Ebola: 10 Tech Responses To Deadly Disease - InformationWeek

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News
10/24/2014
09:16 AM
Alison Diana
Alison Diana
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Ebola: 10 Tech Responses To Deadly Disease

Tech companies are addressing the Ebola scare by offering everything from germ-zapping robots to Ebola tracking apps.
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Germ-zapping robotsHospital-acquired infections kill almost 300 people a day in the United States, according to the CDC. To help address the problem, robots are being brought in to clean. For instance, Xenex Germ-Zapping Robots use Xenon-based ultraviolet rather than traditional bleach to non-toxically disinfect patient rooms, medical helicopters, operating rooms, equipment, and more. Although Orlando Health has not dealt with Ebola, it brought in the three-foot robots to clean rooms and is considering expanding its automated army, said Dr. Thomas Kelley, chief quality officer at the South Seminole, Fla., organization in an interview. Since adding the robot less than two years ago, the hospital has seen a 47% reduction in its most serious cases of hospital-acquired infections, he said. Nearby Dr. Phillips Hospital used the Xenex device during a MERS outbreak and credited the robot for curtailing infection, said Kelley. During InformationWeek's visit, the hospital discussed potentially using the device to sanitize its medical helicopter, something that has not yet been finalized as the facility works on funding of the $104,000 device, he said. (Source: Xenex)

Germ-zapping robots
Hospital-acquired infections kill almost 300 people a day in the United States, according to the CDC. To help address the problem, robots are being brought in to clean. For instance, Xenex Germ-Zapping Robots use Xenon-based ultraviolet rather than traditional bleach to non-toxically disinfect patient rooms, medical helicopters, operating rooms, equipment, and more. Although Orlando Health has not dealt with Ebola, it brought in the three-foot robots to clean rooms and is considering expanding its automated army, said Dr. Thomas Kelley, chief quality officer at the South Seminole, Fla., organization in an interview.

Since adding the robot less than two years ago, the hospital has seen a 47% reduction in its most serious cases of hospital-acquired infections, he said. Nearby Dr. Phillips Hospital used the Xenex device during a MERS outbreak and credited the robot for curtailing infection, said Kelley. During InformationWeek's visit, the hospital discussed potentially using the device to sanitize its medical helicopter, something that has not yet been finalized as the facility works on funding of the $104,000 device, he said.

(Source: Xenex)

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jalamgir
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jalamgir,
 User Rank: Apprentice
10/31/2014 | 4:13:27 PM
Outbreak management
Alison – Great article. The Ebola outbreak is a major global problem that requires the industry's best thinking and resources -- like the Xenex robot. Healthcare and government need technology that is scalable and can be quickly and easily configured.

Xerox is responding with Maven, its disease surveillance and outbreak management software. Maven is currently deployed in public health agencies in 12 U.S. jurisdictions. It uses a scalable and integrated solution to securely track people who are either infected with or exposed to communicable diseases like Ebola. Unlike other case management systems, Maven is not a program-specific, siloed database. It's accessible across jurisdictions to local and state public health professionals and is able to integrate electronic reporting in real time, allowing state and local public health personnel to react rapidly to emerging needs. This is a critical element to managing disease outbreak, and early containment of an outbreak is better than the alternative. - Joy Alamgir, founder and chief strategy officer of Consilience, A Xerox Company.
Alison_Diana
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Alison_Diana,
 User Rank: Author
10/30/2014 | 10:23:22 AM
Robot On The Move
Just heard from the folks at Xenex that their robot was overnighted to Langley Air Force Base to help with their Ebola preparedness. (As we all know, members of the armed forces who help those with Ebola in areas of Africa will now be placed in mandatory 21-day quarantine when they return to the States.) 

