. All of Tangent’s representatives are U.S. based and able to fully understand your concerns. 

Tangent also offers industry leading warranties on all of their products. These warranties cover their medical grade computers, medical tablets, and more. In the rare circumstances when you’ll need support or service, Tangent will be there to help.

Why 24/7 Support Is Crucial To Hospital’s IT Infrastructure

You may wonder why your hospital needs 24/7 support. The truth of the matter is that emergencies can occur at any time. Your medical staff may need vital IT help in the dead of night, or immediately following a natural disaster. Giving them the knowledge that help is always just a phone call away can put them at ease, and factor into your hospital’s game plan for various problems.

Medical Computers With Constant Support

Of course, Tangent’s 24/7 support is only as good as its actual medical grade computers. In that department, Tangent excels as well. Medical computers like the M24T are not only designed for healthcare, but for the future of it as well. The M24T features a lightning fast SSD that is multitudes faster than traditional HDD systems. 

m24t medical grade computer bioengineering
Tangent M24T Medical Computer

The M24T also features an antimicrobial coating that can help your hospital prevent the spread of germs. This, combined with its IP rated water resistant touch screen make it the perfect sanitary companion for your doctors.

Recover Faster With Tangent

Your hospital has a game plan for every issue imaginable. But what if crucial parts of this game plan could have their time frame reduced? Tangent’s 24/7 support is here to make that possible. For more information, contact Tangent Sales today.

Easy Self-Service Kiosks For Hospital Use

How does your hospital handle patient check-ins? Often hospitals rely on medical assistants or front desk attendants to check patients in. Simple check-ins do not require taking up these worker’s time. Self-service Kiosks that utilize medical computers can help your hospital automate patient check-ins, leaving your medical staff with more time to answer patient questions, perform clerical work, and more.

Easy Patient Check-In

Self-service kiosks that use medical computers can help your patients easily and safely check-in for appointments. Using your hospital’s choice of software, your patients simply access the kiosk and enter their identifying information. The kiosk then pulls up their medical appointment information, books them in, and gives them instructions on where to go. These kiosks can also help patients by answering simple questions.

T-13 Medical Tablet From Tangent Kiosk
T-13 Medical Computer For Kiosk Use

Self-service kiosks that utilize Tangent medical computers have the added benefit of having an antimicrobial enclosure. This enclosure mitigates the growth of bacteria on the medical computer’s surfaces, creating a safer and cleaner environment.

Support Kiosks In Key Areas

Social distancing is as important as ever. Self-service kiosks reduce the amount of contact that your medical staff makes with patients. This includes areas like waiting rooms, where patients wait for their appointments. Instead of having a nurse or medical assistant on call to answer questions, a support self-service kiosk can aid patients in their questions. These kiosks can also display estimated waiting times, the latest news from your hospital, or general health tips.

T-13 Medical Grade Tablet From Tangent
T13 Medical Computer

Medical computers like the T13 from Tangent are perfect for these sorts of self-service kiosks. The T13 comes with an optional docking station so that it can stand in high-traffic areas easily.

Vendor Check-In With Self-Service Kiosks

Just like your patients, vendors can also check into your hospital using self-service kiosks. This can eliminate any potential contact between vendors and your medical staff. Delivery personnel can simply arrive at the hospital, check-in, and perform their assigned tasks.

Automate With Tangent

Healthcare has been forever changed by this pandemic in a number of ways. Make sure that your hospital is adapted to the times and continues to provide safe access to your patients. Learn more by contacting Tangent Sales today.

Digital Literacy In Hospitals

Digital Health Literacy: Why It Matters For Hospitals

Hospital administrators have always been concerned with digital health literacy since medical computers were introduced into the workplace. The pandemic has only exacerbated these concerns. According to the World Health Organization, digital health literacy is defined as, “the ability to seek, find, understand, and appraise health information from electronic sources and apply the knowledge gained to addressing or solving a health problem.” While doctors, nurses, and all medical staff have no doubt gone through digital training, the same cannot be said for their patients.

Patients cannot be left out of the digital health literacy conversation, especially now. Countless at-risk patients rely on hospitals for their healthcare, but not all of them can regularly visit their local provider due to the pandemic. More senior patients may struggle with telehealth appointments. It is up to hospitals to ensure that their patients are able to easily and safely access the medical information they need.

