Considering that most technology exists to make our lives easier, it’s surprising how many new technologies seem to do the exact opposite (EHRs, anyone?).
Take, for example, high-resolution SLR cameras in medical settings. Clinicians, particularly those in surgical specialties, must take pictures to track the healing process of their patients as thoroughly as possible. At the end of the day, they have to upload the pictures to a computer, and manually label and sort the photos to specific patient files.
Take a moment to think about how much time and energy could be saved here (not to mention a high potential of human error). If only there was a way to reduce the amount of time spent uploading and sorting patient files by just thirty minutes a day, that would give the physician an extra 10 hours a month that could be spent seeing patients and improving quality of care.
Luckily, such a tool does exist.
As most clinicians can attest, their smartphone almost never leaves their sides throughout the work day. It is easily the most convenient way to track and store information about patients, and as the smartphone cameras become more and more advanced, mobile medical imaging is emerging as the most efficient way to do this.
Unfortunately, this application of smartphone technology comes with a host of complexities and complications. How can you know that your phone is secure and that your patients’ information will be kept private? How do you keep your photos securely organized and labeled? What if your kid wants to play a game on your phone and ends up stumbling across a grisly image of sutures in your photo library?
Dr. Oliver Aalami saw the potential for smartphones to make medical imaging more convenient, efficient, and secure, if only he could find a way to get past these obstacles. So three years ago, he founded WinguMD - a groundbreaking smartphone imaging app that includes HIPAA compliant security features, body mapping technology, and searchable annotations, setting a new standard for medical-grade mobile imaging.
A collaboration platform surrounding a medical-grade photo app.
By turning this gadget into a usable tool that can integrate into a hospital's’ electronic patient records, WinguMD allows clinicians and medical teams to collaborate and document pertinent medical information more rapidly and efficiently with their teams, without worrying about security and HIPAA compliance.
With one tap of the screen, the BodyMapSnap feature of WinguMD’s free app captures a medical-grade image complete with body location labeling that automatically stores information about the picture - including where, when, and why it was taken. Once a picture is taken it can be easily integrated into the hospital’s file and pushed to the EHR, EMR or Radiology imaging systems, and images can be searched and located by metadata and annotations. In an industry where health providers are constantly inundated with a steady flow of patients, the BodyMapSnap feature of this smartphone app is an extremely valuable tool for clinicians to streamline a medical team’s communication, reference, and secure storage of patient photos.
It’s hard not to be impressed by all these these innovative features and new technologies, but it’s important to understand is that WinguMD is so much more than just a picture taking app, as the founders of this innovative medical-class program explain.
The 3.0 version of the app (being released this month), will include an upgraded platform that resembles a social media experience similar to the layout and design of the popular photo-sharing app, Instagram. This community-driven design is so that clinicians can not only safely and efficiently store their images, but also share those photos with colleagues for easier discussion of medical conditions. Through this user-friendly mobile app, clinicians may collaborate with each other more effectively, giving them the ability to provide proper context with pictures they discuss. (To keep patient identity secure, those to whom the picture is sent cannot see the identity - just “Anonymous Patient” and the relevant medical notes.)
Indeed, WinguMD is taking the concept of mobile medical imaging to the next level by giving physicians the tools they need to streamline the process of medical imaging and collaboration within medical teams. The end results are boundless: saving time and money for practitioners and hospital systems, and allowing them to dedicate more resources to the shared goal of providing better healthcare for all.
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Visit the WinguMD website here.
Aptly named, Enclothed Cognition is the official Medelita blog for medical professionals interested in topics relevant to a discerning and inquisitive audience. Medelita was founded by a licensed clinician who felt strongly about the connection between focus, poise and appearance.
