Intelligent Hospital Pavilion ICU
Nowadays the world has experienced firsthand development and advancement in technology, and one such industry is the healthcare. Technology has made the work of service providers easier and more accurate as compared to human power. The innovation witnessed is mainly run through a coordinated system of software. This essay outlines the benefits and risks associated with improved intelligent technology in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Dr Neil Halphern, a director of critical health care at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, illustrates the importance of technological advancement, especially on how they have integrated Intelligent Hospital system in the ICU (“The ICU at the 2014 Intelligent Hospital™ Pavilion”). The Intelligent Hospital ICU is characterised by a healing environment, patient safety and a high-tech healthcare informatics platform. It is impetus to recognize the need for patients’ privacy and in this case the hospital ICU system has an in-built e-glass which is switched on by press of a button and controlled by nurses inside the room (“The ICU at the 2014 Intelligent Hospital™ Pavilion”).
The ICU has a pneumatic tube system that cures the challenges faced when tracking the specimen from the ICU to the laboratory and by the delivery of blood samples. The hospital has a pneumatic tube system that keeps track on the movement of specimen whether in or out of the ICU. This system effectively reduces the chance of contamination and delays (“The ICU at the 2014 Intelligent Hospital™ Pavilion”).
The ICU has a system that links various machines and transmits information to the bed side array. The systems links the patient and the machine and depicts the information in a monitor. The monitor placed outside the room provides data from various devices linked to the system and providing live view of the patient from the ICU room through a webcam. As opposed to the traditional stethoscope, the ICU is equipped with a bedside sonogram machine that provides real time functions of the body organs such as the lungs, heart, fluid movements and most importantly providing real time care of the ICU patient (“The ICU at the 2014 Intelligent Hospital™ Pavilion”).
In addition, Dr Neil Halphern highlights an infusion pump platform sound or dosing monitoring in the ICU room (“The ICU at the 2014 Intelligent Hospital™ Pavilion”). Acknowledging safety challenges that ordinary hospitals face, the platform is equipped with safety features, for instance, if the nurse program pumps high or low dose of medication infusion the pump will block the incorrect amount of dose being administered (“The ICU at the 2014 Intelligent Hospital™ Pavilion”). Furthermore, the pump allows for input of medication prescription meaning that the nurse does not need to set the pump. The information will be directly sent to the hospital pharmacy system reducing the instances of confusion and mistakes.
Other notable benefits of pneumatic tube system are ensuring that the correct and careful transportation of the goods is observed because inappropriate handling can result to dire consequences on the nurse, the patient and the hospital (Swisslog, 2008). An integrated pneumatic tube system solution is vital in optimization of distribution procedures especially in spread-out facilities (Swisslog, 2008). The integrated systems offer high quality and cutting cost through efficient time and staff planning. Thus, a pneumatic tube system ensures quick, instantaneous safe material transport in short and long distances (Swisslog, 2008).
On other hand, the intelligent hospital ICU has a likelihood of collapsing (Frisch, 2014). The ICU room is usually monitored through a networked monitoring platform; the system provides real time performance of patient organs (Frisch, 2014). However, the system is dependent on the human personnel and in unfortunate cases where a component fails then a patient’s life can be in danger (Frisch, 2014). The Intelligent hospitals are at risk of technical errors as the integrated system relies on a transmitter which is dependent on Wi-Fi, poor network connection or interruption in the Internet access can also pose risk on the life of a patient (Frisch, 2014). Second, the infusion pumps platform can fail to perform as a result of several factors. This includes defects in software, wrong interface design, mechanical damages on the machines and even more low charge or battery (Frisch, 2014).
In a conclusion, the Intelligent Hospital ICU has several benefits as highlighted in the paper. Human error has been the main threat to patient’s life and in serious cases has led to unintentional death. The integrated system works perfectly in detecting symptoms or conditions which a doctor or nurse could hardly notice. The Infusion tube allows specimen and blood samples to be transported in a safe containment and faster. The ICU integrated system is also reliant on human who operate it and continued innovation may lead to loss of income especially the trained nurses. The nurses are important because of human relations which patients may prefer instead of staying in a room full of machines. Therefore, although the ICU room and machines could fail of encounter technical glitches and lead to death, the margin of error is minimal as compared to human factors.
References
Frisch, P. (2014). What is an Intelligent Hospital? A Place Where Technology and Design Converge to Enhance Patient Care. IEEE Pulse . Vol. 5, No 6 http://pulse.embs.org/november-2014/intelligent-hospital/
Swisslog. (2008). Pneumatic Tube System Logistics in Hospitals
“The ICU at the 2014 Intelligent Hospital™ Pavilion”. You Tube. Uploaded by Intelligent Hospital TV 29 Apr, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V42yuH4xmyQ&feature=youtu.be