Digital Health Literacy: Offer An Easy Online Health Portal

72% of US adult internet users seek out medical information online according to the WHO. While there is no doubt quality healthcare information on the internet, there is no substitute for a doctor’s first hand opinion. Create a health portal for your patients that contains articles and information. This portal can include tips on living healthy, as well as answers to some of the most common medical questions. Doctors and nurses can regularly update this portal. Include easy links in these pages for your patients to contact their doctors with further questions.

Give Patients Multiple Language Options

Many patients are digitally savvy, but not every patient speaks English as their first language. Patients may be more averse to seeking out the care they need via telehealth appointments if they are unsure how to even set one up. Create clearly demarcated buttons across your website to change the language. Include languages that are common to your area and the whole of the country.

Host Workshops For Digital Averse Patients

Your more senior patients may struggle with the basics of using their computers, such as using a mouse to interact with objects on screen. Hosting small workshops may greatly bolster their attempts at using computers for medical reasons. These workshops can go over the basics of using a computer to access medical information, digital health literacy, and appointments online.

Digital Health Literacy: Ensure Doctors Know Their Patients’ Limits

Doctors, through no fault of their own, project a sense of authority. It comes with the position. However, this projection of authority can make asking questions difficult for some patients. Have your doctors ask their patients if they know how to access telehealth appointments. Some may be averse to admitting the bounds of their digital health literacy at first. But together, your doctors and patients can make a healthcare plan that fits both these times and future ones.

Bridge The Digital Divide With Tangent

The digital divide doesn’t have to affect healthcare. Ensure that your patients are up to date on their digital health literacy so that their treatments can continue. Tangent is here to help ensure that your doctors can likewise access patient information, perform telehealth appointments, and more on their medical computers. For more information, contact Tangent Sales today.

Tangent medical computers for medical imaging

Medical Computers For Medical Imaging

Medical imaging has been one of the premier medical advancements of the last century. Doctors can utilize x rays, MRI machines, and tests to get a look inside a patient’s body. These processes have led to better diagnostic capabilities and a more precise medical process. But these imaging technologies are only as good as the equipment they are connected to. Your doctors need the right medical computers to receive medical imaging files, and Tangent has them.

Medical Imaging Made Easy

Medical imaging typically requires a device such as an MRI or xray machine. These machines do the heavy lifting of creating images for your doctors to investigate. But the medical computer that displays these images is equally important.

Medical computers like the M24T from Tangent come equipped with a wide touchscreen. Your doctors can use this screen to get a full and clear view of the medical image they are parsing. 

m24t medical grade computer
Tangent M24T Medical Computer

The touchscreen also allows your doctors to enhance and zoom in on images to get a closer look. The M24T’s SSD combined with its 8th generation Intel processor ensure that your doctors can manipulate and study these medical images without lag.

Better Diagnostics 

Medical computers also have the ability to send and receive medical images with ease. Once a file has been transferred to a medical computer, your medical staff can send it to any other point in the hospital. 

For instance, let’s say a nurse is drawing blood. They then send the blood to the lab for testing. The test results can easily be sent via a medical computer right back to the doctor that ordered them. The doctor can then parse the test results and make accurate decisions.

This is also true for medical images from MRI or xray machines. In both cases, doctors are able to quickly send results to patients, lab technicians, or other doctors for second opinions. They can also order print outs for physical viewing.

Safe and Sanitary Medical Computers

Medical computers from Tangent like the E24B all feature antimicrobial coatings. These coatings prevent harmful bacteria from proliferating on the surface of the medical computer. 

E22B and E24B from Tangent: built for emergency room use
E24B from Tangent

This means that while your doctors are using their computer for medical imaging, they won’t have to worry about potentially spreading germs on it. The fully washable screens of Tangent computers are IP rated for water resistance, and can handle regular cleanings.

Improve With Tangent Medical Computers

Tangent medical computers are designed to help doctors do their tasks, whatever they may be. When it comes to medical imaging,  they can help doctors make clear and concise treatment decisions. For more information, contact Tangent Sales today.

Tangent medical computers: 5 uses

5 Uses For Medical Computers

It may seem like the uses of medical computers mirror those of traditional computers, and that the two are interchangable. They both send emails, can handle spreadsheets, and can access the internet. But the uses of medical computers are far more exact and tailored to the hospital environment. Here are five of the top uses for medical computers.

