Smartphone App Streamlines Transition From EMS To ED

The Right Fit MD is a subdivision of Medelita’s blog Enclothed Cognition which aims to be a resource for medical or nursing students, interns, residents, fellows, and everyone in between.

In an era when digital communication reigns supreme, medical professionals are beginning to take note and create digital solutions to the leading problems in the healthcare industry.  One company considered the fact that over 100 billion apps were downloaded from Apple alone in 2015, and also identified a need in the market for more efficient EMT response procedures. The result was a smartphone app called Twiage– a revolutionary app that helps medics seamlessly share critical patient information with doctors at the emergency room.

Twiage founder YiDing Yu, MD, created the app after assessing the current state of outdated and often static-filled radio systems used as the primary communication between first responders and hospitals. These systems can lead to unnecessary interruptions to care, and also poses as a time delay when transmitting information.

The real-time app has a dashboard that tracks the patient’s vital signs, and also includes photos and videos. The receiving hospital is able to monitor all incoming ambulances, which means less time is spent processing information, and more time being able to provide life saving care. Unlike the singular mode of communication that radio communication provides, Twiage data can be accessed via phone, tablet, or PC.

Twiage is making major moves, not just in regards to their service of over 300,000 people in Massachusetts, but with the honorable recognitions they have received. Each year, the AMA names three teams of physicians, residents and/or medical students to share their ideas for improving the health care industry through their AMA Healthier Nation Innovation Challenge event. The innovations presented by competitors were judged on how it would help transform physician education, how it would advance digital health, in what ways it would help patients live longer lives, and its ability to help physicians improve their practice.

The competition presented outstanding solutions such as a light line catheter and new technology to help diagnose eye disease, but in the end Twiage’s goal to improve prehospital care won 1st place. The app provides a comprehensive solution that replaces an older system with new technology, allows for more urgent delivery of care that helps save lives, and also helps physicians better prioritize and treat patients more efficiently.

Twiage is already in two states, Massachusetts and New Jersey, servicing two hospitals and several EMS agencies. As Twiage continues to put patient care on the fast-track, expansions to additional regions are expected in 2016.