Rhode Island Hospital in Providence says it is the first in the country to use Google Glass in an emergency department setting.
In a six-month pilot program, the hospital's ED physicians will use Google Glass to conduct video consultations for patients who require a dermatological consult. The glasses will be used to stream video of a patient's skin to a consulting dermatologist as the ED physician examines the patient, allowing the dermatologist to provide real-time diagnoses or treatment options.
"While the initial study is limited to ED patients who require a dermatology consult, we recognize that the opportunities for Google Glass in a medical setting are very broad," said Paul Porter, MD, an ED physician at Rhode Island Hospital and one of the pilot's principal investigators, in a news release. "Ultimately, the use of this technology could result in better coordinated care, faster interventions, better outcomes, fewer follow-up office visits, fewer readmissions and lower costs for a wide range of disciplines, not just dermatology.
"We also envision this technology eventually being used by first responders and nursing homes as a tool to communicate with emergency medicine physicians," he said.
The Google Glass sets used in the pilot were made HIPAA-compliant by health IT company Pristine. Other trials using Google Glass have relied on obtaining explicit patient consent to meet privacy and security regulations.
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