Apple Watch Takes Place in Healthcare Industry
Back when the iPad made its debut in 2010, a common question was, “Who really needs one of these anyway?” The answers came quickly and included law enforcement and medicine. The Apple tablet allowed doctors to access the charts of any patient immediately without dragging a pile of folders all over the hospital.
Now hospitals are adopting the Apple Watch to help their doctors improve patient care. Healthcare innovation company Across Healthcare is assisting those hospital systems in using the Apple Watch to aid physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals in streamlining the way they access vital information.
“To this day hospitals still rely heavily on paging to notify physicians of critical patient situations,” explained Johnathan Samples, CEO of Across Healthcare and former CIO of Greenway Medical. “Through the Apple Watch we want to give healthcare professionals the best real-time notification and information to better treat patients.”
One drawback to using the Apple Watch in a hospital situation is the very limited battery capacity, which requires recharging every 24 hours. Since hospitals and emergency personnel must be available 24/7, Across Healthcare has partnered with Reserve Strap Inc. to develop a battery band that can extend the charge of the Apple Watch by 150% or more.
Across Healthcare has a plan to provide technological and logistical support for the thousands of healthcare workers expected to begin using the Apple Watch over the coming months.
Will the medical industry adopt the Apple Watch as enthusiastically as it embraced the iPad? Only time will tell but with the proper applications the Apple smartwatch could be a valuable tool in helping medical professionals access the information they need when lives are on the line and time hangs in the balance. Of course, it could also come in handy in dragging doctors in off the golf course.
