Category: medical all-in-one computers

Around the clock urgent in the hospital demands medical grade pcs for 24/7 use

Medical All-In-One PCs for 24/7 Use

Michelle

As one of the most trusted public services, healthcare facilities have an obligation to serve those in their community. Health emergencies can happen at any time, and as such hospitals are expected to be open 24/7. While medical staff can be shifted so that the hospital is constantly staffed and prepared for emergencies, the same cannot be said about the equipment they employ. Ensuring that your hospital has technology capable of being used on a 24/7 basis is crucial to providing quality healthcare to those in your community.

How To Keep Your Medical Carts Running 24/7

Medical carts with medical computers are one of the most important facets of any hospital. Medical carts with medical computers are capable of turning a stationary piece of medical equipment into a mobile workstation for use in multiple rooms of a hospital. However, medical carts with medical computers have one downfall: they need to be decommissioned regularly for charging. Medical carts can spend hours every day plugged into the wall instead of helping patients. But it doesn’t have to be this way. With medical computers from Tangent, your medical carts can operate on a 24/7 basis. Medical computers like the E24B from Tangent utilize hot-swap battery technology. While one battery is in use, two others can be charging. When the in-use battery gets low, simply insert another battery into one of the other two battery ports and the medical computer is completely recharge, all without being turned off!

Medix E24B From Tangent
                   Medix E24B From Tangent

Medical All-In-One PCs

Another way to ensure your facility’s medical computers are able to operate 24/7 is to make sure they are medical all-in-one PCs. Medical all-on-one PCs are medical grade computers where the entire computer contained behind their touchscreen. That means that medical all-in-one PCs like the Medix C19 from Tangent do not require mice or keyboards to operate. In addition, medical all-in-one PCs have the least amount of moving parts possible, driving down the amount of maintenance necessary substantially. Medical all-in-one PCs also can feature hot-swap battery technology, allowing them to be moved from one room to another without being unplugged and turned off. In an emergency, medical all-in-one PCs can also make use of their UPS battery backups to ensure that life-saving care can continue even without external power.

Medix C19 From Tangent
           Medix C19 From Tangent

24/7 U.S. Based Technical Support for Medical All-In-One PCs

Just like how your hospital operates 24/7, Tangent’s U.S. based technical support team is available 24/7. Tangent’s trained technical support operatives are knowledgeable about all tangent medical computer and medical all-in-one PC products. With remote assist tools, advance exchange services, and image pre-loading, Tangent’s U.S. based technical support team will find a solution to your issue. 

Medical Computers From Tangent: Built For 24/7 Use

Hospitals are designed to run around the clock, and the computers they employ should be too. Medical computers from Tangent are built to be used 24/7, ensuring your hospital provides the quality care your patients depend on, day and night.

 

Medical Grade Computers For Operating Room Use

Fanless Medical Computers For Operating Room Use

Admin

Of the 27 million surgeries performed every year in the United States, 5% result in a Surgical site infection (SSI). A SSI is labeled as such when an infection occurs within 30 days of surgery or within one year of a foreign object being implanted in the body. While this number may seem low, the 5% amounts to 1.35 million SSIs per year. These infections can cause serious detriment to patients, longer hospitals stays, and even drastic healthcare costs to the hospital treating said patient. Reducing the amount of SSIs in your hospital can lead to decreased costs, fewer repeat patients, and a healthier workplace.

 

 

How To Reduce Surgical Site Infections In The Hospital

While it is nearly impossible to create a perfectly sterile environment to perform surgeries in, there are promising remedies that can help reduce the amount of SSI causing bacteria in the operating room. One remedy is the use of fanless medical computers. Fanless medical computers are medical computers that do not feature fan-based cooling systems. Instead, they employ passive cooling systems that work just as good, if not better than, fan-based cooling systems.

 

The main benefit of fanless medical computers is that since they do not require outside air be brought in as a coolant, they can have fully enclosed casings. This means that most fanless medical computers are water resistant in addition to being fanless. It also means that no there is no dust build up in the medical computer. This is important because dust buildup in medical computers can lead to the creation of bacteria breeding grounds. We all know that bacteria love warm places, and what better place for bacteria to thrive than in the heatsink of a fan constantly circulating warm air and organic dust particles. Fanless medical computers completely eliminate this festering possibility, leading to a much safer and cleaner medical computer.

