August has been a good month for MPoC, ushering in new enterprise mobility solutions for healthcare as the national health reform debate rages on. Among the latest offerings to market is a new mobile clinical assistant (MCA) from InfoLogix and a line-up of Motion Clinical Workstations (MCWs) from Motion Computing.
The new InfoLogix M24 MCA promises a powerful mobile computing solution that lets medical professionals access critical patient information at the point-of-care. Company officials are touting the M24 as the "missing link" between busy clinicians who are always on the move and the valuable patient data that resides in hospital information systems. Built upon the Intel MCA reference architecture, the device is designed specifically for healthcare and the rigors of the clinical environment, including integrated technologies that support the "five rights" of medication administration and provide more streamlined and efficient workflows.
The M24 packs in a range of cutting-edge technologies, including a bar code scanner, an RFID reader, a fingerprint reader, a webcam, and a microphone array. These tools allow hospital staff to access valuable patient data quickly and easily, which can help reduce the number of errors and allow clinicians to spend more quality time with patients.
Beyond the MCA, Austin, Texas-based Motion Computing has rolled out a new line of MCWs to complement the company's existing healthcare offerings aimed at streamlining access to patient information at the bedside.
Touted for developing the industry's first mobile clinical assistant for point of care computing--the C5 MCA--Motion built the new MCW based on feedback received from healthcare organizations over the past eight years. Completely integrated, the MCWs are supported by Motion, which should ease the burden on internal IT staff that often must contact multiple vendors to support or upgrade existing computer carts.
MCWs aim to provide clinicians and hospital IT staff with a broad range of solutions that are highly configurable and designed to fit into almost any hospital environment. The company’s most advanced workstation, the MCW-200, offers numerous computing options to support an extensive range of clinical workflows. It can be configured with the C5 or J3400, a small form factor PC, laptop, thin client or a combination of the available devices.
In addition to the MCW-200, Motion is launching the MCW-100, which can be configured with either the Motion J3400 or C5, and offers multiple storage options that make it easy to upgrade with added features. With independent height adjustability, the MCW-100 and MCW-200 are meant to support a variety of different workflows, users and environments. The MCW-50, a lightweight, highly maneuverable workstation, is suited for task specific workflows.
Whether or not the latest MPoC solutions arriving to market reflect existing demand--or anticipate a new era for mobile health once the health reform dust settles--remains to be seen. HealthcareGoesMobile,com wants to know how healthcare providers are evaluating their mobility needs in the current climate. Do new MPoC offerings, such as the ones from InfoLogix and Motion Computing, help address your organization's growing mobility needs? How are new technologies influencing your organization's efforts at the mobile point of care?
John Farrell participates in HealthcareGoesMobile.com as a community correspondent through Intel’s paid sponsorship with MedTech Publishing Company.