Medical Imaging With Medical Computers

Medical imaging requires the use of complex machinery like X-ray, ultrasound, and MRI Machines. Hospital staff nearly always need a reliable medical computer in order to operate these machines. Tangent medical computers like the M24T feature a lightning fast NVMe SSD. This allows the medical computer to load medical imaging software in a snap, and perform tasks as fast as your machinery will allow.

m24t medical grade computer
Tangent M24T Medical Computer

Telehealth Appointments

The pandemic continues to make clear the importance of telehealth appointments in the medical space. These appointments allow patients who may struggle to reach the hospital a quick and convenient way to get the medical care they need. Tangent computers all feature front facing cameras. These cameras are perfect for giving your patients the face-to-face time with their doctors that they need.

Patient Monitoring

Just as medical computers can help your doctors connect with patients, they can also help them to monitor important medical information. Remote monitoring technology coupled with Tangent computers can allow your doctors to receive real time information from their patients. They can then use this data to recommend treatments, call patients in for emergency care, and generally help patients in a way not possible before.

Medical Computers For Surgery Procedures

Surgery rooms need to be sterile, and traditional computers can detract from a room’s sanitation. They can become breeding grounds for harmful bacteria and also circulate dusty air throughout the room. Tangent medical computers like the E24B feature an antimicrobial enclosure that mitigates the growth of harmful bacteria. They also come with a fanless cooling system to keep your computers from circulating air. 

Tangent E24B Medical Grade Computer
Tangent E24B Medical Computer

Rapid Electronic Health Records Access

Your doctors need to be able to access their patient’s information quickly. The same NVMe SSD slot that Tangent computers feature can also be used to store Electronic Health Record software. This allows the software to boot up and load files quickly and accurately.

Choose Tangent

There are plenty of use cases for medical computers in the hospital. But not every medical computer is built equally. Tangent goes to great lengths to ensure that each medical computer by them is built to last in a medical environment. For more information, contact Tangent Sales today. 

Telehealth

Tele-Health, Tele-Medicine, and Tele-Patient Appointments On Medical Computers

This pandemic has not only changed the way healthcare operates, but also how it is delivered. Virtual appointments were scarce before 2020, often used as an auxiliary option for patients. Now nearly any appointment that can be done online is. Tele-health, Tele-medicine, Tele-patient appointments all play increasingly important roles in the hospital.

Despite their similar names, these types of virtual appointments couldn’t be any more different.

Tele-health On Medical Computers

Sometimes an appointment revolves simply around a doctor needing to speak with their patient. This could be for an annual checkup, or even a screener interview to see if further medical attention is needed. Tele-health is perfect for these instances.

For tele-health appointments, doctors use their medical computer as a virtual phone. This allows them to connect with patients face-to-face, while also having their medical records on hand.

m24t medical grade computer
Tangent M24T Medical Computer

The Medix 24T from Tangent comes with a built-in, front-facing camera. This high resolution camera is perfect for tele-health appointments and allows patients to see their doctors with the utmost clarity.

What Is Tele-medicine 

Tele-medicine takes the practical applications of tele-health one step further. In addition to patients having face-to-face time with their doctors, they also receive treatment. Treatment options with tele-medicine can vary, but are made increasingly easier with the right medical computers.

Nearly all of Tangent’s medical computers feature front facing cameras to capture your doctor during tele-medicine appointments. These same medical computers can be used with remote monitoring equipment at your patient’s homes, directly feeding virtual information to your doctors.

Tele-medicine can also include remote wound treatment, where doctors carefully explain over a medical call how to perform a vital operation. This could entail an emergency surgery, or a routine medical equipment adjustment. In either case, having a high-resolution camera to capture all of the details being presented is central to your doctors’ success.

Tele-Patient: Virtual Visitors

Tele-patient appointments are the most unique among the three virtual visits. They can include services from both tele-health and tele-medicine appointments, but with the added benefit of visitors.

Patients are allowed and encouraged to have other family members or caretakers present during tele-patient appointments. These visitors can either be in the same room as the patient, or use their own computer to login from a distance. 

T-13 Medical Tablet From Tangent
T-13 Medical Tablet From Tangent

Tele-patient appointments offer a way for patients to feel at ease and cared for during these difficult times. They also promote social distancing while still allowing for quality healthcare.

Virtual Appointments With Tangent

The pandemic is in a star of limbo, where it’s unclear when its effects will dwindle. While the pandemic will surely pass, virtual appointments are here to stay. Hospitals need the best medical computers for their doctors to perform these visits. Learn more by contacting Tangent Sales today.

