Mackenzie Health taps in to new technology to benefit both staff and patients

Apps, new technology will create 'smart hospital'

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 17, 2015
By Kim Zarzour

Mackenzie Health may be poised to become one of the most technologically advanced hospital in the province.

The hospital announced this week the launch of a new portable data centre, making it the first in Canada - and one of a few in North America - to acquire the state-of-the-art technology.

The new Information, Communications and Automation Technology (ICAT) system is part of a four-year strategy that will place the Richmond Hill and future Vaughan hospitals in a “leadership position” within the healthcare industry, according to hospital spokesperson Melina Cormier.

Dr. Aviv Gladman, Mackenzie Health’s chief medical information officer, said the data centre technology - currently used by Microsoft, Google and high-security military installations - will enable a wide range of new and emerging technologies to create a truly “smart hospital”.

SECURE EMAIL ON DEVICES

“The core of everything we do here is the way we communicate with each other,” he said.

Technology can enable that communication to take place more efficiently, he said, and ultimately improve patient care at the health centre, serving more than half a million people across southwest York Region.

A new first-in-Canada GPS Mobile Wayfinding App, electronic kiosk system and a Bring Your Own Device program will enable staff and physicians to receive secure Mackenzie Health email on their smart phones, tablets and personal computers.

The location-based technology allows for better communication and faster response times, Gladman said.

“One study has shown clinicians spend 30 per cent of their time trying to find the right person to talk to. Time is spent waiting to log on computers, paging others, waiting for call-backs. The new technology could make that communication as efficient as the way you IM friends ... in a way that is secure.”

For example, if you are in the hospital for an appointment and also waiting for a CAT scan a few weeks later, the hospital would be notified you are on site and be able to reach you to let you know about an immediate cancellation.

As well, a computer may be located in the patient’s room, allowing staff to access information on the spot and share with the patient at his bedside, he said.

ICAT will allow immediate access to clinical data anywhere within the organization as well as supporting technologies that help reduce human error and enhanced communication for patients with special needs, such as built-in language translation and touch-screen technology for patients with limited mobility.

“A lot of hospitals are striving to advance technology, but in isolated pockets,” Gladman said. “What’s different here is we have done the major infrastructure upgrades, first ... We’ve modernized to allow us to make use of this new technology.”

‘MAJOR INFRASTRUCTURE UPGRADES’

Most of the new technologies will be introduced at the Richmond Hill hospital well in advance of the opening of the new Vaughan hospital - set for 2019 - so that staff and physicians at both locations are well versed in the latest technologies, said Altaf Stationwala, president and CEO at Mackenzie Health.

The goal is to improve patient care and ultimately, Gladman said, to share that knowledge with other organizations.