EMR Ready: The Smartphone Physical

Here’s the kind of thinking that makes me wish I was going to TEDMED 13 (John Lynn will be there if any other readers are attending.).  At this years’ show, a team of current and future medical professionals plan to do a complete “smartphone physical” for attendees, using a bunch of devices that appear to be compatible with an iPhone. Not only is the data immediately readable as the testing goes on, it’s EMR-ready, too, both pretty neat features.

Check out just how thorough the physical is going to be (courtesy of the TEDMED blog):

• Body analysis using an iHealth Scale.

• Blood pressure reading using a Withings BP Monitor.

• Oxygen saturation/pulse measured simultaneously with blood pressure, using an Masimo iSpO2 placed on the left ring finger.

• Visual acuity via an EyeNetra phone case.

• Optic disc visualization using a Welch Allyn iExaminer case attached to a PanOptic Ophthalmoscope.

• Ear drum visualization with a CellScope phone case.

• Lung function using a SpiroSmart Spirometer app to conduct a respirometer test.

•Heart electrophysiology using the AliveCor Heart Monitor.

•Body sounds: A digital stethoscope from ThinkLabs auscultates and amplifies the sounds of a patient’s lungs and heart.

• Carotid artery visualization using a Mobisante probe.

Participant Shiv Gagliani, a Johns Hopkins medical student, tells TEDMED that the smartphone physical can improve doctor-patient relationships, as the real-time, audible and visual results help connect patients to the tests and increase their understanding of their bodies.  Not only that, the patients can help gather the data themselves, increasing their engagement with their care.

And of course, the devices that make the smartphone checkup possible are also very portable, making it possible for doctors to take them wherever they go, be it down the street or across the globe.  What’s more, less-trained global health workers will be able to use these devices to gather baseline readings and via telemedical links, get instructions on how to treat patients. This device connectivity is part of what John suggested was needed for successful Telehealth.

To learn more about this project, visit http://www.smartphonephysical.org/. I’d definitely take a look; it seems to me that this type of mobile health technology is here to stay.

About the author

Anne Zieger

Anne Zieger is a healthcare journalist who has written about the industry for 30 years. Her work has appeared in all of the leading healthcare industry publications, and she's served as editor in chief of several healthcare B2B sites.

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