Making surgery safer: New article reviews the state of remote automated monitoring
Aug 29, 2018
Guylaine Spencer
Photo above: Dr. Michael McGillion
Heart surgery saves lives. However, 18% of patients who undergo cardiac surgery end up with complications after the procedure and wind up back in the hospital. Many of these complications are preventable if the vital signs are caught early enough. But how do you catch them, especially once the patient has gone home?
In an article in the latest edition of the Canadian Journal of Cardiology, Dr. Michael McGillion and his co-authors, including Dr. Sandra Carroll, review the state of remote automated monitoring. These new tools will allow nurses to keep tabs on vital signs through wireless monitors worn by patients. The article, “Postoperative Remote Automated Monitoring: Need for and State of the Science”, examines some projects under development and looks at the challenges of creating and introducing these new tools.
McGillion, as a leader of the SMArTVIEW and VISION 2 projects with colleague PJ Devereaux, has first-hand experience with developing these tools. He is also one of four guest-editors for this month’s edition of the journal, which looks at “Innovations in HealthCare Delivery Models”.
The online version of the journal includes podcasts featuring interviews with leading scholars in the field. In one podcast, Dr. Chi-Ming Chow (St. Michael’s Hospital) interviews Dr. McGillion about innovative healthcare delivery models such as SMArTVIEW and VISION 2. Some of the challenges researchers are facing with these new technologies, says McGillion, include power consumption, safety, cost and health-record management.
Although remote automated monitoring is still in its early stages of development, researchers believe these tools will make a huge difference in health care, and reduce the risk of post-surgery complications by as much as fifty percent.
Read the article:
Postoperative Remote Automated Monitoring: Need for and State of the Science. Canadian Journal of Cardiology, 34(7), 850-862. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cjca.2018.04.021
Listen to the podcast (approximately 12 minutes):
On the journal’s website.
At Apple Podcasts
At Google Player FM
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