News Feature | March 28, 2014

Google Glass Continues To Wow Healthcare

Rebecca McCurry

By Rebecca McCurry

Google Glass In Healthcare

Google Glass continues to impress healthcare providers, providing them with an abundance of time-saving benefits

The use of Google Glass in healthcare is an idea that had a lot of people wondering exactly how it would turn out. After only a short amount of time, it is becoming increasingly clear this hands-free technology provides an array of benefits - especially during surgery - as explained by Health IT Outcomes.

Numerous technology companies are jumping onboard with this idea and implementing new apps designed just for the health IT industry. One company, Augmedix, secured a $3.2 million fund for building clinical applications for Google Glass.

VentureBeat explains, "For medical professionals, the benefits of these futuristic specs are fairly obvious: the device is nearly hands-free, so it's easy to use it unobtrusively during an in-person meeting, and physicians can easily access more information about a new drug or the patient's medical history. Doctors can also use the device to take photos or record video footage of a surgery or consultation."

EHR Intelligence continues, “The 'Siri-like' software platform intends to be able to compose clinical notes on the fly using voice recognition, and then crunch the information in such a way that physicians can ask for key details that are presented to them using the Glass screen." Ian Shakil, CEO of Augmedix, talks about the benefits of Google Glass, saying, "Doctors spend a third of their day inside EHRs. This is preventing them from having organic conversations with their patients." Using Google Glass will be a way for doctors to interact with their patients more, rather than spending most of their time looking at a computer screen.

Another company, OneDX, is using Google Glass primarily for radiology images. Their mobile image management solution, as explained in a press release by PR Newswire, "enables physicians quick access to medical reports, inpatient location and exam scheduling information from the internet-connected eyewear." The press release also adds, "OneDX facilitates rapid downloads of multiple studies simultaneously from any iOS or Android device, letting healthcare providers scroll through images taken at different times and collaborate with peers from the same or different locations in real time."