Medical grade computer for operating room

Best Medical Grade Computer For Operating Room Use

Operating rooms need to be sterile. While all areas of the hospital benefit from sanitary conditions, Operating rooms demand them. There is no room for error when your surgeons are at work. The wrong medical computer can pose serious risks in the operating room. From harboring bacteria to circulating dust, a non-operating designed medical grade computer can easily cause more harm than good. 

Tangent has designed the optimal medical grade computer for use in operating rooms, with features that help keep patients safe.

Fanless Medical Computer For Hospital Use

One of the biggest reasons why your surgeons may not want a medical grade computer in their operating room is their fans. Most computers rely on a fan to cool off the computer’s components. This fan, while vital, has the negative side effect of circulating air throughout the body of the computer and room it is in.

The result of this is that the medical computer becomes a dumping ground for the operating room’s dust. This dust not only reduces the efficacy of the medical grade computer’s fan, and can lead to overheating and long term damage. But this heated-up dust also acts as a breeding ground for bacteria.

The fan then circulates the new bacteria throughout the air in the room. For obvious reasons, this simply cannot happen in an operating room. Bacteria can find its way into a patient’s body and negatively affect their recovery, potentially leading to a re-hospitalization.

m24t medical grade computer
Tangent M24T Medical Computer

Tangent has solved this issue by using a fanless cooling system to cool every medical grade computer they create. The M24T medical grade computer utilizes a passive cooling system that keeps the unit cool without using outside air. The lack of a fan means the M24T also has a solid body, and does not circulate air whatsoever. This helps reduce dust build up in the unit, keeping your operating rooms cleaner and safer.

Antibacterial Medical Computer

On top of having a fanless cooling system, each medical grade computer from Tangent also has an antimicrobial casing. This casing reduces the risk of cross contamination in the operating room by mitigating the growth of bacteria on its surfaces. Surgeons can feel safer while performing a surgery knowing that their medical computer is not causing massive bacteria growth.

Tangent E24B Medical Grade Computer
Tangent E24B Medical Computer

The E24B from Tangent is one such medical grade computer that utilizes this antimicrobial casing. The E24B also features hot-swap battery technology. In the event of a power failure, the E24B is capable of running off its hot-swap batteries, allowing your doctors to finish their delicate work without worrying about a time crunch from a UPS system.

The Best Medical Grade Computer From Tangent

Your surgeons need the best equipment in their operating rooms. Don’t let them use a medical computer that could potentially cause problems. Tangent has designed their medical computers for safety and efficiency. For more information, contact Tangent Sales today.

tangent medical computers that have revolutionized nursing

How Medical Computers Have Revolutionized Nursing

Nurses play a number of roles in the hospital. Whereas doctors work in specialized sections of the medical field, nurses play a less standardized role. Nurses wear many hats throughout their workday. They may start the day rooming patients and end it by ensuring a patient’s new medication regimen won’t have negative interactions. Because of this, nurses need equipment that can be used in a variety of applications and situations. Modern medical computers have revolutionized nursing by offering nurses a single device that can aid them throughout their entire workday.

Recording Information Directly Onto Electronic Health Records

One of the primary duties of nurses is to ensure patient information is accurately recorded. Before the advent of medical computers, Nurses would use paper-based health records to accomplish this task. They would pull a patient’s information from an archive and add any additional notes they took during an appointment. While this system surely worked for the time, it had a number of drawbacks.

Paper-based health records were largely reliant on handwritten information, which was easily misinterpreted. A nurse also had to physically go to an archive to pull the correct file, a process that took valuable time. Electronic Health Records (EHRs) solved these problems and more by converting patient information into digital files.

Tangent medical grade computers are the best medical computers
M24T Medical Computer

Now nurses can easily pull up patient information and view it nearly instantaneously. Medical computers like the M24T from Tangent have upped the speed at which nurses can view and record information on EHRs. The M24T features an M.2 solid state drive in an NVMe slot. This solid state drive slot allows for loading speeds of up to 30 times faster than traditional disk-based hard drives.

Analyze Patient Information And Diagnostic Results

Of course, accessing and viewing patient information is only one part of a nurse’s duties. They are also responsible for being the first person to view new information. Before medical computers, nurses would have to view x-rays and blood tests by hand to determine if they warranted an additional response from a doctor. This practice still exists today, but has been greatly augmented by medical computers.

