LindseyAnneMiller

English4
Mrs.Wilson
November13,2015
TechnologyisImprovingPediatrics
Thesis:Eventhoughthecostoftheuseofpediatrictechnologymaybetooexpensivefortheparentstopay,
pediatrictechnologyhasevolvedandgreatlyhelpedthepediatricfieldinawaythatmanorwomanalonecouldnot
accomplishitcancureorrehabilitateachildinamoreefficientmanner.
I.

Pediatrictechnologyhasbecomemoreprominentinpediatricmedicinebecauseithasevolvedandmade
childcaremoreefficient.
A. Pediatricsisafieldthatseesalotofpatients
B. Needstobemoretechnologythatworksinmoreefficientwaytokeepupwithhighdemand.
C. Factsaboutpatientcount
D. Specific(new)technologiesusedforchildren

II.

VeinViewerhelpsfindveinssotherearelessneedlesticks

III.

EHRshelpcontrolthepatientinformationandkeepsitorganized.Preventsmedicationerrors.

IV.

HomePhototherapy(BrightEmbrace)
treatlowrisknewbornsforhyperbilirubinemia

V.

Costofuse(Con)
A. Veinviewercost
B. EHRcost
C. Homephototherapycost

VI.

Benefitworththecost
A. But,itssoeffective.
B. Childrenarethefutureofthisworldsoweneedtotakecareofthemtothebestofourability.
Technologyisalsothefuturesotheygohandinhand.

VII.

Conclusion

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LindseyAnneMiller
English4
Mrs.Wilson
November13,2015
TechnologyisImprovingPediatrics
EdFirgau,MTandsupervisoratNationwideChildrensHospital,said,Everypatientwe
servedeservesandreceivesnotonlythehighestqualitymedicalcarebutasmilingface,warm
hugandthereassurancethattheyareinasafe,caringenvironment(StaffQuotes).Pediatric
technologyismorecommonlyusedthaneverbefore.Thetechnologiesusedhaveevolvedand
madethecareforachildsafer.Eventhoughthecostoftheuseofpediatrictechnologymaybe
tooexpensivefortheparentsorfacilitiestopay,pediatrictechnologyhasevolvedandgreatly
helpedthepediatricfieldinawaythatmenorwomenalonecouldnotaccomplishitcancureor
rehabilitateachildinamoreefficientmanner.
Pediatrictechnologyhasbecomemoreprominentinpediatricmedicinebecauseithas
evolvedandmadechildcaremoreefficient.Also,pediatricsisafieldthattreatsalargenumber
ofpatients.Bytheendof2014,NationwideChildrensHospitalsawoveronemillionpatients
(
"FastFactsfortheYearEnding12/31/2014").Thatisapproximately2,740patientsaday.
Therefore,thedemandforpediatriccareishigh.Technologyhastoevolverapidlyinorderto
keepupwiththishighdemand.Ifatechnologyisbecomingmoreefficient,itwillbeabletokeep
upwiththedemand.Threeofthoseefficienttechnologiesinclude,theVeinViewer,EHRs,and
theBrightEmbrace.

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TheVeinViewerisoneofthemorehelpfultechnologiesinpediatricmedicine.M.J.
Noone,NursingDirectorforthePediatricIntensiveCareUnitatTheChildren'sHospital,said,
"Thescariestthingsforchildrenareneedles.Anythingwecandotolessenthefearofour
patientsisworthit"("TheChildren'sHospitalIstheOnlyRegionalHospitalwithVeinViewer
Technology").Becausechildrenarescaredenoughofneedles,multipleneedlestickscanmake
themevenmoreafraidandcausethechildtoberestlesswhiletryingtogivethemanIVor
needle.Also,childrenhavesmallerveinsthanadults.Thus,makingachildsveinhardertofind.
TheVeinViewerpreventstheseproblems.Therefore,itismoreefficient.HollyHess,a
registerednurseandauthorofanonlinearticleaboutvascularaccess,explained,The
VeinViewerisabiomedicaldevicedesignedtofacilitatevascularaccessbyusingnearinfrared
lightdirectedonthepatient'sskintodetectthepresenceofhemoglobin(Hess).This
informationmeansthatthisdeviceprojectstheveinsofthepatientontotheirskin.Thisenables
thenursetoseewheretoinserttheIVorneedle.EventhoughtheVeinViewerdoesntreplace
theskillnecessaryforpuncturingskinandveins,itmakesiteasier(TheChildren'sHospitalIs
theOnlyRegionalHospitalwithVeinViewerTechnology").Fewerneedlestickscanimprovea
childssenseofsafetyandgetthejobdonemoreeffectively.
ElectronicHealthRecords,ormorecommonlyknownasEHRs,arebecomingmore
commoninthepediatricfield.Thisisbecausetheykeeppatientandmedicinalrecordsmore
organized.Whenitcomestochildren,medicinedosagesaredifferent.Thesedosagescanbe
wronglycalculatedatanytime.Especiallyinapressurefilledsettinglikeanemergencyroom.
AccordingtotheNationalSafeKidsCampaign,twentythreemillionkidsundertheageof
fifteenendupintheemergencyroomeachyear(Baer).Thepressureismuchhigherwith

