This post was originally written for the HATCHpitch Tech Street Houston contest, where Pristine won.
Healthcare delivery is an increasingly collaborative effort: there are virtually no environments today in which a single person provides all of the care for a given patient. Healthcare providers are working in cross-functional, cross-disciplinary teams more than ever before.
Increasingly large care teams lead to more opportunities for miscommunication. Medical professionals need the right tools to communicate seamlessly in real time at the point of care. At the same time, providers are doing their best to keep their hands sanitary. They're struggling as they frequently touch dirty devices such as their phones, pagers, and other walkie-talkie like solutions.
Glass is ultimate communications tool because it:
- Is always there
- Wireless
- Hands free
- Supports audio, video, and text based communications
Medical professionals have never been able to share what they see in real-time. Now they can. This is a profound concept with uses throughout virtually every avenue of care. Just imagine:
- Surgeons will use Google Glass for remote consults, and for teaching and training.
- Anesthesiologists will use Google Glass to communicate with their CRNAs across ORs.
- Nurses will use Google Glass to collaborate and share patient information to expedite workflows and connect disparate parties.
- Residents and fellows will use Google Glass to receive consults and support from attendings.
- ICU nurses will use Google Glass instead of rolling around telemedicine carts.
- Emergency room (ER) nurses will use Google Glass to beam in physician consults instantly.
- Nurse practitioners and physician assistants will use Google Glass to beam in MD consults.
- Providers in the patient's home will use Google Glass to beam in consults without interrupting their workflow.
The opportunities to open new avenues of communication and collaboration are immense. We're just at the tip of the iceberg of what can be done.
Our mission at Pristine is to shape a future such that in 5 years, we'll look back and wonder how medical providers performed their jobs without Glass.