Tangent E24B Medical Computer
Tangent E24B Medical Computer

Now nurses can instantly receive x-rays, blood test results, and lab work as soon as it is completed. Touchscreen medical computers like the E24B from Tangent allow nurses to zoom in on x-rays for closer, more accurate looks. Nurses can also quickly see which new medications are being recommended to a patient, and use the same medical computer to look up potential negative interactions. Depending on the software your hospital employs, some of these processes may even be automated for your nurses. Regardless, medical computers have transformed and optimized the role of nursing.

Revolutionize Your Hospital With Tangent Medical Computers

The duties of a nurse have remained largely the same in the last 20 years. However the ways in which these duties are accomplished has seen a shift. Medical computers allow nurses to do their jobs in an efficient and optimal manner. Contact Tangent Sales today for more information.

Tangent Medical Computers

3 Workflows That Can Be Replaced With Medical Computers

Hospitals have learned a lot from this pandemic. Doctors, nurses, and medical assistants have all adapted to and overcome numerous challenges. Hospitals themselves were the site of many rapid advancements and have been pushed up years in terms of technological advancements. Yet hospitals’ workflows remain largely unchanged since the beginning of the pandemic. Hospitals should incorporate new workflows to meet the new skilled personnel and technology they employ. 

Hospitals can improve numerous workflows at once by adopting the latest medical computer technology from Tangent. Here are three that can all be accomplished with a single medical computer.

Human Milk Workflows

Keeping track of human milk has always been a necessary task in the maternity or perinatal ward. Human milk needs to be expressed, bottled, stored, and returned to the proper parent and baby multiple times a week. There is plenty of room for error in this process, but these errors can be devastating.

T-13 Medical Grade Tablet From Tangent
T-13 Medical Grade Tablet From Tangent

Reduce the chances of these errors occurring with Tangent medical computers. Medical computers like the T13 are built to facilitate human milk workflows. The T13 is a fully mobile medical computer, and able to move around the hospital with staff. Its medical grade antimicrobial components ensure that infection risks are fully mitigated. The T13 is also fully Cerner Validated for use with Cerner Millennium applications.

The T13’s Barcode scanner allows for easy tracking of expressed human milk. Simply attach a printed barcode label to a bottle of expressed milk, store it until it is needed, and rescan the bottle to pull up the receiving baby’s name, location, and specific dietary needs. Another scan of a baby’s wristband confirms the correct recipient, and that’s it! The T13 has built-in measures at every point of the human milk workflow to ensure that the right baby gets the right human milk.

Secure Login Capabilities With Medical Computers

Other medical computers by Tangent offer RFID and Smart Card reader capabilities. Each of these medical computers can use their scanners to solve another challenging workflow: secure logins.

IT professionals are constantly on the lookout for vulnerabilities in your hospital’s network, but the biggest risk remains your staff. Phishing attempts — where a hacker tries to get your employees to click a link in an email they link is legitimate —  are becoming more common with each passing day. These ransomware attacks cost hospitals a whopping $21 Billion last year alone.

The T24B with Hot-Swap batteries for Emergency Room use
The T24B with Hot-Swap batteries

In addition to keeping your staff informed on the latest best practices for cyber security, employing lengthy passwords throughout the hospital can reduce the risk of being hacked. With Tangent medical computers like the T24B can utilize their RFID and Smart Card readers to automatically login nurses, doctors, and medical assistants into their workstations. This allows employees to forgo remembering long, complex passwords while maintaining a high level of security.

24/7 Capable Medical Carts

Your hospital needs medical carts constantly. But medical carts have their own need: power. Some of these carts make use of onboard UPS systems, while others need to be charged on a regular basis. In either way, these medical carts will need to be out of commision for some period of time each day.

Tangent E24B Medical Computer
Tangent E24B Medical Computer

Your hospital can have medical carts that operate on a virtual 24/7 basis with medical computers like the E24B from Tangent. The E24B has hot swap battery technology built in, allowing for near uninterrupted power. Simply swap out the batteries with fresh ones, and recharge the old ones on their dock. Medical carts no longer have to be out of commission while charging — only their batteries. 

Get Better Workflows Today With Tangent

Better workflows start with acknowledging there is a problem to begin with. After that, it’s a mere matter of picking the best solution. Tangent offers many solutions to help better your hospital, learn more by contacting Tangent Sales today.