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multiplepatientsthatneedtobetreatedfastandatthesametime.So,anEHRcanshowthe
doctorallofthepatientsinformationquickly.Thedoctorcanalsoenterthemedicinetheyneed
intothesystemandbeabletocalculatethedosageimmediately,causingchilddosageerrorsto
occurlessoften.AccordingtothearticlewrittenbyLeighAnnMorgan,Eachtimeapatient
visitsadoctororhospital,theencounterisrecordedintheelectronichealthrecord(Morgan).
Thishelpsthedoctorhaveupdatedrecordsatalltimes.Morganadded,Itisalsopossibletolink
anEHRsystemwithothersystems,facilitatingtheexchangeofhealthinformationamong
hospitals,privatepractices,clinicsandotherhealthcarefacilities(Morgan).Ifapatienthastobe
transferred,his/herrecordscanbesenttotheotherfacilityandbereadilyavailable.Withallthe
twentythreemillionpediatricpatientsbeingseeneachyear,theirinformationneedsto
transferredmuchmore.Thisisduetotherebeinglesspediatriciansthantherearefacilities.
Thesepediatricianshavetobespreadoutacrossdifferentfacilitiestocovereveryarea.This
meansthatachildmighthavetobetransferredtoanotherfacilityinordertofindthedoctorthat
canhelpgivethepropercareneeded.TheAmericanAcademyofPediatricsstatesthatthe
currentdistributionofprimarycarepediatriciansisinadequatetomeettheneedsofchildren
livinginruralandotherunderservedareasmoreprimarycarepediatricianswillbeneededinthe
futurebecauseoftheincreasingnumberofchildrenwhohavesignificantchronichealth
problems("FrequentlyAskedQuestions).ElectronicHealthRecordscandecreasedosage
errors,andtheycanhelpsendchildmedicalrecordsquicklyacrossawiderangeofareas.
TheBrightEmbraceisahomephototherapydevicethatisspecificallyusedforchildren.
Overtwodecadesago,pediatriciansfrequentlyusedhomephototherapytotreatlowrisk
newbornsforhyperbilirubinemia(Schuman).Hyperbilirubinemia,alsocalledJaundice,

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...occurswhenababyhasahighlevelofbilirubininthebloo
d("NewbornJaundice").
Bilirubinisayellowsubstancethatthebodycreateswhenitreplacesoldredbloodcells.Ahigh
levelofbilirubinmakesababy'sskinandwhitesoftheeyeslookyellow(Newborn
Jaundice).TheBrightEmbraceusesblueLEDlightsthatwraparoundtheinfantandtreatfor
Jaundice(Schuman).Thistechnologyissoeffectivebecauseitisinexpensiveandisuser
friendly.Phototherapyhasbecomesoinexpensivebecausethephototherapydevicecanbeused
athome,thenreturnedtotheprovider.Also,thetreatmentisquickandeffective.TheBright
Embracehasaruntimeofuptosixtyhoursandcanprovideafullcourseofphototherapy
(Schuman).Thisdevicehasmadeiteasierforparentstotreattheirnewborn,anddosointhe
comfortoftheirownhome.
ThecostofuseoftheVeinViewer,EHRs,andtheBrightEmbracevary.Costofuseis
oneofthemaincomplaintsofusersandbuyerswhenitcomestopediatrictechnology.But,this
isusuallytheonlycomplaint.ThecostofuseoftheBrightEmbraceistheleastexpensiveofthe
threetechnologies.Inahospital,theBrightEmbracecancostmorethantwothousanddollarsfor
onlytwodaysofuseinahospital(Schuman).NowthattheBrightEmbracehasmadeathome
phototherapypossible,usecancostaslittleasonehundreddollarsaday(Schuman).The
VeinVieweristhesecondmostexpensive.Itcancostthirtythousanddollarsforahospitaltobuy
(Lewis).Thethirtythousanddollarpricetagmayseemhigh,butitiseffectivewhenitcomesto
tryingtofindachildsvein.TheEHRsoftwarepricerangesdependingonwhattypeofEHR
softwarethefacilitychooses.Thetwotypesofsoftwareavailableareonsiteandwebbased
EHRs("HowMuchIsThisGoingtoCostMe?").ThepriceoftheEHRsoftwareperprovider
canbeanywherefromfifteenthousanddollarstoseventythousanddollars("HowMuchIsThis

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GoingtoCostMe?").ThispricemaynotincludethehardwarethatisneededtoinstalltheEHR
software.Thesepricesareabigpartastowhypeopleareagainsttechnologicalcareinsteadof
handsoncare.
Althoughthecostofuseofpediatrictechnologymayseemexpensive,technologyis
effectiveintreatingachild.Thebenefitofthesetechnologiesareworththecost.Thereisnota
guaranteethatadoctorfindsahealthyveinonthefirsttry.But,ifacareproviderhadonlyone
VeinViewer,theycouldlowertheiraveragenumberofattemptsoftryingtofindavein.Ifa
facilitychangedfrompaperrecordstoElectronicHealthRecords,alltherecordscanbefoundin
thepressofabutton.Also,theycanbesentelectronicallywhichtakesonlyafractionofthetime
thatitwouldtaketosendbyhand.TheBrightEmbracemakesiteasieronparents.Theycanpay
lessandhavetheirchildtakencareofathomeandundertheirowncare.Technologyisthe
futureofthisworld,andsoarechildren.Eventhoughitmayseemexpensiveatfirst,thebenefits
makethecostseemnotsobad.Technologyhelpsthecareproviderstakecareofthechildrento
thebestoftheirability.Childrenarethefutureofsocietysoweneedtotakecareofthemtothe
bestofourability.Technologyishelpingpediatriciansdoso.
Pediatrictechnologyishelpingthepediatricsfield.Itishelpingthecareofchildren
becomemoreefficient.Technologiescandowhatmenorwomenalonecannotaccomplish.The
VeinViewer,EHRs,andtheBrightEmbracearealltechnologiesthathavemadeanimpacton
pediatriccare.Theymaynotbecompletelyinexpensivebuttheycare,rehabilitate,orhelpthe
childinamoreefficientmanner.

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