Situational Healthcare and Telemedicine Training in Simulation Centers

By David Drake, President of Drake Systems Group, and Brian Moores, Vice President of Drake Systems Group

Imagine the possibilities of displaying rich visual information from diverse medical data systems, physiological monitoring, videoconferencing and an interactive collaborative desktop all in the same intuitive ad hoc dashboard. Now the crux: imagine accessing this visual information from across a hospital's enterprise network—or from anywhere in the world.

This is situational healthcare, and these technologies exist today, with demand for them justifiably escalating.

As specific telehealth and telemedicine services become available for insurance reimbursement, healthcare providers and institutions can increasingly offer these services. The transition to extend service from local diagnostic, consultative, and treatment spaces outward toward diverse, distributed facilities has created a disconnect between the medical educational system and the infrastructure for teaching new technologies for situational healthcare.

Several companies lead the charge to answer the critical questions: where does the training occur? Where are the protocols and standardized testing to evaluate those using the new tools? Simulation centers are the answer; they have become fundamental to the future success of our healthcare professionals. The viability of simulation is well established across numerous industries. People gain deeper understanding in a hands-on and immersive learning environment.

The technology systems that Drake Systems Group, Inc., designs for medical simulation centers have advanced markedly beyond the conceptual systems of even a few years ago. The development and construction of medical simulation centers is accelerating globally. The need to train surgeons, doctors, nurses and other clinical personnel has created a new adjunct to medical education that can provide the flexibility to learn changing medical technologies, techniques and protocols in a simulation environment. These simulation-specific spaces within the facility allow for extensive hands-on training without tying up valuable hospital spaces and disrupting service.

Some of the advancement in the union of telecommunication and information technology arises from the simple fact that enterprise data networks have become faster. With their development, telecommunication links have become more secure and reliable. We now design facilities with the ability to create real-time experiences by utilizing “mashups,” or multiple information systems that consolidate large amounts of medical data and visual information onto a single LCD screen like the one on your computer desktop.

For presentation systems alone, this would be good news, since this consolidated desktop can be shared with other healthcare providers and patients. But for teaching and training—as in simulation centers—the desktop can be acted on in a collaborative way in real-time. The implications of distributing desktops of consolidated medical information and live video and imaging communications are far-reaching. The efficiencies created by allowing ad hoc or impromptu caregiver team meetings and remote case assessments can be substantial. Our reliance on visual communications in today's technology-driven workplace has become commonplace, and will only increase. Well-designed simulation centers with medical equipment and high speed wired and wireless networks are perfect spaces for teaching these new technologies.

The future of healthcare education is being transformed by a digital revolution in audiovisual technology. Indications are that the need for telemedicine training in simulation environments will grow. The imperative is to create training programs for these new situational healthcare technologies, since they will be part of the delivery of care for the next generation of healthcare provider.

Drake Systems Group, Inc. is an independent advisory firm dedicated to planning and designing audiovisual technology systems for the healthcare industry.

David Drake (david@drakesystemsgroup.com) is President and Brian Moores (brian@drakesystemsgroup.com), CHP, CHSS, is Vice President of Drake Systems Group, Inc.