Forbes Article on New Med Technologies

Forbes has a great “in pictures” article on some new startups with some interesting technologies in the pipeline. The highlights include:
Hx Technolgies is working on establishing a system for rapid delivery of imaging data between hospitals. Begging hospitals to send over 20 lb. film envelopes could soon be a thing of the past! More info from the company’s website:

Xebra is an open source platform for web-based distribution and clinical review of medical imaging results. The software provides healthcare organizations and software developers with all the necessary components to securely transmit and review medical images over a network such as the Internet.
Unlike closed and proprietary imaging software locked to a single vendor, Xebra is intended to work alongside any picture archiving and communication system (PACS) and to provide advanced imaging capabilities to a wide range of healthcare IT applications including use in:
* health information exchanges (HIEs)
* regional health information organizations (RHIOs)
* electronic medical records (EMRs)
* personal health records (PHRs)
* clinical trials
* medical education
Written in Java, the software is designed to run on any operating system with an ultra-thin client that can be launched over the Web without any installation required by the end user.

Aethon is working on a robot to fetch supplies instead of sending a clueless med student after them.
From the TUG website:

The TUG is an affordable, automated courier system for the delivery and tracking of hospital goods and supplies. This autonomous mobile robot requires no extra infrastructure investment, is simple to install and can be applied across a variety of applications. Many hospitals have deployed multiple TUGs which have saved them hundreds of thousands of dollars.

View video showing off the TUG…
patientkeeper looks to be a nifty tool that allows you to write notes, order prescriptions, labs, and studies on your patient using most mobile devices that have web-access. An alternative to the thousands of sticker covered index cards you have your pocket.
From the company:

PatientKeeper can help you save time by eliminating the need to hunt for free workstations, search for information, or track down patients and other clinicians. With PatientKeeper, you have ready access to lab and test results, medication histories, allergies, vital signs, I/O’s and all the rest of the information on your patients. As a result, you can focus on what matters most: your patient’s care.
We help ensure that you have the most up-to-date patient information at your fingertips so you can respond to critical care issues more quickly. We provide you with drug-drug and drug-allergy checking to help reduce interaction and allergy risks. And we facilitate information sharing with other caregivers to help avoid the errors and near misses that can develop from poor communication.

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