Donation Furthers eHealth Technology Solutions
By Shellie Nazarenus
Irvine, CA, July 12th, 2013 -- Advances in information technology are creating revolutionary healthcare-delivery options that can improve quality, reduce cost and provide patient empowerment. In Calit2’s eHealth Collaboratory researchers are developing applications and prototypes utilizing off-the-shelf technologies, such as smart phones, tablets and flat screen displays.
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Their efforts to develop cost-effective solutions were recently enhanced with a generous donation from Irvine-based Vizio, Inc. The consumer electronics company’s vice president and co-founder, Ken Lowe, personally delivered three Vizio tablets this week.
“Two years ago I took a tour of Calit2 and saw firsthand the work going on in the collaboratory which was so inspirational,” explains Lowe. “I wanted to help further the eHealth technology development and we have the right type of tools they need to do so.”
The eight inch tablets provide a high resolution user interface and most importantly are WI-FI enabled.
“We are focusing on developing apps for home health monitoring and health education,” says Mark Bachman, eHealth Collaboratory manager and engineering professor. “The tablets are so portable and with no cables to connect it’s an easy interface for people to use at home.”
Located on the third floor in the Calit2 Building, the eHealth Collaboratory is a truly collaborative space where technologists team with healthcare providers, patients and their families to share ideas, learn from each other and develop working prototype solutions. As prototypes are developed and tested in the collaboratory, researchers are discovering that producing healthcare apps that can seamlessly move from electronic devices are the most appealing.
“There’s a lot more demand for cloud-based solutions where users don’t have to figure out how to connect devices or install programs. The Vizio tablets will allow our teams to explore further applications,” adds Bachman.