The athletes in Vancouver haven’t started their races yet, but this year’s Winter Olympics –- which kicks off on Friday –- has already scored a medical first. Doctors and clinics at the 2010 games will be using the most comprehensive information technology solution for healthcare support in Olympic Games history. GE technologies will be connecting staff at remote polyclinics and mobile medical units — which are positioned close to the ski runs and other venues that are often far from hospitals — in order to provide the most updated information in emergency situations.
Crystal clear: Prominent ads at the Vancouver games showcase GE Healthcare’s imaging technologies and GE’s healthymagination efforts to lower costs while simultaneously increasing access and improving quality.
A centerpiece of the technologies being used is GE Healthcare’s Centricity imaging solution. It combines web-based reporting systems with the imaging systems — allowing the clinical staff of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games to digitize their imaging work and more easily share it with other doctors and locations. For athletes, it could reduce or eliminate the need to transport them for medical advice -– and can ultimately allow a quicker return to competition.
View master: The system’s user-friendly design provides an “electronic trading post” for radiology images. It means that medical automation systems such as Hospital Information Systems (HIS), Electronic Medical Records Systems (EMR), Practice Management Systems, and Radiology Information Systems (RIS) can all more easily interact with each other.
“This will also be the first time the medical staff can interface very easily with a large hospital authority like Vancouver Coastal Health that covers the whole Olympic Winter Games Corridor,” Dr. Jack Taunton, chief medical officer of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
GE is also providing a range of infrastructure solutions for Olympic Games venues including power, lighting, water treatment, transportation and security. GE’s healthcare work during the Winter Games includes supplying the games with a new 64-slice CT scanner, which is the first for the region; two polyclinics, one in Vancouver and one in Whistler, featuring GE Healthcare technologies; digital imaging equipment including ultrasound technology; and a mobile medical unit, pictured below..
Let’s roll! At first sight, GE’s mobile medical unit is a 15.9-meter tractor-trailer. However, it has expandable sides that create 90 square meters of space — converting it to a 12-bed clinic. It includes a recovery/triage area and intensive care unit, as well as an operating room with two independent surgical beds. A support trailer will also be stocked with 72 hours worth of surgical supplies and other equipment. Following the Games, the Province of British Columbia will purchase the unit from Olympic organizing committee.
* Learn more about GE’s work with the Olympics
* Read today’s announcement
* Watch a video about our mobile medical unit
* Learn more about the upcoming games
* Learn more about GE’s ongoing work with the Olympics
* Read “Olympic countdown begins: 1,000 days to London 2012” on GE Reports
* Read more healthymagination stories on GE Reports