March 5, 2010

 

Maryland's Frederick Memorial Hospital, located in suburbs an hour west of Baltimore, has an enviable and daunting position -- it's the only general hospital in a 20-mile radius, so there's no competition, but its technology requirements must be all things to all patients and all kinds of doctors.

 

And so it was an equally enviable and daunting task for CIO David Quirke when he arrived three years ago. He previously worked in big-city, big-bureaucracy environments, where there was less opportunity for an energetic technologist to make serious impact. But in his new job at the 300-bed general hospital, Quirke discovered little mobility other than obsolete Fujitsu laptops.

 

The laptops clearly needed replacing through no fault of Fujitsu's. The hardware was past its end-of-life date, and computers age and break down just like people do, he notes. Quirke considered newer products from Dell, Fujitsu, Motion Computing, and Panasonic. He decided on the Panasonic Toughbook T5 series based on their weight, stability, screens, and price. Another factor was his experience with that brand in a previous role at the New York Blood Center.

 

Moreover, Frederick Memorial had a dilemma of scope and software. "We hadn't looked at the overall continuum of care for our patient population. We started looking at the technology that would help support the transition of information to and from the various points of care," Quirke explains.

 

"We started looking around in 2008 when we realized that the solutions that we had, both from the technology and the application perspectives, were insufficient."

 

After purchasing the Toughbooks, the next step was deployment. Panasonic helped in getting software onto the computers, working with Verizon to install wireless networking components, and providing encryption software for hard drives. "It was about what we expected them to do. They didn't jump all over themselves to help us," Quirke says. He adds that Panasonic has a good lineup of healthcare products, and the rugged features let medical staff go about their jobs without worrying about fragility. But he'd like to see more options for security, barcode devices, and patient sensor equipment such as General Electric's.

 

Quirke also observes that the Toughbooks are just one part of mobility technology at Frederick Memorial. His team uses healthcare software from Cerner Corp., and all data is stored on servers, not on the laptops. Medical staff must first enter a de-encryption password before the computers boot, followed by two more passwords before obtaining access to confidential patient data.

 

The hospital could also use more handheld devices; currently Quirke deploys HTC handhelds running Google Android. A large-scale technology revamp is planned at the hospital for 2012, which includes a plan to adapt the Apple iPhone, Quirke adds. He's also using technology from Medseek that lets patients have personalized web-based wellness portals.  Newer laptop models are also possible, as the T5 series is already discontinued, according to Panasonic's web site.

 

Ultimately, Quirke says, ""The fantastic thing about healthcare technology is it's not about the technology... Having the latest widget or gadget is really not what we're about. Gadgets and gizmos are of little to no interest." The trump card is whatever technology's useful for helping patients. Frederick Memorial's laptop approach is a vital part of that goal.