 

 

Fanless Medical Computers Are Antimicrobial

 

In addition to being rid of a breeding ground for bacteria, fanless medical computers from Tangent are antimicrobial computers. The touchscreen of every Tangent fanless medical computer features an antimicrobial coating with mitigates the growth of bacteria on its surface. So in addition to not creating a breeding ground for bacteria, fanless medical computers also eliminate any bacteria growth on their surfaces. This one-two punch makes fanless medical computers the perfect medical computers for operating room use, as they can drastically reduce the bacteria present in the room and reduce the likelihood of a SSI from occurring.

 

 

Fanless Medical Computers: Perfect For The Operating Room

Every year, 1.35 million SSIs occur. These SSIs are not only a detriment to the wellbeing of the afflicted patient, but to the hospital serving them. Fanless medical grade computers from Tangent can help reduce the likelihood of these infections from every occurring, saving hospitals time and money and saving patients from further suffering.

Medical Grade Computers For Emergency Room Use

Medical Computers For Emergency Room Use

Michelle

In 2016, U.S. emergency rooms treated 145.6 million Americans for their emergency conditions according to the Center for Disease Control. This number has been steadily rising since the 1990s, and can be expected to continue increasing with each passing year. With such a high demand for emergency services, it is important to keep your hospital’s emergency room as up to date as possible. With the latest medical computers at your physician’s side, emergency room wait times can drastically decrease and patients can get the life-saving care they need.

Medix E22B | E24B

E22B and E24B from Tangent: built for emergency room use
E22B and E24B from Tangent: built for emergency room use

The Medix line of medical computers from Tangent are some of the most valuable assets that an emergency room can contain. With a wide touchscreen, busy emergency room personnel can quickly input a patient’s data and get right to helping them. Unlike other computers, the Medix E22B does not quit. With hot-swap battery technology, the Medix E22B can be safely unplugged from a wall outlet and still operate normally. In an emergency situation, the last thing you want to be worrying about is how to transfer medical data around with a patient. The Meddix E22B allows doctors to unplug their medical computer and follow their patient with the same data they admitted them with.

Medix T24B

The T24B with Hot-Swap batteries for Emergency Room use
The T24B with Hot-Swap batteries for Emergency Room use

The Medix T24B from Tangent features the same hot-swap battery technology as the Medix E22b, also with three built in slots for batteries. This allows the Medix T24B to not only access the power of three batteries at once, but continuously run 24/7 without being plugged in. The Medix T24B is perfect for medical carts that are constantly in demand and cannot afford to be put out of commission for charging. With 6th generation Intel processors, this medical computer is as fast as it is reliable and can handle any medical program thrown at it.

Medix KW 15

Medical grade computer for emergency room us, the KW line from Tangent
Medical grade computer for emergency room use, the KW 15 from Tangent

As hospital emergency rooms become increasingly more crowded, every square inch of space will become ever more valuable. That’s why smaller medical computers such as the Medix KW 15 are a vital tool for any emergency room. While examination and surgery rooms can afford the luxury of a widescreen medical computer, the same may not be true for emergency rooms. The Medix KW 15 features all the power of a traditional medical computer but in a sleeker, smaller package. This allows doctors more space to treat patients, while still maintaining the computational power needed to do their job to the fullest. 

Reduce Emergency Room Times With Medical Computers

With emergency room wait times only expected to rise, the time to plan for a crowded emergency waiting room is now. Medical computers from Tangent can help reduce wait times, improve emergency room computing power, and help those truly in need of help.

Medical computers by Tangent are also Antimicrobial computers

The Importance Of Antimicrobial Medical PCs

Michelle

We all like to think of hospitals as places in society where people go to get healthier, and for the most part this is true. However, this is not always the case as hospitals can inadvertently become breeding grounds for harmful diseases. The CDC estimates that each and every day, 1 in 31 hospitals will see a healthcare-associated infection (HAI).

Coinciding with a decrease in the viability of antibiotics, HAIs can turn hospitals into hazardous areas for those who are prone to infection. Often, these same individuals are the ones most in need of a hospital’s services. So what can be done?

Antimicrobial Computers Offer A Compelling Solution

While there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to HAIs, antimicrobial computers offer one way to minimize the risk of such infections from occurring. Antimicrobial computers are medical computers that are coated with an antimicrobial treatment. This coating causes the medical computer to be deadly to harmful bacteria, much like how the natural properties of copper make the metal germ-phobic. Typically, every medical computer is an antimicrobial computer, but it is important to check beforehand if this is the case. Luckily, at Tangent all of our medical computers are antimicrobial computers and UL60601-Certified.

Are Antimicrobial Computers Safe?

