Can Smart Phone Apps Improve Patient Safety?

How Google Will Use Advanced Apps to Improve Patient Safety

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Shapiro Law Group

Google is planning to use DeepMind, one of its acquired artificial intelligence companies, to improve patient safety for the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS). The app, named Streams, will identify tasks doctors and other health care providers must perform to prevent patients from succumbing to kidney failure.

Streams will have full access to the electronic health records of patients and will be able to identify the necessary staff and procedures for emergency events. By combing through pages of patient records with ease, Streams can very quickly develop treatment methods for patients facing various types of medical emergencies. DeepMind is developing Streams off of a prior app called Hark that was created by the Institute of Global Health Innovation.

How Can Apps Improve Patient Safety?

Streams is a major step forward in using technology and software to hasten the response times of nurses, doctors and other hospital staff. It was discovered hospital workers responded 37 percent faster to patients with kidney failure when using Hark, the predecessor to Streams. The data used in Streams will not be connected to Google accounts and will never leave the NHS system.

Although this app is being tested in the United Kingdom, similar treatments could be beneficial in American hospitals, considering HIPAA can be upheld in the process. DeepMind wants to continue developing apps that will help doctors identify patients at risk for succumbing to other conditions. Continue following our blog for future updates on how apps can improve hospital and patient safety.

Shapiro Law Group is a Tampa Bay medical malpractice law firm with decades of experience helping patients injured by negligence.

Tags: HealthcareNews

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