"The Xenex robot at Langley will primarily be deployed for the disinfection of patient treatment areas including; in-patient rooms, operating rooms, isolation rooms, intensive care units, and common use areas.  In addition, the Xenex robot is available to provide decontamination in response to a natural or intentional biological event," the spokeswoman told me. "Xenex supports the 633 MDG's medical readiness mission and provides an effective countermeasure to can mitigate the risk of diseases such as Ebola from spreading. Xenex robots can be used to disinfect all areas where an infected patient will be transported or treated (aircraft, ambulance, ambuses, hospitals, PPE)." 
MC Hart
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MC Hart,
 User Rank: Apprentice
10/30/2014 | 10:04:09 AM
Re: germ zapping robots
You're right -- UV light for disinfection has been used for decades. What's unique about Xenex germ-zapping robots is that Xenex uses xenon, an environmentally friendly inert gas, to create the UV light. Only Xenex uses xenon -- every other UV system uses mercury, which is toxic and much less powerful (takes hours to disinfect a single room). UV light produced by xenon is broad spectrum light (from 200 nm to 320 nm) covering the entire germicidal UV band. Xenon UV does 4 types of cellular damage whereas mercury UV only damages the cell 1 way. Xenex robots are faster & more effective -- which is why hospitals using the robots are reporting fewer infections.  
PaulS681
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PaulS681,
 User Rank: Ninja
10/29/2014 | 8:01:52 PM
Re: ICD-10 wont' save us from Ebola
@Rob...I was thinking that  the other day. There is cause for concern but not panik... which is not happeneing. I think we all have heard enough from polititians and media in general about things like this. Don't worry... everything is ok. Much of the time that is said when they no nothing about it.
impactnow
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impactnow,
 User Rank: Author
10/29/2014 | 12:30:10 PM
Re: ICD-10 wont' save us from Ebola

Diana I agree this is a wakeup call not only for contagious diseases but other health issues. EHR vendors need to be flexible and fluid with regard to changing their apps, customization for regional issues may even be necessary to be fully effective. Cloud and other infrastructure changes should make these types of changes faster and more transparent but it seems there are still hiccups. Hopefully this will be a fire drill for many and when the real fire hits we will be prepared.

Alison_Diana
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Alison_Diana,
 User Rank: Author
10/29/2014 | 9:40:23 AM
Re: ICD-10 wont' save us from Ebola
I agree to a point: We've seen forced quarantine in New Jersey (since lifted) that apparently came from FUD, not science, but in general I don't think many people are really concerned they're going to get Ebola. As i have said before in comments, what seems to worry those in healthcare is not the threat of Ebola itself; it's more the fact that government and healthcare agencies seemed woefully unprepared for what has, thankfully, turned out to be a minimally contagious disease. They are worried about how the country would respond to a much more contagious disease -- set of either by man or nature -- if it were to happen here. Based on what we've seen with Ebola, it appears we would not do well as a society, despite all the advances we've made, and that's frightening... not the disease.
Alison_Diana
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Alison_Diana,
 User Rank: Author
10/29/2014 | 9:37:11 AM
Re: germ zapping robots
I saw this robot in action at a Florida hospital and it is truly impressive to see. In traditional settings, a janitor cleans a hospital room using bleach or other caustic solution. The robot uses light to destroy myriad biological matter, leaving a faint "clean" scent but none of the nasty smells associated with harsh cleaning fluids. Also, it can be used to clean electronics such as phones, television reemotes, medical equipment, beds, and blinds, where germs lurk. It doesn't necessarily put maintenance staff out of work; these teams are responsible for moving the robots (which don't wheel themselves around) and setting up the simple controls for timing. 
RobPreston
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RobPreston,
 User Rank: Author
10/28/2014 | 2:07:40 PM
Re: ICD-10 wont' save us from Ebola
I keep hearing, mostly from the media but also from select politicians, that people are "panicking" about Ebola. No one is panicking. People are asking legitimate questions. People are leery of politicians who contradict themselves at every turn. People are tired of hearing journalists and politicians make sweeping, uninformed pronouncements about there being "no chance" of this or that happening. There's worry. But there's no panic.
Alison_Diana
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Alison_Diana,
 User Rank: Author
10/27/2014 | 5:16:02 PM
Re: germ zapping robots
You're correct that these devices have been around for a long time and are effective against a host of viruses. From what I've read, a number of hospitals asked about these robots after Ebola arrived in the US so the condition sparked interest that hadn't been there beforehand. MERS also sparked interest, although you'd hope hospitals would always do their best to kill disease! 
tekedge
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tekedge,
 User Rank: Moderator
10/27/2014 | 4:38:17 PM
Re: ICD-10 wont' save us from Ebola
@ David ! Yeah I agree. The press did help to get the word out. But with limited knowledge of the disease it caused panic amongst the common people which created different theories about the disease, and  one of them turned out to be this one.

 

But this is a wake up call that the health system needs to get ready for any outbreak of  such kind!
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