Antimicrobial computers are not only safe, they are some of the safest medical computers out there. Their antimicrobial coating prevents bacteria from breeding and growing on the medical computer’s surface without being harmful to doctors and patients. Antimicrobial computers are perfectly safe to touch, which is one of the reasons why Tangent’s lineup of medical grade computers are all touchscreen enabled. This allows doctors to use these antimicrobial computers without worrying about the bacteria on their hands. Unlike computers reliant on mice and keyboards, antimicrobial medical computers will not become breeding grounds for bacteria.

Are Antimicrobial Computers Easy To Clean?

Not only are antimicrobial computers easy to clean, they are built to be cleaned! While other computers and computer monitors require specialty cleaning agents in order to not be damaged, antimicrobial medical computers are able to be cleaned with traditional cleaning supplies. Regular cleaning does not remove the antimicrobial coating either, ensuring that these medical computers last well past their warranty. What’s more, antimicrobial computers mitigate the growth of harmful bacteria on their surface, meaning that with a cleaning they become nearly germ free.

Antimicrobial Computers: Reduce Your HAIs

If reducing the amount of HAIs in your hospital is a priority, then antimicrobial medical computers may be the solution you are looking for. These advanced medical computers come in various sizes and styles, and can quickly and easily become an indispensable tool for your facility.

 

How To Better Use Your Medical Grade Computer

How To Prevent Critical Electronic Health Records Mistakes

Michelle

There’s no doubt that medical grade computers have made hospitals safer, more productive environments to treat patients. From their antimicrobial coating which mitigates the growth of nosocomial infection causing bacteria to their robust IP certified water resistance, medical grade computers have made a lasting impact on the quality of care provided to patients.

 

Sadly, the same cannot always be said about the software running on these devices. The misuse of medical software such as Electronic Health Records (EHR) can lead to shockingly wrong results. While neither the fault of the software or medical grade computer, mishaps by untrained medical staff using such tools can lead to dangerous outcomes. Here are a few tips to help medical staff prevent errors while using software on their medical grade computers.

 

Be Aware Of Default Settings On Your Electronic Health Record Program

Every EHR program running on a medical grade computer is different, but many have the same features. One similarity that goes unnoticed is their use of default settings and inputs for entry fields. Just like how a website may have a random date filled in for your birthday when signing up, some EHR programs have default numbers filled in for various entry fields. A default drug measurement setting may be present on your EHR program, either by the software provider or your IT department. Make sure that both you and your medical staff are aware of this , as it is entirely possible that they assume the default measurement is correct, and accidentally mis-prescribe a patient.

 

In addition, an unclear medication list present on your EHR program can similarly lead to mis-prescriptions. Medication lists that are hard to read, uninformative, or lack dosing information can lead to medical staff assuming that they are prescribing the correct dosage while in fact doing the opposite. 

 

Train Your Medical Staff Rigorously

EHR programs running on medical grade computers are meant to aid physicians and medical staff, not harm them. While there are problems with these programs, they come from a lack of knowledge and training surrounding the programs. Educate your staff on the presence of default drug measurements, and have your IT department update the default setting to a nonviable integer (such as 0) if possible. Creating a detailed medication list that is both informative and easy to read can also greatly improve EHR usability on medical grade computers. Above all, make sure your staff is regularly refreshed on how to use their EHR program and medical grade computer to their full potential.

 

Avoid Critical Mistakes

Mistakes in the hospital carry consequences not seen in any other sector, and should be avoided at all costs. Making sure that your medical staff is trained to the fullest extent on the use of EHR programs is crucial to providing quality care to patients. Medical technology has always been a force for good, and it is important to treat EHR programs as the medical tools that they are.

medical grade PCs

Preventing Infections In A Post-Antibiotic World

Michelle

The Center for Disease Control And Prevention just released a 2019 AR threats report titled Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States, with some startling findings for the calendar year. The report found that 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections occur in the U.S. every year, resulting in 35,000 deaths. That’s nearly 1% of the U.S. population succumbing to an antibiotic-resistant infection every year, and a death every 15 minutes. The report goes on further to suggest, “Stop referring to a coming post-antibiotic era — it’s already here.” Keeping hospitals sanitary has never been so important, as reducing infections increasingly becomes the surest way of preventing antibiotic-resistant infection fatalities.

While the findings of the 2019 AR threats report are worrisome, there are ways you can help prevent antibiotic-resistant infections from occurring in the first place. High traffic locations in hospitals are prone to bacterial buildup, and these areas should be cleaned as regularly as possible. Similarly, medical computers constitute one of the most widely used tools in the medical setting, and can quickly become hotbeds for bacterial growth. Choosing the right medical computers for your hospital can drastically reduce the spread of bacteria via medical staff.

