A little bit of news from the home front. Unfortunately yesterday Michelle had to make a visit to the doctor because she couldn’t talk and wasn’t feeling very well. When she got back we were informed that she had been diagnosed with Glandular Fever and would be flying back to Sydney that afternoon.
It was unfortunate that she had to leave before the experiment/project was finished because she was such a large contributor. She is home now and has checked back in via instant messenger.
From everyone else still at the house, thanks for coming up Michelle, hope you get better soon and we look forward to hearing from you when you can manage it!
11 responses so far ↓
1 Darren Neimke // Apr 3, 2008 at 3:30 pm
I hope that you didn’t kiss her Mitch!
2 MitchDenny // Apr 3, 2008 at 4:35 pm
I missed out on that score mate - thanks for the feedback though
3 Eddie de Bear // Apr 3, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Being a mobile worker I’m sure you can still put Michelle to work while she’s laid up in bed sick..
4 MitchDenny // Apr 3, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Hi Eddie,
Actually - Michelle has already been posting some content from her bed today. She doesn’t know when to relax!
5 Nelson Lau // Apr 3, 2008 at 10:57 pm
That’s unfortunate that Michelle had to leave early, although the fact that she is still contributing to this “remote working” experiment remotely from home is another illustration of how a physical location can often be irrelevant as long as a fast and reliable internet connection is available. (Very meta indeed!)
On the issue of health, there have been quite a few advances in telemedicine - this is the practice of medicine in remote areas via various forms of instant telecommunications between either the physicians, or a patient and a physician (such as consultations via tele-conferencing, electronic relaying of critical tests such as ECGs and Xrays - teleradiology - for a second opinion from specialists).
Real time (synchronous) telemedicine is especially useful in emergency type situations where an immediate expert opinion and assessment is critical. Delayed, or asynchronous telemedicine is also hugely useful, especially with the high quality of imaging devices which are now available to record and transmit both images and videos of observed pathology.
In these instances, both the treating and the referring physicians are working remotely in their own sense, using technology to collaborate in a way not previously possible, and bringing a greater level of care to a larger number of the population, especially in remote areas who do not have access to specialist care or hospital facilities.
The Howard Government dawdled on rolling out high speed broadband into rural and remote Australia, and as a result, residents in these areas have been missing out on the benefits of telemedicine. Let’s make sure that Rudd will keep to his word and effect the rollout of the National Broadband Network within the next 5 years as planned.
6 Elena Sardella // Apr 4, 2008 at 10:34 am
iMates for all **Doctors Across Australia** !!
What a great opportunity: show Australians that the makers of the iMate support doctors and patients in hard to access areas…
Now we just have to work out how to work on the high speed broadband issue…
7 Nelson Lau // Apr 4, 2008 at 11:52 am
Hey El!
Yep, I’m sure doctors wouldn’t say “no” to that!
8 MitchDenny // Apr 4, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Hi Elena and Nelson,
With a device like the Ultimate it would be possible to create a good telemedicine system where technicians travelled the country taking obs and sending them back to doctors.
If you look on Amazon there are HEAPS of USB enabled monitoring devices that could be used with something like the i-mate. I wonder if there is a Telemedicine project in this somewhere.
9 Nelson Lau // Apr 4, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Hi Mitch,
Yes, I think the the growing number of USB compatible medical devices is definitely going to open up pathways to communication between health service providers.
There are already USB enabled cameras to look into patient’s mouth, throat and ears, as well as higher quality cameras for diagnosis of skin conditions. So, yes, as more medical devices become enabled for portables such as the i-mate, there will definitely be more use of it made in the larger community, especially in the area of rural health.
The real-time electronic transfer of biometric data, be it from basic obs to ECG’s and lung function tests will be an invaluable resource. There are also a growing number of health care providers in both the local as well as the rural communities who are working remotely to provide care for patients in their own homes and these new technologies assist them greatly.
One of the concerns of doctors (especially junior ones) working in remote communities is the lack of back up from specialists, but the opportunity to be equipped with a larger array of real time, highly focussed communication tools would certainly provide them with much more confidence in this setting.
At CEBIT last year, I was discussing with some Swedish developers (if I remember correctly) about their new product which assisted ambulance officers in transmitting vital obs of patients in an emergency situation back to the base hospital - it is a huge boon for the physicians in the hospital to be actively involved in the patient’s acute management remotely right from the start.
Interesting and exciting advances lie ahead:)
10 On my way back from Byron Bay. « notgartner // Apr 5, 2008 at 11:02 am
[…] Farewell Michelle […]
11 Michelle Stevens // Apr 5, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Hi Nelson,
you might find it interesting to know that it was an IM conversation with my doctor in Sydney that drove me to go and get checked out. I described my symptoms to him and he sent me off to be checked out.
When I returned home, our communication has been by IM, as my results were faxed to him by the Byron Bay Medical Practice. Since then, he’s been keeping a close watch on me remotely.
I agree, there is so much that we could be doing medically and educationally to advance our duty of care in many instances. Here’s hoping that the new Federal Government stick to their promise to allowing every Australian to access a decent broadband network.
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