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Changes in clinical practice The role of telecommunications technology By Christine Guzzo Vickery, CID, EDAC, and Douglas Whiteaker, AIA, LEED AP
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lectronic telecommunications technology is expanding exponentially, increasing opportunities for mobile health care delivery. Fitbits, smart watches, and health apps deliver health care data to our touchscreen devices while we are on the go. We can track our steps, check our heart rate, access lab results, and consult with a physician without actually walking into a clinic. The accessibility of health care information helps fuel the growing focus on wellness and population health.
Targeted temperature management Improving outcomes in neurocritical care By Charles R. Watts, MD, PhD “A learning experience is one of those things that say, ‘You know that thing you just did? Don’t do that.’” Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt
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he tissues of the central nervous system (CNS), including the spinal cord, are some of the most metabolically active in the human body. Approximately 20 percent of an
individual’s cardiac output and 20 to 25 percent of the body’s oxygen consumption is used to support the central nervous system, which is entirely dependent on oxidative metabolism. Of that high energy requirement, approximately 45 percent goes to cellular maintenance and 55 percent to nerve impulse generation and transmission. Targeted temperature management to page 10
In many instances, health care organizations are both the driver and the follower of new technology. Private industry is developing, marketing, and distributing new technology and software at an increasing pace, and health care organizations are integrating this new technology into the health care delivery process — offering countless benefits to patients inside and outside the clinic. Changes in clinical practice to page 12