I read with great interest your recent article on wireless point-of-care computer systems (March 7, p. 94). That's a technology we, too, hope to use-with a novel twist. Instead of a wireless system covering our in-house facility, we'll be using one that can be used in the field by our home-care staff.
As a first step in that direction, we've recently embarked on a joint project with WordPerfect Corp. to develop what is, in effect, a home-care information network. In its initial phase, the network will allow our field staff to communication both with each other and the hospital through specially developed software applications and notebook computers equipped with modems.
This will dramatically improve the ways we chart and share patient information, which are time-consuming and inefficient. But even a technology that relies on telephone lines has its limitations. For this reason, later phases of the project will explore ways to access and retrieve patient data using cellular phone technology and a wireless network.
When that happens, we'll have taken point-of-care technology from inside the hospital's walls to inside the home, precisely the place healthcare is headed.
BURTON GREBIN, M.D.
President and chief executive officer
St. Mary's Hospital for Children
Bayside, N.Y.
