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2000 — 2010
Portable Ultrasound
Small is Better Portable ultrasound scanners, in the past decade, have effectively taken diagnostic imaging to patients’ bedside
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ver since its inception, ultrasound imaging has come a long way, from bulky machines to portable hand-carried ultrasound to pocket ultrasound. Benefits of portable ultrasound technology were not realised and the market did not evolve until the beginning of this decade. In emergency situations and places where there is limited space, mobility and portability are key requirements. Hence, the evolution of portable ultrasound became inevitable. Initially, obstetrics and gynaecologists were the only ones using this technology as it could be brought bedside or were affordable enough to be purchased by a private practice. Now, as the market has matured, various specialities including Cardiac, Vascular, Radiology, Endocrinology and Paediatrics are making use of portable ultrasound for diagnostic imaging. The technology is also being widely used by EMS personnel across various countries are leveraging on portability of ultrasound machines in the field. In India and the world over, SonoSite is one of the leading vendors of handcarried ultrasound. The company specialises in manufacturing portable ultrasound scanners of high quality. In addition, GE Healthcare launched VScan, a pocket-size ultrasound scanner, last year, which created much excitement in the entire healthcare industry.
Fact File n As per latest reports, the handheld ultrasound market in the US alone is expected to exceed US $1.2 billion by 2016 n Leading manufacturers include SonoSite, GE and Siemens n Adoption in emergency medicine is a key driving factor for this growth
Maharashtra/ HMIS Project
Going All the Way Government of Maharashtra is using ICT as a tool to enhance their ability and bringing more professionalism in healthcare services
Fact File n The project became operational since October 2008 n Unique Health ID generated by HMIS has been issued to approximately 25 Lakh patients that have come to the 4 hospitals which have gone live since Oct 2008.
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ealising the challenges of dealing with providing healthcare services to a huge population, Government of Maharashtra decided to use ICT as a tool to enhance their ability to deal with this complex delivery model. Through this project, the entire patient registration and front office management of patients and casualty services was outsourced with an objective of bringing more professionalism in government hospitals. Absence of a unique patient ID and leveraging on the technology innovations in the field of bio-medical engineering by interfacing with medical equipment and gadgets for seamless flow of information were the precursors for the initiation of this program. Objective of the project was to create unique health ID for the patients visiting state government run hospitals which will be used as a number for the patient reduction in the waiting time at registration and consultation for patients. Automatic generation of cash collection and inventory reports has improved efficiency and reduced scope for malpractices and pilferages. This is a model that can work for healthcare providers having large volume of patients with varied geographical spread. January 2011 < www.ehealthonline.org <
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