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Other The iPhone In Hospitals

Naraxus

Naraxus

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Original poster
Oct 13, 2016
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Due to some recent unfortunate events, I've been in the hospital the last few days and I've noticed something rather interesting - most (if not all) of the nurses/techs have company-issued iPhones. They use them for scanning armbands for medicines and such, taking pictures of wounds/abcesses and presumably much more.

I've never seen this before. I'm guessing other hospitals/er's have deployed them as well. Rather interesting to see just how far the iPhone & iOS have come.
 
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Naraxus said:
Due to some recent unfortunate events, I've been in the hospital the last few days and I've noticed something rather interesting - most (if not all) of the nurses/techs have company-issued iPhones. They use them for scanning armbands for medicines and such, taking pictures of wounds/abcesses and presumably much more.

I've never seen this before. I'm guessing other hospitals/er's have deployed them as well. Rather interesting to see just how far the iPhone & iOS have come.
Click to expand...
It’s similar to how restaurants use iPads. Technology is moving ahead and Apple devices are perfect for these situations. The OS is very secure and stable. The hardware is durable for everyday use.

Get well soon!
 
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It mostly depends on what kind of software solution the hospital choose. Solution provider usually has covered from servers and database to handheld scanners in every department.
 
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Naraxus said:
Due to some recent unfortunate events, I've been in the hospital the last few days and I've noticed something rather interesting - most (if not all) of the nurses/techs have company-issued iPhones. They use them for scanning armbands for medicines and such, taking pictures of wounds/abcesses and presumably much more.

I've never seen this before. I'm guessing other hospitals/er's have deployed them as well. Rather interesting to see just how far the iPhone & iOS have come.
Click to expand...
I had my dermatologist take pictures using a phone. I’m not sure if his personal but it’s Kaiser lol. I’m not surprised given how handy phones are.
 
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Naraxus said:
I've never seen this before. I'm guessing other hospitals/er's have deployed them as well. Rather interesting to see just how far the iPhone & iOS have come.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure when I was last flying Emirates the cabin staff were using iPhones for taking meal orders. I actually asked one of them and had a look at it, not bad at all:

www.emirates.com

Emirates deploys 20,000 Apple products to Cabin Crew to transform inflight services

Dubai, UAE, 12 Oct 2023: Renowned for its commitment to cutting-edge technology and innovation, Emirates has launched a new strategy called ‘One Device' leveraging Apple products, whereby all 20,000 Emirates Cabin Crew receive iPhone 13 or iPad Air configured with custom Emirates apps to improve...
www.emirates.com www.emirates.com
simpleflying.com

Why Emirates Is Giving 20,000 Apple Devices To Its Flight Attendants

All of the airline's cabin crew will eventually be equipped with the products in a move to improve customer and crew experiences.
simpleflying.com simpleflying.com

When you consider onboard an A380 you have a lot of passengers and plenty of meals to prepare and serve, every little bit helps.

I appreciated having a look at it, even if only briefly.
 
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This is becoming more common to use iPhone as a multi-tool. We started seeing ipad use for wound assessments about 10 years ago, but they are big and impractical on floors and departments with many-to-one staffing. Those barcode scanners can cost hundreds of USD each and are prone to battery health issues and fragile when dropped. A phone in every pocket has become the norm in daily life, so why not adopt the trend for more efficient care?
 
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Madonepro said:
They shouldn't be. Bare below the arms, is the accepted norm for healthcare workers, in clinical contact with a patient.
Click to expand...
In UK that is the rule despite little evidence that it causes infection outside the theatre. I have seen questions from clinicians on the Apple forum asking how to keep an apple watch stay lit long enough to take a pulse.
UK NHS says one plain ring, one pair plain ear studs and that is it. However it depends on if you are a student, a resident doctor or a consultant whether you get away with it. Seeing a consultant even wash his hands in clinic would be a novelty.
I remember hospitals smelling of carbolic disinfectant, now they smell of Costa Coffee.
 
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Madonepro said:
They shouldn't be. Bare below the arms, is the accepted norm for healthcare workers, in clinical contact with a patient.
Click to expand...
I live in the Boston area, you can't swing a cat without hitting a hospital or clinic. there are no such prohibition of bare arms or apple watches for that matter
 
x5tuu said:
Not true, its actualy Bare Below the Elbows (BBE)

Predominantly led by NHS England currently (and rarely seen outside the UK) - covered in SICPs (section 1.2 for reference): https://www.england.nhs.uk/national...standard-infection-control-precautions-sicps/
Click to expand...
Also not true. It's enforced vigiourlsy in Australia and NZ. Whilst you may see healthcare staff not adhering to this, or comments that there is no proof, it doesn't mean it should not be done. Common sense suggests, the removing items that harbour germs, when moving between patients, is a good thing.
 
maflynn said:
I live in the Boston area, you can't swing a cat without hitting a hospital or clinic. there are no such prohibition of bare arms or apple watches for that matter
Click to expand...
I'm in the Boston area, too, and most of my doctors seem to have Apple watches.

In fact, a recent visit with a doctor primarily consisted of a discussion of whether he should upgrade his Series 6 to an Ultra 2 (he saw my Ultra 2). ;)
 
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1rottenapple said:
I had my dermatologist take pictures using a phone. I’m not sure if his personal but it’s Kaiser lol. I’m not surprised given how handy phones are.
Click to expand...

Same here. My dermatologist uses several iPads to photograph skin spots. It initially bothered me, but after considering the use of the iPad, it made good sense to me.
 
ApAx said:
This is becoming more common to use iPhone as a multi-tool. We started seeing ipad use for wound assessments about 10 years ago, but they are big and impractical on floors and departments with many-to-one staffing. Those barcode scanners can cost hundreds of USD each and are prone to battery health issues and fragile when dropped. A phone in every pocket has become the norm in daily life, so why not adopt the trend for more efficient care?
Click to expand...

As long as it is not their personal phone with the hospital app. As long as each floor, ward, station, whatever has several hospital-monitored iPhones for that purpose, then I have no issues.
 
I work in a big hospital. We have iPhone (SE 2023 and 16e, currently) as the company provided phone, but don't generally do anything patient-specific with them. For scanning items, patient armbands, med barcodes and such, we use a handheld scanners that interfaces with our charting/pharmacy software and provides tertiary checks. If photos need to be taken, a hospital-provided camera/phone/iPad is used; never a personal device.

iPhones have their place, but touch screens don't fare well in the clinical setting.

We use iPads for some charting, but it's mainly laptops.
 
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My Kaiser Permanente nurses all have hospital iPhones for taking pictures of dermatological care.

Last time I had surgery, they would take photos every week at the wound care nurse station.

At the end of 6 weeks of bi-weekly care, I was discharged and they showed me the photos from post operative to final would treatment.

Amazing!
 
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I've had surgery recently and in the many docotor visits leading up to it, plus in the actual hospital, none of the doctors were wearing watches, no watches period. The nurses who were "touching" patients neither, other medical staff, almost all were wearing a smart watch.
I'm in California, and I think it depends on the medical facility to enforce this (or not).

But, in the hospital they were using touch devices (don't know if those were iPhones but they were in some sort of rather rugged case) for scanning wristbands and also communicate with doctors etc.
 
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