 

Medical Computers With Antimicrobial Enclosure

From medical assistants, nurses, and doctors, medical computers can change hands between multiple hospital staff members throughout the day. Each time a member of the medical staff interacts with a new patient, they are potentially spreading antibiotic-resistant bacteria to both the patient and other employees via medical computers. Ensuring that your staff’s medical computers have an antimicrobial enclosure is one way to keep this potential spread to a minimum. Antimicrobial enclosures feature an antimicrobial agent that clings to the surface of the medical computer, mitigating the growth of bacteria and helping reduce the chance of infection.

 

Fanless Medical Computers

Not all medical computers are created equal, but all medical computers should be fanless medical computers. Fanless medical computers, like the Medix T24B have passive cooling technology that allows them to regulate their temperature without the use of a computer fan. Unlike traditional fan-cooled computers, fanless medical computers do not circulate air inside them. This means that fanless medical computers do not build up dust, pathogens, and other contaminants inside their enclosure. If not cleaned out, the insides of traditional computers can become a breeding ground of bacteria, as more dust and dead skin cells find their way in and stick. Fanless medical computers offer a cleaner, safer way to provide medical computing power in the hospital setting.

Water Resistant Medical Computers

One critical feature of medical computers is the ability to repel liquids. This allows for medical computers to be cleaned regularly with cleaning agents, without damaging the sensitive components within. Medical computers like the Medix KW Line from Tangent feature an IP54 certified water resistant front panel, allowing for the touch screen to be cleaned without damaging the antimicrobial enclosure. The combination of an antimicrobial enclosure and water resistance allows for medical computers to be the last thing you have to worry about causing infections in the hospital.

With a person dying every 15 minutes from an antibiotic resistant infection, it is time hospitals took the prevention of such diseases as seriously as possible. Medical computers from Tangent can help reduce the spread of bacteria in one of the most trafficked areas of hospitals.

medical grade PCs

You Can’t Stop Clostridioides Difficile In The Hospital, But There Is Hope

Michelle

If you work in a hospital, you may be familiar with Clostridioides difficile (C. diff), a bacterium strain that causes antibiotic-resistant infections. While the prospect of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, commonly known as “superbugs,” are scary enough on their own, a new study in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy has given us a new reason to worry about C. diff. The study, spearheaded by Kevin Garey, a professor of pharmacy practice at the University of Houston in Texas, shows that C. diff is highly resistant to seven of the most commonly used cleaning agents in hospitals. So, what can be done to stop C. diff?

The study concluded, ”no disinfectant was able to completely eliminate C. diff embedded within biofilms.” While this was in a laboratory setting, the ramifications of this conclusion are apparent: normal cleaning is not enough to stop C. diff. Surfaces that are regularly cleaned, like those of medical computers, are still at risk of housing superbugs. Even worse, medical grade PCs are constantly being touched by different medical personnel, each potentially spreading or contracting superbug bacteria.

Tangent Medix T19B
Tangent Medix T19B

Luckily, medical grade PCs from Tangent have a few key features built-in that can help ward off potentially infectious superbugs. Tangent’s lineup of medical computers feature an antimicrobial coating, which mitigates the growth of bacteria. While this coating does not outright kill bacteria, it prohibits the growth of it, effectively eliminating newly placed bacteria over time. This allows medical grade PCs from Tangent to be safely handled by multiple medical personnel and reduced the likelihood of a superbug spread. 

Medical computers from Tangent also come equipped with passive cooling technology, which is completely fanless. Without fans, Tangent medical grade PCs reduce the spread of airborne pathogens and do not build up bacteria cesspools in their enclosures over time. Fanless cooling technology allows Tangent medical computers to be fully enclosed, ensuring that they do not contribute to stagnant, germy environments.

medical grade PCs
Medix KW Series

Because of these airtight enclosures, Tangent medical computers are also rated for IP water resistance. This allows them to be easily cleaned with common cleaning agents. While Professor Garey’s study concluded that no regularly used cleaning agents in hospitals were effective at completely killing C. diff, they did find that Clorox, OPA, and Virex were the most effective at reducing C. diff spores. These cleaners, in conjunction with Tangent’s antimicrobial enclosures, can help curtail the growth and spread of superbugs like C. diff.

With antibiotic resistance on the rise everywhere around the globe, it’s more important than ever to keep your hospital as safe as possible from potential superbug infections. Tangent medical grade PCs can help your hospital stay clean, and remain a place for patients to become healthier.

antimicrobial medical computers

Preventing Nosocomial Infections

Michelle

What Is a Nosocomial Infection?

Infections occurring while a person is being treated in a hospital are considered nosocomial infections. Nosocomial infections are of great concern to hospitals, governments, and medical personnel alike as they can have a vast impact on the quality of healthcare provided. Infections such as Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium difficile are common Nosocomial infections which are bolstered by increasing antibiotic resistance. Curbing the spread of nosocomial infections is critical to not only providing safe patient care, but halting the growth of superbug bacteria.

 

What Can Be Done?

While the prospect of antibiotic resistant superbugs seems bleak, it is not too late to make changes in your hospital to better combat the growth of such bacteria. One such way is replacing surfaces in your hospital that are prone to bacteria growth with antimicrobial surfaces. An antimicrobial surface is a surface that either naturally or artificially inhibits the growth of bacteria on its surface. A study published by the United Kingdom government found, “Antimicrobial coatings represent innovation in response to an impending healthcare challenge that is unprecedented.”

 

Without a doubt, some of the surfaces most prone to bacteria build up are the ones you are interacting with right now to read this article. Medical tablets, PCs, and Monitors are incredibly susceptible to bacteria growth. Devices like medical tablets can be expected to be used by multiple medical staff throughout the day, each interacting with patients throughout the day. This can lead to multiple bacteria strains occupying the screen, mouse, and keyboard of your medical devices. 

 

Luckily, antimicrobial surfaces have found their way into the production of medical equipment, and today most medical tablets and PCs feature antimicrobial enclosures. These enclosures ensure that medical tablets can be exchanged by medical staff throughout the day without the worry of infection spread. The screens on both medical tablets and medical all-in-one PCs are also IP rated to be water resistant, allowing them to be regularly cleaned. 

 

Antimicrobial Surfaces: The Right Choice

Whether it’s a medical tablet being passed around from nurse to nurse, or a medical all-in-one PC being used by a single doctor: making sure that your hospitals devices have antimicrobial surfaces is crucial to reducing the spread of nosocomial infections.

Medical Computers Redundancy

Preparing Your Hospital For Hurricanes And Other Natural Disasters

Michelle

While we tend not to think of worst case scenarios, it is important that we are prepared for them. Natural disasters are inherently unpredictable, and it is up to individuals and organizations to be prepared when disaster strikes. Unfortunately, we may not be as prepared as we would like to think. According to the National Health Security Preparedness Index, which measures health protections from numerous sources, the United States is not as adequately prepared for wide scale health emergencies as we should be. The Index rates the United States at a 6.7 out of 10, and while this score has increased from previous years, the rate at which it is growing is slowing. Worse, healthcare delivery was rated at a mere 4.9 out of 10. 

 

What Can Be Done?

In emergency situations, hospitals must be fully prepared to render aid to any and all affected. After all, communities cannot rebuild and return to normalcy when the populace is isn’t healthy. Ensuring that your hospital is ready for natural disasters is crucial to your community’s peace of mind. It is vital that doctors, nurses, and medical staff are able to be relied on in times of crisis, as their services are crucial to preventing natural disasters from turning into health crises. A recent study by American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) surveyed a group of 247 doctors and found that 93 percent believed their hospitals were not fully prepared to deal with large patient influxes due to disasters. Making sure that your medical personnel have the right equipment to handle large patient influxes such as those occurring in natural disasters is just as important.

 

Choosing The Right Equipment.

Disaster can strike at any time, and while hurricanes can be tracked, they cannot be stopped. It’s a fact that America’s power infrastructure is decaying, and relying on traditional wall outlets in an emergency could lead to serious medical consequences. Making sure your medical equipment can operate for extended periods without relying on the power grid is crucial to making sure your hospital is prepared for disasters.

 

Traditional desktop computers rely on external uninterrupted power supplies (UPS) for emergency power. These are fine, but require floor space and IT monitoring and setup, and cannot be moved in an emergency. Medical all-in-one PCs are touchscreen enabled computers that can feature hot-swap battery technology, allowing them to act as their own UPS. Tangent’s lineup of medical all-in-one PCs features PCs that are capable of running off battery power without being plugged into walls. This allows them to be mobile computers, going wherever they are needed. Medical Tablets are also battery operated, and just as capable as traditional computers. Medical Tablets can serve as on-the-go medical PCs in disaster scenarios, allowing doctors to treat and track numerous patients at a time. In search and rescue operations, medical tablets are portable enough to serve first responders without inhibiting their mission. Having medical tablets on standby is just one way to prepare your hospital for natural disasters.

 

Serving The Community.

A hospitals priority should be to serve the public’s health everyday, including days when disaster is unfolding. Allocating Medical all-in-one PCs and medical tablets are just two of the ways that your hospital can better prepare itself for the inevitable.